andreeva_tia_nauchnyi_angliiskii_iazyk_vypusk_14_nauka

Text 35

Tomorrow is Now

The Julian calendar recorded the year 2001 - the beginning of the 21st century. It is far more than a chronological event, for the meaning and importance of chronological time is less vital now than ever before in history. Time began for man more than a niillion years ago and until today it was the mover and shaker of man's destiny. However, the slow pace of nature has been augmented by the incredible speed of the developing technology since the last third of the 20th century. The tech­ nological innovations are revolutionizing our lives more than anything else. Events, inventions, moralities-all slide and change so swiftly that we seem to be rushing at tomorrow and our future has already arrived. In that sense the 21st century is already here, for the responsibility for the events and technol­ ogy that will produce that change are being formed today.

It is possible to extrapolate from certain seemingly wellrooted trends and technologies and thus gain a glimpse at the very least of the possible tomorrows that await us. The in­ creasing sophistication of the rocketry, for example, prognosti­ cates a continued assault on space. At the same time, we have virtually run out of frontiers on land and will probably turn at long last to the sea that blankets seven tenths of the earth's sur­ face. We shall ask more questions - at the beginnings of things, and where they are headed. We shall have far more and better tools with which to pry loose the answers from a reluctant (unwilling) universe. "How did it all begin?" is certain to be a major intellectual question at which the cosmologists of the 21st century will launch themselves with all the exotica that a space-oriented society can offer. X-ray astronomy, gamma-ray

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astronomy, orbiting astronomical observatories, and the stable, atmosphere-free far side of the moon, as the finest of all obser­ vatories will be the disciplines and the platforms we shall use to peer out into space and back into time to the origin of all things.

And what might man find there? No one today has answers. We can safely say only that the questions will be raised and countless voyages in search of answers will be undertaken. In truth, the 21st century will probably be a new age of exploration, as men ask the questions they have always asked, but to which they have never before had the means of. seeking the answers.

The 21st century will surely provide those means. Already, the laser, the computer, and atomic energy have found their ways into our lives and are already being used for the tasks of today. These same tools will be applied to new tasks of the 21st century, tasks we cannot even conceive of today.

In every area of human endeavour the future offers daz­ zling capabilities for exploring and understanding ourselves and the world about us. The question is in fact not so much what will we learn, but rather what shall we do with the in­ credible mountains of knowledge we are at this very moment heaping together. Shall we explore the other planets of the solar system or the depths of our. oceans? Shall we control the weather or the human mind?

In all probability, we shall accept every challenge the hu­ man mind can find, in deepest space or inside its own cortex. These are simply broad areas of probability, yet it is to these only that we can look in the hope of seeing where we are headed. For the technological avalanche threatens to inundate us by generating an ever more elaborate technology and in the process creating problems that could not have been foreseen. Moreover, the solution to these problems lies in creating a still

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more sophisticated technology, which creates still more prob­ lems not by failing in its designed goals but by succeeding brilliantly. With every new technological development there comes a new set of unforeseen problems, and we have reached a point where we cannot afford unforeseen problems, lest they outstrip our intellectual capacity to deal with them. We will soon learn to plumb the depths of the human gene and so pres­ ent to nature on a molecular level our demands for the future of man. Shall we eliminate diabetes from the human race by sub­ stituting one gene for another? But what effect might that have on the other genes within the constellation of chromosomes that make up the blueprint of man? Can we determine the ef­ fect of changes we will make in the heart of a molecule or in the atomic nucleus of a star?

The 21st century demands extreme caution and scientific discipline. For the targets of exploration are almost within our grasp, and the tools that extend our reach are also close at hand. We pursue (run after) knowledge; it is the preoccupation of the 21st-century man. The only questions remaining concern the uses to which such knowledge will be put and the price we must pay for it.

♦ Topicsfor discussion in pairs.

1.Our future has already arrived.

2.The main fields of investigation will be the space and the seas and oceans.

3.Among the theoretical problems the main will be the origin of the Universe.

4.Man should be cautious about new technologies.

5.Other unexpected fields of investigation.

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Text 36

Mathematics

Mathematics has been called "the queen of knowledge". A most important fact about the real, material world is that ob­ jects in it can be counted and their masses can be measured. Mathematics is a tool which helps man know how much, how many, how large, how fast, in what direction, and with what chances. But mathematics is more than just a system of num­ bers (numeration). It is also a way of thinking and a form of logical reasoning. From this manner of reasoning about num­ bers and space, ideas and conclusions can be developed.

