In the article below, find 3 adjectives, 3 adverbs, an adjective in the superlative degree, 3 irregular verbs and 3 prepositions.
Read the text again and answer the following questions.
Does science rely on beauty?
What is beauty in science? Is it important for a theory or equation to be beautiful?
Can “aesthetics” of a scientific theory be measured quantitively?
What are the four fundamental forces of the physical world?
What theories are considered beautiful?
Think of other heading to the text.
Picasso, Mandolin and Guitar, 1924
A thing of beauty
A
thing of beauty: even when the evidence was going against them, Nobel
prize-winners Murray Gell-Mann and Richard Feynman clung on to
cherished theories just because they thought they were "beautiful".
Are beauty and science compatible? Do scientists have the right to use the word beauty? For physicists and mathematicians, at least, the answer is an emphatic "yes". Back in the 1960s, Paul Dirac famously asserted that: "It is more important to have beauty in one's equations than to have them fit experiment" Richard Feynman, too, insisted on believing in one of his theories even when it seemed to contradict experimental data.
So what makes an equation or a theory beautiful? For most art theorists and artists, beauty is subjective, but not for scientists. To scientists symmetry is beauty and therefore objective: scientists seek out mathematical equations that retain their form no matter how they are transformed. The mathematical equation for a sphere, for example, does not change when its coordinates are inverted. A sphere is still a sphere when viewed from any perspective, even in a mirror.
And if experiments on the decay process of elementary particles produce the same results when viewed in a mirror, they exhibit "mirror symmetry" associated with the law of the conservation of parity. Call it what you will, there is a basic element in most scientific theories that scientists believe they can quantify objectively as "aesthetics" or "beauty".
Why is symmetry so important? Why is it the term that scientists use synonymously with beauty? For many, it goes back to that fraction of a second after the big bang, some 13.7 billion years ago, when there was only one force − an instant of purest symmetry. When this symmetry was broken, the four forces of the physical world emerged: the gravitational, electromagnetic, nuclear and weak forces. The universe is now seen as being made up of broken symmetries. What scientists are trying to do is to find this primordial symmetry by hypothesising other symmetries that unify these four forces. When scientists look for explanations for what "breaks" these symmetries, they discover particles. Theories which exhibit the maximum symmetry − such as those unifying fundamental forces, like the electroweak theory − are considered "beautiful theories", and they usually turn out to be correct, which seems to justify the hunt for symmetry.
Symmetry need not be tied to visual imagery − the need could reflect an intuition about how nature ought to be. This was Einstein's starting point in 1905 when he introduced aesthetics into 20th-century physics. His discovery that light could also be a particle emerged from his minimalist aesthetic. Einstein's formulation of the theory of relativity also sprang from this aesthetic. The electromagnetic theory of the day offered two radically different explanations of how a current is generated in a wire moving relative to a magnet, depending on whether the current was observed by someone riding on the wire or on the magnet. To Einstein the two explanations were redundant: worse, they were asymmetrical. Having unmasked this asymmetry, he could extend the principle of relativity to electricity, magnetism and light.
Arthur I. Miller
Work in pairs and see if you can remember the following words and phrases. Take turns to ask each other. Use the Mini-dictionary (UNIT 6) if necessary.
to generate a current in a wire
to contradict experimental data
to extend the principle
to fit experiment
to unify fundamental forces
to retain the form
fraction of a second
electroweak theory
decay process
to exhibit mirror symmetry
the law of conservation of parity
to quantify objectively
theory of relativity
electromagnetic force
gravitation
coordinates
evidence
compatible
to justify the hunt for sth
to reflect an intuition
Explain the meaning of the words and phrases.
cherished theories, emphatic, to contradict, to be inverted, a sphere, the decay process, broken symmetries, to unify, aesthetics, principles
Match the words and collocations (1-8) from the text with their definitions (a-h).
