Chapter 2 Translation Preface From Science Popularization to Public Understanding of Science

As an admirer of Sagan and a person who has been engaged in the research of scientific theory of public understanding for a long time, I translated this book tremblingly with reverence.I hope that on the second anniversary of Sagan's death, more people in the country can understand Sagan, his thoughts, his character and his life dedicated to science.I hope that after reading this book, readers can learn more about what science is, what kind of person a scientist is, what kind of job a scientific job is, and some people in the history of the world are opposing science, defaming science, borrowing What are the various anti-science things done under the banner of science, and what is the relationship between science and our society, our culture, our political system, and even our daily life.If the publication of this book in China can play such a role to some extent, then I think Sagan will feel gratified under the nine springs.Because it is in line with his thinking and the spirit of disseminating science that he has always advocated.

1. Sagan - the greatest contemporary scientist and science popularization expert Dr. Carl Sagan is a professor of astronomy at Cornell University.At the same time, he is a world-renowned popular science writer.His incisive insights into science make him "the only scientist who can explain in simple and concise terms what science is."He became the most influential figure of this century. Born on November 9, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York, Carl Edward Sagan received a BA in physics in 1955, an MS in physics in 1956, and a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics in 1960 from the University of Chicago.He has taught at Harvard since the early 1960s. In 1971, he became a full professor at Cornell University. On December 20, 1996, the greatest contemporary scientist and science writer died at the age of 62 at the Fred Hutchins Cancer Research Center after a two-year battle with bone marrow cancer.

Carl Sagan's life research results are amazing.His research focuses on the greenhouse effect on Venus, seasonal changes on Mars, the long-term environmental impact of atomic warfare, the origin of life on Earth, and the exploration of extraterrestrial intelligent life.He is one of the founders and pioneers of astrobiology.He has long served as a master's and doctoral supervisor in astronomy and space science at Cornell University.During his serious illness, he was still instructing his students.He is the most respected professor at Cornell University. Carl Sagan played an important role in NASA's "Voyager", "Pirate", "Voyager" and "Galileo" space exploration programs.For this, he received a Special Scientific Achievement Award from NASA, two Distinguished Public Service Awards, and NASA's Apollo Achievement Award.In addition to receiving recognition and awards from NASA, Sagan also holds 22 honorary degrees from American universities and colleges in recognition of his significant contributions to science, literature, education and environmental protection.Received numerous awards for his outstanding contributions to the long-term consequences of atomic warfare and opposition to nuclear weapons.He has also received many awards from other departments, such as the John F. Kennedy Space Navigation Award of the United States Space Navigation Committee; the 75th Annual Meeting Award of the Explorers Club; the Konstantin Tchaikovsky Award of the Soviet Aeronautical Federation the Masusky Medal of the American Astronomical Society; the Public Welfare Medal of the National Academy of Sciences; the highest award of the National Academy of Sciences for "outstanding contributions to the application of science to the public good."

Sagan is president of the Planetary Science Society of the American Astronomical Association, president of the Planetary Research Society of the Federation of American Geophysical Societies, and president of the Planetary Society of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.He served as the editor-in-chief of the authoritative planetary journal "Icarus" for 12 consecutive years.Sagan is a co-founder of the Planetary Society, the world's largest planetary-focused organization with 100,000 members.This organization provides support for radio contact research projects in the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life and research projects on asteroids near Earth.Sagan was also a visiting scientist at the Jet Propulsion Institute in California and a contributing editor for the journal A Space Odyssey.In this journal he published many papers.During his serious illness, he also wrote several articles related to his illness.

Carl Sagan is also a great science popularization expert and science educator. In 1980, he launched the large-scale 16-episode TV series "Universe", which aroused extremely strong repercussions in the world. This TV series was translated into more than 10 languages ​​and screened in more than 60 countries, with an audience of 500 million. !The TV series won the M. Peabody Award.The popular science book accompanying this TV series is the best-selling book with the largest circulation in the "New York Times" for 70 consecutive weeks, and is the largest circulation book in the history of popular science books published in English.He wrote a lot in his life.In addition to various popular science articles, he has written 30 books.Among them, "Dragon of Eden", "Broca's Brain", "The Road No One Thinks: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race", "Shadows of Forgotten Predecessors", "Contact", "Comet", Books such as "Intelligent Life in the Universe" and "The Light Blue Dot: A Vision for Humanity's Future in the Universe" have been translated into several languages. "Dragon of Eden" also won the Pulitzer Prize in the United States.