Mathematics grew up with civilization as man's quantita­ tive needs increased. It arose out of practical problems and man's need to solve these problems. As soon as man began to count, even on his fingers, mathematics began. It was the first of the sciences to develop formally. It is growing faster today than in its early beginnings. New questions are always arising, partly from practical problems and partly from pure, theoretical problems. In each generation, men have developed new meth­ ods and ideas to solve these problems.

The Greeks elevated mathematics to the field of abstract thinking. In its higher form mathematics becomes a form of logic in which basic assumptions are laid down and results are then deduced within the framework of the system. The system, itself, is composed of (1) a few, elementary, undefined terms, such as number, point, and line, which are called primitives; and (2) rules which govern their operations. The primitives comprise the basic vocabulary of mathematics and provide the groundwork for a more technical vocabulary within the system. The basic definitions are stated in terms of the primitives, as

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are the postulates, which are assumptions or evident truths. With these tools, then, statements and conclusions can be de­ rived or proved. The results, in turn, assist in proving more statements. Thus, a large structure is built.

However, mathematics is much more than just a system of conclusions drawn from definitions and postulates that must be consistent. Even though the assumptions may be created by the freewill of the mathematician, there must be a very strong rela­ tionship of the abstract mathematical principle to its physical counterpart in the real, material world. Otherwise, mathematics would be only an intellectual pastime or game without any real purpose. Only after extensive calculations, tests, and observa­ tions are the assumptions admitted to the system.

While mathematics originated from physical situations, such as primitive man's counting the animals he killed on one day, real progress in this science began only after the concrete pictures, emotions, and physical concepts were isolated from the numbers themselves. This isolation or abstraction of num­ bers actually simplified mathematics since the distractions and confusion of images were gone. At this time emerged pure mathematics - the science of number and quantity unconnected with any material object. Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigo­ nometry, and the more advanced branches of mathematics can each be considered as pure mathematics only if the concepts attach no real, tangible application.

Mathematics in the service of the physical sciences - such as mechanics, engineering, optics, astronomy, geodesy and electricity - is referred to as applied mathematics. The applied mathematician takes the pure mathematician's findings and ap­ plies them to the varied concrete situations.

♦ Study the text. Make up a conversation about "the queen of knowledge".

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Text 37

Mathematics - the Study o f Patterns

Why has mathematics become so important in recent years? Why is our Government spending millions of dollars to educate more mathematicians? Can the new electronic brains solve our mathematical problems faster and more accurately than a person and eliminate the need for mathematicians?

To answer these questions, we need to know what mathe­ matics is and how it is used. Mathematics is much more than arithmetic, which is the science of numbers and computation. It is more than algebra, which is the language of symbols, opera­ tions, and relations. It is much more than geometry, which is the study of shapes, sizes, and spaces. It is more than statistics, which is the science of interpreting data and graphs. It is more than calculus, which is the study of change, limits, and infinity. Mathematics is all of these - and more.

Mathematics is a way of thinking and a way of reasoning. Mathematics can be used to determine whether or not an idea is true, or, at least, whether it is probably true. Mathematics is a field of exploration and invention, where new ideas are being discovered every day. It is a way of thinking that is used to solve all kinds of problems in the sciences, government and industry. It is a language of symbols that is understood in all civilized na­ tions of the world. It has even been suggested that,mathematics would be the language that would be understood by the inhabi­ tants of Mars (if there are any)! It is an art like music, with symmetry, pattern, and rhythm that can be very pleasing.

Mathematics has also been described as the study of pat­ terns, where a pattern is any kind of regularity in form or idea. This study of pattern has been very important for science be-

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cause pattern, regularity and symmetry occur so often in na­ ture. For example, light, sound, magnetism, electric currents, waves of the sea, the flight of a plane, the shape of a snow­ flake, and the mechanics of the atom all have patterns that can be classified by mathematics.

♦ Read the text and answer the following question: Why mathematics is paid great attention to in recent years?

Text 38

Introduction to the Future

Fifty years from now the wonders of the Cosmic Age will have unfolded before the eyes of mankind. Several expeditions already will have gone to Mars and Venus and exploratory voyages will have been extended as far as Jupiter and Saturn and their natural satellites.

