Lesson 3

Scientific Breakthroughs

Lesson 3

Scientific Breakthroughs

Creativity in science could be described

as the act of putting two and two together

to make five.

Creativity in science could be described

as the act of putting two and two together

to make five.

Do you know the major

discoveries of the scientists in the

pictures?

Before you start

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was

considered the greatest

scientist of the 20th

century and one of the

greatest of all time. His

greatest discovery is the

creation of his famous

Theory of Relativity. E = mc2

He also discovered famous

mathematical statement E=mc2

(energy equals mass times the speed

of light squared). This statement or

formula explained that a great

amount of energy could come from a

small piece of matter.

Edwin Hubble

American astronomer. His most important discovery was made in the 1920s. In the late 19th century, Hubble’s study leads to the most important astronomical discovery of the twentieth century -- the expanding universe.

And he proved that nebulae ( 星云 )

were galaxies themselves. Astronom

ers now agree that far distant galax

ies do exist. To honor him, the first

telescope was named after him.

beautiful space

Hubble space telescope

哈勃空间望远镜是人类第一座太空望远镜 , 总长度超过 13 米 , 质量为 11 吨多 , 运行在地球大气层外缘离地面约 600 公里的轨道上。它大约每 100 分钟环绕地球一周。哈勃望远镜是由美国国家航空航天局和欧洲航天局合作 , 于 1990 年发射入轨的。

哈勃望远镜是以天文学家爱德文 · 哈勃的名字命名的。按计划 , 它将在 200

9 年被詹姆斯韦布太空望远镜所取代。哈勃望远镜的角分辨率达到小于 0.1

秒 , 每天可以获取 3 到 5G 字节的数据。

Alexander

Fleming

(1881-1955)

Scottish biochemistFebruary 14, 1929 --- Fleming Discovers Penicillin.Sir Alexander Fleming was a young bacteriologist when an accidental discovery led to one of the great developments of modern medicine.

John William

Mauchly

(1907.8.30 – 1980.1.8)

J. Presper Eckert

John William Mauchly

was an American physi

cist who, along with his

student J. Presper Eck

ert designed ENIAC, t

he first commercial co

mputer made in the U

nited States.

这是美国军方要求宾州大学莫奇来(Mauchly) 博士和他的学生爱克特(Eckert) 设计的 , 准备用来计算炮弹及火箭、导弹的弹道 , 它最终在原子弹的研制中发挥了极大的作用。

世界上第一台电子计算机“埃尼阿克”

世界上第一台通用数字电子计算机ENIAC 的问世 , 宣告了人类从此进入电子计算机时代。

ENIAC: 长 30.48 米 , 宽 1 米 , 占地面积 170 平方米 ,30 个操作台 , 约相当于10 件普通房间的大小 , 重达 30 吨 , 耗电量 150 千瓦 , 造价 48 万美元。它使用 18000 个电子管 ,70000 个电阻 ,100

00 个电容 ,1500 个继电器 ,6000 多个开关 , 每秒执行 5000 次加法或 400 次乘法 , 是继电器计算机的 1000 倍、手工计算的 20 万倍。

Wilbur Wright and his brother Orville used the ideas they had developed from their earlier experiments with the toy helicopter, kites, printing machine and bicycles to design their own flying machine.

Orville Wright (1871)

Wilbur Wright (1867)

On December 17th, 1903, they made t

he world’s first flight in a machine th

at was heavier than air and powered

by an engine. Orville flew the plane t

hirty-nine meters. He was in the air f

or 12 seconds.

起飞 : 奥维尔 · 莱特 ( 躺在飞机的下翼上 ) 于 1903 年进行了第一次动力飞行。

Try to match the discoveries with

how they were discovered?

1. E = mc2

2. penicillin

3. the first comp

uter

4. other galaxies

a. Scientists worked

together as a team

b. There was a lucky accident

c. A scientist did research for many years

d. A scientist was inspired

Read the text and check your

guesses from Exercise 2.

Read to learn

1. Einstein was at work when he thought

of the equation “E=mc2 ”.

This outspoken young man was rocking

his one-year-old baby when he was

suddenly inspired. “E=mc2”was born.

Careful ReadingCareful Reading

F

Are these statements true or false

according to the text or is there no

information?

2. Einstein participated in the program

that developed the nuclear bomb.

3. Einstein observed changes in time, size

and mass.

Einstein then showed in his “theory of relativity” that not even time, mass or length are constant ---they change according to our experience of them.

NI

F

4. Hubble studied the universe for over twenty years.

He began the long, slow process of exploring our galaxy.