Carl Sagan's fruitful work in popular science has earned him the respect and love of American teenagers.His popularity surpasses all movie stars, singers, and even political leaders.In 1991, he was named at the top of the list of "Ten Smartest People" by American teenagers.And Swarzkopf, who made a big splash in the Gulf War and made illustrious military exploits, only ranked second, while Reagan and Bush ranked fourth and sixth respectively.He is also a member of the American Committee for the Scientific Inquiry of Paranormal Claims, for which he received the 1987 Defense of Reason Award. In 1994, he won the first "Asimov Award".

2. Science—the noble cause of exploring and defending the truth Dr. Carl Sagan's book "The Haunted World—Science, A Candle to Light the Darkness" was his last work before his death.It set a record for the best best-selling book that year.The author has followed Sagan's works for many years, and has some understanding of his thoughts.It should be said that this is one of Sagan's many works that fully reflects his thoughts.The author expounds the difference between science and non-science with extensive knowledge, sharp thinking, penetrating disclosure, penetrating analysis and thought-provoking enlightenment.Passionately praised the great contributions of scientists in human life and the happiness that science has brought to mankind.The whole book is full of rational thinking and scientific spirit, and deeply criticizes pseudoscience and the anti-scientific consciousness hidden behind pseudoscience from a scientific point of view.

The spiritual world is rich and colorful, but what is the source of the spiritual world?Sagan wrote in the book: "When science and nature meet, science will inevitably make people feel awe of nature. The act of true understanding of nature is the joy of combining and merging with nature. Happiness, even a small degree of union can make people feel the grandeur and grandeur of the universe. The world-wide body of knowledge accumulated over time has made science a transcendence that transcends borders and ages. Intellectual stuff of all boundaries. The word 'spirit' is derived from the Latin word 'breath'. What we breathe is air, however thin it may be, but there is no doubt that it is matter. Although the word 'spirit' Use is in contrast to matter, but none of us can talk about the fundamental meaning of the word 'spiritual' in isolation from matter (including the matter that makes up the brain). Sometimes I use the word loosely. Science is not only in harmony with spirituality , and is a deep source of spirituality. When we grasp the intricacies, brilliance, and exquisiteness of life, we have a feeling of soaring, a combination of elation and self-humbling Feeling. Spiritual, no doubt. How we feel when we are in the presence of great art, music, or literature, when we are in the presence of such admirable acts of selfless courage and deeds as Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. It is also spiritual. The mutual exclusion of science and spirituality in a certain way will have a damaging effect on both sides.” Sagan believes in the book that when humans discover that the age of the universe is 8 billion to 15 billion years, not 6000 In 12,000 years or 12,000 years, human beings have a deeper understanding of the changes and profound grandeur of the universe.When human beings understand that human beings are just a complex combination of atoms, rather than the creation of some gods, human beings at least increase their admiration for atoms.Human vision was greatly enhanced when we realized that the planet we live on is but one of billions in the Milky Way, and that this galaxy is only one of billions. expand.When humans discovered that their ancestors were also the ancestors of monkeys, humans knew the relationship between themselves and other creatures and increasingly realized the significance of this discovery.

No matter how human beings view science, everything about human beings is closely related to science.It is impossible for human beings to return to ignorance.Humanity is better off making good use of science.When at last we realize the beauty and power of science, we shall find that it has done us great good, both spiritually and practically.However, superstition and pseudoscience are still prevailing today, confusing people's thinking, giving rash and casual answers to complicated questions, and adopting evasive methods to deal with doubts, making people panic and confused, and turning a blind eye to the facts as passing clouds .Superstition and pseudoscience keep us in a rut and make people fall prey to credulity.Indeed, if UFOs lurk in the depths off Bermuda and devour planes and ships, if dead people can mentally vibrate telephone receivers and disengage them, if our dreams can be interpreted, if we can use what we know about the world How fascinating the world would be if the knowledge we knew accurately predicted the future!