Voyages to the Moon will have become commonplace. Not unlike the exploratory work presently going on in Antarctica, the surface of the Moon will have been subdivided into spheres of interest by the major powers, and much prospecting, sur­ veying, and even a limited amount of actual mining operations of precious ores and minerals will be conducted.

At some particularly suitable spots on the Moon lavish housing structures will have been established. They may be op­ erated for the purpose of "attracting" more traffic of scientists and explorers to man laboratories and observatories.

Definite plans will be under way for a regular transport system between the Earth and the nearer planets. This system will provide express voyages for passengers and slow, un­ manned automatically guided freight hauls for bulk cargo. Both types of flight will be performed by fusion-powered

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ships and will originate and terminate in orbits around Earth or the respective planet.

Fifty years from now, the Earth will be surrounded by a whole family of artificial satellites, all of them accepted as members of our solar system. They will be of a great variety of sizes, brightnesses, purposes, nationalities, orbital altitudes, and orbital inclinations.

A few communication satellites will handle the entire of private and official communications between all points on Earth which are more than five hundred miles apart, and no message will require more than one hour from sender to recipient.

Other satellites, orbiting at various altitudes, will serve as television relay stations for nationwide and global television. They will be linked together into an electrical relay hookup, so as to provide automatic, uninterrupted global service simulta­ neously on a great number of TV channels.

In addition, there will be several large manned space sta­ tions serving as research centers and space terminals for those deep space voyages to the Moon and the planets.

Fifty years from now, we shall know for sure whether in­ telligent life as we know it exists elsewhere in the universe. In­ strument-carrying probes will have been launched on trips to faraway places in the Milky Way to record data pertaining to the possibility of life on other worlds.

The conquest of space has barely begun, but it already has caused vital changes in our lives.

In the first five years of the Space Age, the data available to man concerning the physical phenomena of space have built up enormously. The collection of scientific data of this kind may not be very exciting, however rewarding it may be to those who can interpret its meaning. While this is, therefore, a part of the an-

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swer to space exploration, it is by no means the total explanation. Nevertheless, we must know all of these things, and they must be reduced to facts before we can say that it is reasonably safe for man to venture into this new environment. We must know against what physical hazards he requires protection and to what extent. We must know the conditions under which he can survive and what he needs in order to survive.

You may ask why, if we can devise instruments that can sense and measure and record environmental data, we need talk about man-in-space? The best answer probably is that in spite of all our progress in electronics and the development of miniaturized instrumentation, the human mind, eyes and nerv­ ous system still represent a better machine for data collection and intelligent evaluation than we can assemble.

The basic objective of out space program for many, many decades will be the acquisition of knowledge. This is a most important purpose, but we must keep in mind that in the exe­ cution of a sufficiently broad and ambitious space program, other ends will be served.

It is already apparent that by-products of missile devel­ opment will profoundly affect our daily lives. New advances in computers, in data processing, in miniaturization, elec­ tronics, chemicals, plastics, metallurgy and other fields can be traced directly to the impetus of the national requirement in advanced rocketry.

In nearly all engineering and science fields, space has had a pronounced effect. No matter what the specialty, engineers and scientists now seem to expand their thinking to take in this question: would it work in space environment? In educational fields, space has brought about an expansion of some courses. In many cases, it has meant adding additional courses on space.

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Much of what we do in space, much of what is expected of us, strains our technology to the breaking point. We are designing and fabricating vehicles which must function for months and years under conditions which simply do not prevail on Earth. The materials we employ are exposed to extreme vacuum, ra­ diation activity, and other vicissitudes encountered only in space. Hypersensitive guidance and control equipment which steers these fire-breathing monsters must operate over long pe­ riods without any possibility of repair or maintenance. There are as yet no service stations in space.

The solution of these and other problems demands a sub­ stantial amount of basic and supporting research. There is a need also for a new concept of reliability which will assure the efficient functioning of space vehicles regardless of the ex­ treme conditions we know they will encounter.

♦ Read the text and express your attitude to the facts de­ scribed.

Text 39

The Computer Revolution

Without the computer space programs would be impossible and the 21st century would be impossible. The incredible tech­ nology we are building, the complexity and the knowledge we are amassing on the way toward the creation of that not-so-far- off 21st century, are all beyond the unaided mind and muscle of man. More than any other single invention, perhaps even more than wheel, the computer offers a promise so dazzling and a threat so awful that it will forever change the direction and meaning of our lives.

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