5. Hubble discovered that our galaxy is bigger than we thought it was.

He discovered small areas of mist which were in fact galaxies like own, millions of light years …than had previously been thought.

NI

NI

6. Fleming had been studying bacteria

in his laboratory when the discovery

happened.

He left for holiday. When he

returned, he found it.

F

7. There was a blue mould around the bacteria in the dish.

He double-checked and saw a blue mould in the dish around which the bacteria had been destroyed.

8. Fleming developed the process for making penicillin.

He said: “Nature made it, and he found it.”

T

F

9. The first computer project failed to

meet its original goal.

The US navy wanted to improve the

accuracy of their missiles. But they

only finished after the war in 1946.

10. The first computer was extremely

difficult to program. NI

T

11. The scientists who discovered microwa

ves invented microwave ovens.

We have Percy Spencer to thank. This

inventor, with 120 patents to his name,

discovered microwaves when he was ex

perimenting with Radars and noticed a

chocolate melting in his pockets.

T

12. Today, it is possible to donate your h

eart to hospital when you die.

Medical advances ranged from disco

vering the causes of diseases under

microscopes to surgical procedures r

eplacing diseases organs with donate

d ones.

T

Vocabulary: Compound Words

Match the categories (a-e) with the

examples from the text (1-5). Then add

examples of your own.

1. breakthrough;

outcome

2. CD player; jet

engine

a) compound noun

(noun + noun)

b) compound noun

(verb +

preposition)

c) compound noun

adjective + noun

d) compound verb

e) compound adjective

3. mass-produce;

double-check

4. one-year-old;

world-famous;

far-reaching

5. flying machine;

nuclear bomb

sentences in the text :

1. Amazing discoveries were made in medicine,

communications and transport , not to mention our

knowledge of the world and space.

( 注意被动语态的使用可以使句子不那么的单调 )

本学期我们班的每个同学都在认真做事情 , 因此 ,

我们班取得了很大的成绩 .

This term everyone of our class has been doing

things with great concern , so great achievements

have been made in class.

2 . Medical advances ranged from discovering the

causes of diseases under microscopes to surgical

procedures replacing diseased organs with donated

ones.

range from …. to …: 从．．．到．．．

replace sth with sth : 用．．．替代．．．

3. … and meanwhile, scientists figured out how

to split the atom, ( which was ) previously thought

to be the smallest particle of matter in the

universe. meanwhile : adv . \ n. 与此同时，在此期间

Meanwhile revolution had begun in Germany.

Meanwhile, I shall go out now and search the

moors. ( 荒野，旷野）　Jack ran for a doctor; meanwhile we stayed with

the patient .

in the meanwhile : 　与此同时，在此期间In the meanwhile I shall go for a few days

to Oxford perhaps.

figure out : １）算出；　２）想出，弄清，理解　明白

We must figure out how to do it .

Please help me to figure out my income tax.

Laurence is an odd boy; I can’t figure him out.

3. Single out : 单单挑出

He was singled out to succeed his uncle .

They all did wrong: why single him out for

punishment ?

4.Wrestle with the problems: 努力解决难以处理　的问题

　 Wrestle with a problem, a difficulty,

one’s conscience 与．．．某人的良心搏斗　

　 wrestle with sb : 与某人摔交

５ . be dedicated to doing sth : 致力于做．．． be devoted to doing

6. It measured 100 feet long by over 10 f

eet high and weighed over 30 tons.

measure 有… ... 的尺寸 The room measures five meters acro

ss.

这房间有五米宽。 The boat measures twenty feet long.

这船计二十英尺。

7. by mistake : by chance = by accident

7. turn to 转向 ,变成 , 求助于 , 开始行动

The baby fell down. He turned to his

mother for help.

to turn love to hate 转爱为恨8. turn on 开启 ,变得兴奋 , 开始 turn on the radio 打开录音机 turn the gun on sb. 把枪对准某人 turn on sb. 对某人发火

9. go out 出去 , 熄灭 , 过时 What a pleasant weather. Why not g

o out for a walk?

天气多好啊 , 为什么不出去散散步 ?

July went out with rain.

七月随着雨水过去了。 Short skirts went out some time ago.

短裙不久以前才不流行了。

10. make contributions to 　贡献 These scientists made great contribut

ions to our society.

The invention of the electricity made

great contributions to all of us.

11. Albert Einstein was aware of rec

ent developments, such as Mari

e Curie’s research, but he had be

en working on his own.

had been doing 过去完成进行时

过去完成进行时表示过去某一时刻之前开始的动作或状态一直延续到过去某一时刻。例如 :

It had been raining cats and dogs for

over a week and the downpour had ca

used landslides in many places.