But all of this is an example of pseudoscience.They claim that they are using scientific methods and discoveries, but in fact they are completely deviating from the essence of science.This is because they lack sufficient evidence for all of their conclusions, while discarding evidence that would support a different conclusion.They can tell lies as if they were true, making it easy for people to believe them.Many newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, radio stations, television stations, and film companies have cooperated without in-depth research, so that these pseudo-scientific ideas have been widely and massively disseminated.The dissemination of these ideas adds to the difficulty of alternative interpretations of facts, of new ideas brought about by new discoveries in science.

Sagan put it brilliantly when speaking of pseudoscience: "Truth can be admirable or counterintuitive. Truth can contradict deeply held beliefs. Experiments are what get us to truth. In dozens of At a banquet years ago, someone toasted the physicist Robert W. Wood and said: "Cheers to physics and metaphysics!" At that time, when people mentioned metaphysics, they meant philosophy or the truth that could be obtained only by thinking. , may also include pseudoscience. Wood replied: "If a physicist has an idea, he has to think about it. The deeper he thinks, the deeper he understands. He has to refer to scientific literature. He The more he reads, the clearer his prospect of the realization of this idea becomes. After making these preparations, he will go into the laboratory and conduct experiments with scientific instruments. Experiments make scientists sleepless nights, painstaking efforts, and hardships. He To conduct experiments and tests on all possibilities, he must keep improving the experimental data and minimize the possibility of errors. Regardless of the consequences, he just goes all out and proceeds according to the progress of the experiment. After careful experiments, in At the end of the research work, he may find that the original idea is worthless. At this point, the physicist will leave the experiment and the results aside, free his mind from a pile of mistakes, and go to other things. research.’ Wood raised his glass aloft, concluding: ‘The difference between physics and metaphysics is not that the practitioners are smarter than the other, but that the metaphysicians have no laboratories.’” Sagan went on to say that metaphysicians have been defended by saying that their ideas are misunderstood to the same extent as true science, and that their ideas would be equally acceptable if their language were not tampered with and misinterpreted by others.If you have never heard of science (not to mention the scientific research process), it is impossible for you to realize that what you accept is pseudoscience, and you will use the general thinking method of human beings to think about problems.Religion is often a government-protected nursery for pseudoscience, although there is no reason why it should work that way.In some countries, almost everyone believes in astrology and prediction, including government leaders.But these are not simply drilled into their heads by religion, but by the cultural environment in which these practices are readily accepted and affirmed everywhere. For most of human history, humans were fearful and terrified of the outside world.Because human beings cannot predict possible dangers.Humans readily accept any explanation that reduces their fear.Science has achieved great success in understanding the world, mastering the development laws of things, controlling itself and guiding safe navigation.Sagan said: "A country will perish because of lack of knowledge. Avoidable human disasters will happen more in these countries because of ignorance and stupidity, especially when the people lack understanding of themselves. Especially in New Zealand As the 2000s approaches, I am troubled that pseudoscientific superstitions seem to become more challenging every year." He further elaborates on the important differences between science and pseudoscience: "Pseudoscience and error Science is different.” “Science is developed on the basis of correcting one mistake after another. Science often draws incorrect conclusions, but these conclusions are not final, but temporary. Scientists always It is to establish a hypothesis first, and then to determine whether it is correct or not. Whether any hypothesis can be finally proved to be feasible depends entirely on experiments and observations. Science gradually deepens its understanding of the facts themselves through exploration and twists and turns. When When a scientific hypothesis is proven to be wrong, any attempt to keep it secret is undoubtedly very harmful. Since such disproof of the hypothesis is considered to be the core of the scientific enterprise. But pseudoscience is just the opposite. Pseudoscientific Hypotheses are carefully crafted to guard against any experiment that would provide evidence to the contrary, so they cannot be considered invalid even in principle. Practitioners of pseudoscience adopt a defensive strategy and are cautious. They fight back fiercely against their Any investigation and research that casts doubt on the arguments of a scientist. When their assumptions do not stand up to investigation and questioning by scientists, they devise conspiracies to suppress the opinions of scientists." "The strict distinction between science and pseudoscience may be that , science has a much deeper awareness of human imperfection and the inevitability of making mistakes than pseudoscience. If we firmly reject the basic common sense that people are bound to make mistakes, we must Mistakes are perpetually made, and grave ones at that. But if we have the courage to judge ourselves a little, no matter how dismal, our chances of success are greatly increased." "If only Talk about scientific discoveries and results, no matter how useful and even encouraging they may be, how can people tell what is science and what is pseudoscience if we don't explain the rigorous research methods of science to every public What? What is presented to the public are assertions without evidence. Authoritative science is what the authorities say is science. Only you can judge science and pseudoscience.” 