Science and Method

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• 科学家研究自然，并非因为它有用处；他研究它，是因为他喜欢它，他之所以喜欢它，是因为它是美的。如果自然不美，它就不值得了解；如果自然不值得了解，生命也就不值得活着。当然，我在这里所说的没，不是打动感官的美，也不是质地美和外观美；并非我小看这样的 没，完全不是，而是它与科学无关；我意指那种比较深奥的没，这种没来自各部分的和谐秩序，并且纯粹的离职能够把握它。正是这种美给与物体，也可以说是给与结构以让我们的感官满意的彩虹般的外观，而没有这种支持，这些倏忽即逝的梦幻之美只能是不完美的，因为它是模糊的，纵使短暂的。相反的，离职美可以充分达到其自身，科学家之所以投身于长期而艰巨的劳动，也许为理智美甚于为人类未来的福利。 正因为简单是美的，正因为宏伟是美的，所以我们宁可寻求简单的事实、崇高的事实；我们时而乐于追寻星球的雄伟路线；我们时而乐于用显微镜观察极其微小的东西，这也是一种宏伟；我们乐于在地质时代寻找过去的痕迹，它之所以吸引人，是因为它年代久远。 (查看原文)

  Eukelade 1赞 2017-06-08 21:34:21

• But scientists believe that there is a hierarchy of facts, and that a judicious selection can be made. They are right, for otherwise there would be no science, and science does exist... This shows us how our selection should be made. The most interesting facts are those which can be used several times, those which have a chance of recurring. We have been fortunate enough to be born in a world where there are such facts. Suppose that instead of eighty chemical elements we had eighty millions, and that they were not some common and others rare, but uniformly distributed. Then each time we picked up a new pebble there would be a strong probability that it was composed of some unknown substance. Nothing that we knew of other pebbles would tell us anything about it. Before each new object we sh... (查看原文)

  ௵ 1赞 2018-06-20 19:43:41

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