Biographies of World Famous People: Volume 6 Scientists (French-Chinese Contrastive Translation)

Author: Zhang Xiaoxue
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: Generally speaking, among the various well-known titles, the title of "scientist" is particularly distinctive. Science is both close to and far from people's lives. It is close because it is closely related to people's lives. Everything that brings convenience, comfort, and enjoyment to modern society is largely thanks to science—cars, trains, airplanes, electricity, computers, and the internet, and so on. All these things that modern people cannot live without have emerged with the development of technology. However, when science transcends the concept of utilitarianism, those exquisite ideas, meticulous reasoning, painstaking calculations, and experiments are beyond the reach of ordinary people. Despite this, people still hold renowned scientists in high esteem—while still having only a superficial understanding of their theories. For example, people all over the world know Einstein and his famous theory of relativity, but how many truly understand it? Regardless, humanity's reverence for scientists—or science itself—is well-deserved. The more humanity progresses, the more it realizes that among the countless forces driving history forward, few can be compared to science. Science changes not only human life but more so human perspectives. Although this change is sometimes cold, unromantic, and even a little bloody, it is decisive and undeniable, and people have no choice but to accept it. In the 16th century, those "bold and reckless" humanists, trembling in the dark as they dissected corpses, discovered that both men and women have twenty-four ribs. The myth in the Bible that women were created from one of Adam's ribs was disproven effortlessly. And after Galileo's telescope was invented in 1609, numerous new astronomical phenomena were discovered. The heliocentric theory, which had been largely ignored, gradually gained the upper hand in competition with the Ptolemaic system, which had been revered by the Church for millennia, and ultimately replaced it. Through this, humanity also learned that the planet it stood on was far from the center of the universe. The invention of gunpowder made sharp swords and spears seem obsolete, and when the Maxim machine gun appeared on the battlefield, the proud cavalry, which had dominated for centuries, gradually felt powerless and eventually found its final under the rumbling tank tracks. Finally, when American astronaut Neil Armstrong left his first human footprint on the moon's surface on July 20, 1969, and spoke those famous words, the age-old myths of the moon palace and Chang'e seemed utterly outdated. The demise of mythology is somewhat regrettable, but it highlights the rigor and boundless power of science. In the great tide of science that pushes humanity forward, people can always see the figures of scientists, both famous and unknown, writing about their life experiences, showcasing their struggles, achievements, and brilliance. It is always meaningful to do so, and this is precisely why the editor compiled this book.