3. The Ultimate Purpose of Science Communication—Infusing the Spirit of Science into National Culture It is still unclear when the activities of human dissemination of science and technology began.However, Western scholars believe that one thing should be affirmed, that is, when human beings use science and technology to engage in production activities, the activities of disseminating scientific and technological knowledge and information have already begun, but the characteristics are different in each stage of historical development. Just different.This is determined by the nature of human beings as social animals.And with the development of society, as the degree of socialization of people increases, the degree of dissemination of scientific and technological knowledge also increases.In other words, the spread of science and technology is an inevitable behavior determined by human sociality. However, as humans become more rational in communicating science and technology, people, especially scientists and engineers, are constantly asking the question: What is the relationship between science and the public?What is the purpose of disseminating science and technology? From the 18th to the 19th century, the result of the evolution of human civilization—the dissemination of knowledge is still in a broad stage, that is to say, the knowledge of science and technology has not yet occupied an important position in the dissemination of knowledge.At that time, the dissemination of human knowledge was still a kind of "Diffusion of Knowledge".After entering this century, until the 1940s, the communication of science and technology began to show an active trend, and the contents of science and technology in books, newspapers, radio and other media increased greatly. Western scholars called this stage "Popularization of Science" (Popularization of Science). Science), which is what we call "science popularization" today. In the 1940s and after the two world wars, the speed and quality of science and technology dissemination have undergone major changes along with human demands for their own rights, economic development, and increased concern for the environment.The general public has turned from blind obedience, expectation, admiration, and even superstition to calm thinking and doubts about the impact of science and technology on human beings.Especially after World War II, questions were raised about the purpose of science and the ills of technology.Wartime science produced weapons of mass destruction such as atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs. Scientists used human bodies to conduct biological weapon experiments and chemical experiments. Chemical industrialization had a destructive impact on the environment on which human beings depend, especially the ozone layer. In 1962, the representative work of American female scientist Rachel Carson revealed to the general public the destructive impact of chemical technology on the human living environment in plain language and in the form of prophecy for the first time.The public begins thinking and discussing the impact of science and technology.People have changed from "science is omnipotent" in the past to doubting and questioning the role of science, so that human beings have adopted a calm and scrutinizing attitude towards the results of their own intelligence.In a societal sense, this is progress for humanity, not a step backwards by denying science.The public's examination of the morality of scientists, the impact of technology, and the relationship between science and the environment, and between science and human beings has led to the full participation of the public in scientific issues. A relationship of simple indoctrination and acceptance transforms into a new type of relationship.The dissemination of science and technology has changed from the simple popularization of science and technology in the past to the public understanding of science and technology.Scientists and the scientific community are placing greater emphasis on the social value of science than ever before.Scholars call this relationship "Public Understanding of Science" (Public Un-derstanding of Science).In this sense, the relationship between science and the public is closer to the original intention of Understanding.There is an interactive relationship between science and the public. "Science and technology and other important parts of society are in a state of interaction" (see "Science and Social Order", written by Barber, translated by Gu Xin, Joint Publishing; 1986 edition).Among the other important parts of society, there is undoubtedly the subject that constitutes the active factor of society-human beings.This important trend of change in the flow of scientific information embodies the value of "Peoplism" in human culture in the world. In the 1980s, the communication activities of human science and technology entered a new stage.Dr. Miller, vice president of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, proposed three standards for public scientific literacy in 1989: (1) basic understanding of scientific and technical terms and concepts; (2) basic understanding of scientific research processes and methods; ( 3) Reach a basic understanding of the social impact of science.Once his basic idea was put forward, it won the approval of all countries in the world.These three criteria embody today's new relationship between science and the public, as opposed to the simple, top-down indoctrination of the past.The term "science popularization" only refers to the behavior of human beings to spread scientific and technological knowledge, but cannot completely and comprehensively cover the relationship between science and the public. From a functional point of view, the national scientific literacy required by a modern democratic society has also