1
symmetry
a
data produced by a measurement, test method, experimental design or quasi-experimental design
2
equation
b
the event which led to the formation of the universe, according to the prevailing cosmological theory of the universe's early development
3
nuclear force
c
a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty
4
experimental data
d
one of the four fundamental interactions of nature. In the Standard Model of particle physics, it is due to the exchange of the heavy W and Z bosons
5
the big bang
e
the concept that the properties of particles such as atoms and molecules remain unchanged after being subjected to a variety of transformations
6
aesthetics
f
the spontaneous process of one elementary particle transforming into other elementary particles
7
weak force
g
the force between two or more nucleons, responsible for binding of protons and neutrons into atomic nuclei
8
decay
h
statement of equality between two expressions consisting of variables and/or numbers
Find words in the texts to which the following are the synonyms. The first letter is given to make the task easier.
primeval, original (p); reveal (u); excessive, superfluous (r); mirror symmetry (p); moment (i); completely (r); rudimentary (f); look for (s); emphasised, (e), precious (c), originate (s), state, maintain (a)
Find phrases in the article that match the meanings (A-E).
maintain a shape and structure
express instinctive knowledge of belief
be in conformity with a test or investigation
prove the pursuit or diligent search to be right
be inconsistent with values derived from scientific experiments
Fill the cells in the table with the words derived from the given ones.
Verb
Noun
Adjective
invert
invert, .............
invert, inverted, .............
............
................
contradictious, contradictive, contradictory
................
exhibit, .........., exhibitor, exhibitioner
........., ................, exhibitory
unify
................
_________
...........
.................
extended
conserve
................
..................
.................
.............., gravity
................, gravitative
subject
subject, ........., subjectivity
...............
_________
compatibility
................
Find 9 words from the table above.
e
x
h
i
b
i
t
x
q
c
i
w
n
m
g
r
a
v
i
t
a
t
i
o
n
r
t
s
f
h
j
w
z
y
k
g
x
n
v
s
g
k
d
x
r
s
u
b
j
e
c
t
e
f
h
j
n
m
p
h
s
v
c
x
f
r
r
d
a
r
d
x
r
g
c
a
a
t
o
a
s
d
x
r
c
o
n
s
e
r
v
e
w
d
i
z
b
p
g
u
n
i
f
y
t
n
v
i
o
s
g
k
z
b
p
f
y
o
o
d
l
c
n
f
h
j
f
h
j
w
c
o
m
p
a
t
i
b
l
e
Match the words in the left-hand column with the words in the right-hand column to make phrases. Use each word only once. Translate them into Ukrainian.
1
principle of
a
parity
2
fraction of
b
coordinates
3
inverted
c
energy
4
cling on to
d
theory
5
spring from
e
explanations
6
conservation of
f
relativity
7
instant of
g
aesthetics
8
primordial
h
theories
9
offer
i
a second
10
electroweak
j
symmetry
Fill the gaps with the words given below.
gravity, times, proposed, daydreaming, measurements, relative, sufficed, accuracy, force, equal, asymmetry, leap, a falling stone, acceleration, Newton's law
1)
…
in his job at the Patent Office in Bern, Switzerland, Einstein
considered the case of 2)
…,
drawn towards the ground by 3)
…. The
physicists of the day distinguished between the "inertial mass"
of the stone, as it appeared in 4)
…,
which related the 5)
…
acting on an object to its mass 6)
…
its 7)
…,
and the stone's "gravitational mass", which is its mass as
described in Newton's law of gravity. Precision 8)
…
indicated they were probably the same. Why have two masses when one
9)
…?
It was another 10)
….
Ignoring experimental 11)
…,
Einstein took them to be exactly 12)
…,
a breathtaking 13) ....
which
led him to realise that acceleration and gravity were 14)
…
to each other. This was to be the basis for his general theory of
relativity − a theory scientists often describe as the most
beautiful theory ever 15)
….
Match 1-6 with a-f to make sentences.
1
The great equations of modern physics are a permanent part of scientific knowledge,
a
complex mathematics that described a flexible geometry of space-time whose shape was determined by the bodies in it.
2
Einstein achieved symmetry with his special relativity theory by expressing it in terms of tensors,
b
which would keep its form when moved from one point to another in four-dimensional space-time.