changed from allowing the public to understand scientific knowledge in the past to enabling the public to have a basic scientific spirit.This scientific spirit is the curiosity, the spirit of exploring the truth, the spirit of doubt, the awareness and ability to participate in decision-making, and the empirical awareness that Sagan constantly mentioned in this book.As Carl Sagan said: "For those who are engaged in the popularization of science, the great challenge is how to explain scientific discoveries, objective truth, tortuous history and people's misunderstanding of science to people, as well as the practitioners of science. An occasional display of persistent tenacity that never changes course. Many, probably most, textbooks for the training of scientists deal little The wisdom derived from the accumulated questions about nature is much simpler than the method of systematically teaching the scattered accumulation of human wisdom. The scientific method may seem cumbersome and crude, but it is more important than scientific discovery. Much more important." Scientific literacy is very important to the general public.A public group far removed from science and without scientific literacy cannot afford the demands of a democracy.Because in a democracy, public opinion is an important factor in the decision-making process, and the higher the degree of democracy, the greater its influence.While a fuller understanding of the scientific factors of a particular problem does not necessarily lead to agreement on the best decision, it does at least lead to more informed, and therefore best, decision-making choices.From this point of view, without a certain degree of scientific literacy, there can be no democracy and progress in the country and society. Scientific literacy is also very important for scientists.A scientist is an expert engaged in scientific and technological work in a certain social sense.They are people in society first, and then they are experts and scholars in a certain field.Maxwell, Einstein, and Darwin are scientists, and their contributions to mankind are enormous.What they left to mankind is not only the achievements of science, but also the embodiment of social justice and the values ​​of integrity that represent the essence of human beings.From them, we can see the essence of science and the correct development direction of science.However, there are also scientists who advocate the use of atomic weapons to kill people, and scientists who use the human body as a bacterial weapon. There are also scientists who sell their bodies and serve as minions when the country is at an important juncture, and there are also scientists who betray the conscience of scientists for personal gain.They are worthy of being a generation of masters in science, but what they did also deviated from the essence of science.They are scientists with scientific knowledge but no scientific spirit.In this sense, having sufficient scientific knowledge does not necessarily have a scientific spirit.However, to have a scientific spirit must have sufficient scientific knowledge. The essence and core connotation of the public (including scientists themselves) to understand scientific activities is a deep understanding of the nature of science, the understanding and maintenance of the values ​​that science brings to human beings, and the desire and maintenance of rationality.Not just the indoctrination of scientific knowledge.In this sense, it is not only the responsibility of scientists, but also the duty of the entire public to understand the nature of science, maintain the purity of science, and firmly grasp the course of the scientific ship.The public's understanding of this obligation requires the enlightenment and education of scientists and relevant institutions. This is the real purpose of the public's understanding of science. Although my country is an ancient civilization with a history of 5,000 years, its splendid culture can indeed make people feel proud and proud.Although there have been thinkers and scientists who had a great influence on the history of world civilization in the history of our country, in modern history, our ancestors and modern people have done many things that are incomprehensible and ridiculous to the world civilized society. stupid thing.And, the element of doing these stupid things still exists today.The scientific spirit is far from entering our culture.Science is far from becoming an integral part of our Chinese national culture.Without the overall improvement of the scientific literacy of all citizens, it will be impossible for the Chinese nation to take off in the next century.Scientists, engineers, scholars, and media workers who are working in the field of science communication should clearly realize that the day when the scientific literacy and other literacy of all citizens improve is the time when the Chinese nation takes off and the Chinese people are respected by the world.And we have a long way to go. In the process of translating this book, I have received the care and support of many people in the scientific and popular science circles.Due to the complexity of the content involved in this book and the many categories of science involved, I had to consult scholars in various fields during the translation process.They have helped me tremendously.Here, I would like to thank Professor Guo Zhengyi and Professor Li Yuan in particular, and I would also like to thank Dr. Liu Huajie, Dr. Pan Tao, Master Zou Rui, Master Wang Min, Master Ren Xinrong and Comrade Miao Yonghua from Peking University, Dr. Guo Bing from Tsinghua University, Dr. Master Zhao Fu and Dr. Wu Yueping from Jilin University put forward very specific revisions to the translation.Without their help, the translation of this book would not have been successful. Sometimes, time and quality are a pair of contradictions.Due to some problems in the translation process, the time is very tight, coupled with the limited level, there must be mistakes in the translation, readers are welcome to criticize and correct. Li Daguang July 2, 1998