3
Beauty lies in mathematical representation of the theory,
c
predicted particles with negative energy, which everyone thought an impossibility.
4
Einstein was struggling to find a mathematical version of Newton's gravitational theory
d
because mathematics is the means by which scientists represent nature, in the same way artists use paint and canvas.
5
Although experiments are essential for scientific theories, certain theories are just too important, too beautiful,
e
which may outlast even the beautiful cathedrals of earlier ages.
6
Dirac's equation, which was consistent with relativity theory and represented in a mathematics unfamiliar to most physicist, spinors,
f
one could say, to be discarded when the experiments don't go your way.
Fill in the gaps with the appropriate form of the words from the list: discover, develop, pioneer, invent, design, study. You will use some words more than once.
The physicians Marie Curie and her husband Pierre …….. the element radium and won the Nobel Prize for physics.
After years of ……… , Freud ……… a theory of the mind which has changed forever the way we view ourselves.
Brunel ………… the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Marco Polo made journeys through Asia and wrote a book describing what he had …………… .
Edward Jenner ………… the use of vaccination to prevent disease.
I wonder who ……….. the very first computer?
Einstein ……….. the theory of relativity which replaced Newton’s theories of gravity.
Frank Lloyd Wright ………….. the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.
Florence Nightingale ………….. effective nursing care and improvements in public health.
In 1930 Clyde Tombaugh …………. Pluto after many years ………… the night sky.
A cook mixed together charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter and accidentally ……… fireworks.
Find and correct the mistakes in the sentences if there are any.
The festival Diwali marks the beginning of the hindi new year and honors Lakshmi, the hindu goddess of wealth.
Sometimes pollen is carried by creatures like insects and hummingbirds when the pollen stick to their fuzz or feathers.
“Seaweed” is a term used to loose describe various types of algae that live in the sea.
There
are certain kinds of moths who are known on snacking on keratin,
which is a protein found in clothes made from animal-basing
materials
like wool, fur, silk, leather, or feathers.Tiny baby snails are actually born with their shells, although the shell is delicate and not very strong already.
Parents always insist from eating vegetables and fruits in every child's diet for healthyer life but children always stubbornly insist otherwise.
Not only are they pretty, but ladybugs eat aphids − insects that are harmless to the plants of gardeners or farmers.
Choose the correct verb tense for each sentence.
Tomorrow I ….. all day.
will be working b) will work
By the time we get there, the store …… .
a) will close b) will have closed
If you …. to music containing beats at a frequency of 10 Hz, you will automatically generate more brainwaves at this frequency and enter a relaxed Alpha mental state.
a) listen b) will listen
I ...... you tomorrow at 3:00 pm.
a) will see b) see
After we finish this experiment, I …….. all of this researcher's papers.
a) will look through b) will have looked through
Can I come over in an hour? No, I …….. new firewall.
a) will install b) will be installing
This time next week, I ….. the wildlife in the mangrove forests around Sumatra.
a) will be observing b) will observe
Microsoft's next OS …… on PCs, tablets, phones, and the next-gen Xbox.
a) will be running b) will run
You …. your English by the time you come back from the U.S.
a) will perfect b) will have perfected
The results of LHC experiments ....... our fundamental knowledge of the universe.
a) will probably change b) will probably have changed
Fill in each blank by putting the verb in brackets into the correct past tense.
When the 27km long circular tunnel at CERN was excavated, between lake Geneva and the Jura mountain range, the two ends ........ (meet up) with just one centimetre of error.
Life expectancy ….. (soar) by more than 30 years in richer nations during the 20th century and shows no sign of slowing.
It …... (rain) so we …... (decide) to stay at home and spend the afternoon solving brain twisters and crosswords.
By the time I …. (leave) university I ….. (be) to France fifteen times.
I didn't realise I ….. (lose) my credit card until I …... (try) to pay for the book at the store.
I …. (write) an email to my sister when she …... (ring) me.
At a conference last week researchers ......... (describe) the progress that has been made in the science of ageing.
She was so upset by the news that she …... (drop) her tea and …... (start) crying.
Fireworks ……. (originate) in China some 2,000 years ago.
Fill in a, the where necessary.
"The research worker, in his efforts to express the fundamental laws of 1) ..... Nature in mathematical form, should strive mainly for mathematical beauty. He should take 2) ..... simplicity into 3) ...... consideration in 4) ..... subordinate way to beauty ... It often happens that 5) ..... requirements of simplicity and beauty are the same, but where they clash, 6) ..... latter must take 7) ...... precedence." Paul A. M. Dirac
"When I am working on 8) ..... problem, I never think about 9) ...... beauty ... but when I have finished, if 10) ..... solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." R. Buckminster Fuller
Translate the following sentences into English.
Гравітація виявилася деформацією простору викликаною об’єктами, що знаходяться у ньому.
60-65 мільйонів років тому дельфіни та люди мали спільного предка.
Нещодавно вчені виявили, що складні крапельні картини Джексона Поллока (Jackson Pollock) вражаюче схожі на хаотичні системи. Не розуміючи цього, Поллок знайшов спосіб зобразити природу, використовуючи фрактальні форми, які відображають характерну ознаку самої природи.
Коли
елементарна частинка розпадається
через “слабку
взаємодію”,
вона створює
електрон та нейтрино, порушуючи при
цьому парність.Метелики відчувають смак задніми ніжками, а їх відчуття смаку викликається дотиком – це дозволяє їм визначити чи їстівний листок.
Впродовж 20 сторіччя математика поступово почала зазіхати на мистецтво.
Маючи довжину більш ніж 2000 кілометрів, Великий Бар’єрний Риф являє собою найбільшу живу структуру на Землі.
Edit the Ukrainian translation (B).
"I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale. We should not allow it to be believed that all scientific progress can be reduced to mechanisms, machines, gearings, even though such machinery has its own beauty." Marie Curie
"Я належу до числа тих, хто думає, що наука має великий краси. Вчений у своїй лабораторії є не тільки фахівцем: він ще й дитини, яка віддана перед природними явищами, які на нього враження як у казці. Ми не повинні допустити, щоб він вважав, що всі науково-технічного прогресу може бути зведений до механізми, машини, зубчасті передачі, хоча такі машини є своя краса." Марі Кюрі
SPEAKING
Discuss the following questions in small groups or pairs.
How important is science? What has science done for the humankind?
Is science always good? Do you always trust science?
What will science uncover in the next few decades? What will the next big discovery be in science?
What questions will science never answer?
Do you like visiting science museums?
The Japanese anime character Ikari Gendo said: “Science is the power of Man.” What does this mean? Do you agree?
Do you agree with the following statements? Discuss them with your classmates.
Some hundred years from now, art and science may well share a common language. As technology advances, could a new visual language emerge to blur or even obliterate the distinction between art and science?
Perhaps in the future beauty will provide an important criterion for selecting one theory over another, now that theories are emerging which cannot be verified by experimentation as we know it today.
A lot of famous inventions and discoveries were made by chance, for example, corn flakes, microwave ovens, slinky and potato chips. Try to find information about any of such inventions or discoveries and prepare a short story for your groupmates.
Work
in pairs. You are going to read the descriptions of some important
for the history of mankind experiments (Further Reading, UNIT 6).
Student
A reads about
Darwin's
flowers, Student B reads about the first vaccination. Ask each other
questions to fill in the chart.
Experiment
Aim
Results and Implications
Darwin's flowers
The first vaccination
Remember the story how D.I. Mendeleyev developed the periodic classification of the elements.
What inspired scientists to do their breakthrough in science?
Do you believe that important discoveries can be made by chance?
Give examples of discoveries/inventions that were made in unusual circumstances.
LISTENING
You are going to listen to the description of an experiment testing the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis. Before you listen, check if you know the meaning of the words: glycine, alanine, glutamic acid, ammonia, cellular enzymes.
Listen and decide whether the facts from the lecture are true or false.
In 1989, biochemists John Haldane and Aleksander Oparin hypothesized independently that Earth's early atmosphere lacked free oxygen.
Basic organic compounds are proteins and nucleic acids.
The ocean in the experiment was represented by a warmed plate with water.
Organic compounds could form from simple molecules if stimulated by lightning.
The Earth's early oxygen-free atmosphere was mostly composed of helium, methane and ammonia.
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
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In
1958, President Eisenhower signed the Space Act, officially creating
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. From the
beginning, the purpose for the new branch extended beyond space
ships and moon boots. The law stipulated that its research and
advancements should benefit all people, and in its 50-year history,
NASA has certainly fulfilled that role.
Listen to the description of two NASA by-products – smoke detector and cordless tools − and complete the sentences with information from the description.
NASA invented the first adjustable smoke detector with different sensitivity levels …….
The ionization smoke detector uses a radioactive element to spot ………
The americium-241 ionizes clean air particles, which creates ………
Black & Decker invented the first battery-powered tools in ……...
NASA needed a tool that astronauts could use to obtain samples …………
Black & Decker’s computer program for the tool reduced the amount of power expended during use to …….…
Listen again and write down adjectives which describe the inventions.
WRITING
Choose any 4 phrases from exercise 16 and use them in your own sentences.
Scientists should be free to carry out any experiments they like regardless of utility, cost and ethics. Write a short opinion essay (120−180 words) expressing your point of view.
Choose two of the questions asked by children from the list below and write a response.
Do
fish go to sleep?Why do fairies have wands?
Why does cheese have holes?
Why do flamingos stand on one leg?
Why
do dark clouds absorb heat?Why do mermaids have tails?
What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable?
How does a compass know which way north is?
Translate the following sentences into Ukrainian. Student A – sentences 1-5, Student B – sentences 6-10, then check each other and translate them back into English. Student A – sentences 6-10, Student B – sentences 1-5.
The past is peppered with true artist-scientists such as Albrecht Dürer and Leonardo da Vinci, whose studies of projective geometry and perspective led to the concept of infinity in western science.
The interstellar gas cloud Sagittarius B contains billion liters of alcohol.
Caves breathe. They inhale and exhale great quantities of air when the barometric pressure on the surface changes, and air rushes in and out seeking equilibrium.
Artists use scientific equipment and concepts, scientists employ aesthetics. Both deal with visual imagery and metaphor.
The average person accidentally eats 430 bugs each year of their life.
Polar bears are nearly undetectable by infrared cameras due to their transparent fur.
Einstein’s aesthetic sense failed him: he dismissed black holes as an ugly solution to a beautiful theory.
A dying star might begin an eternal collapse and fall into a well in space from which nothing could escape, not even light − what we now know as a black hole.
The beauty of the mathematics of quantum theory turns out to be fine-tuned, linking each symmetry in nature to a law of conservation, such as the conservation of energy and of momentum.
As the ancient Greeks knew, beauty can be enhanced by a small degree of asymmetry. Nature agrees.
Look through the Encyclopedia Britannica explanations of some common concepts. Try to guess what concept is being described in each definition. Rewrite any 3 definitions as if answering the question of a child.
The biologically active porous medium that has developed in the uppermost layer of the Earth’s crust.
In botany, dry, hard fruit that does not split open at maturity to release its single seed.
Cloud
of small water droplets near ground level that is dense enough to
reduce horizontal visibility to less than about 1.000m. Reproductive portion of any flowering plant.
Large mass of ice that forms on land through the recrystallization of snow and that moves forward under its own weight.
Rapid burning of combustible material with the evolution of heat and usually accompanied by flame.
Food product made from cocoa beans, consumed as candy and used to make beverages and as a flavouring ingredient or coating for various confections and bakery products.
In geometry, a two-dimensional collection of points, the boundary of any three-dimensional solid. In chemistry, outermost layer of a material or substance.
An animal fibre produced by certain insects as building material for cocoons and webs.
A
ridge or swell on the surface of a body of water, normally having a
forward motion distinct from the oscillatory motion of the particles
that successively compose it.
Find information about any interesting, strange or important scientific experiments and present the results of your research to the class in the form of a poster or short presentation.
PROBLEM-SOLVING
T
ry
to understand pure logic (see Problem-Solving, UNIT 6).