The meanings of “science”and “technology”have changed significantly from one generation to another. More similarities than differences, however, can be found between the terms, (46)Both science and technology imply a thinking process, both are concerned with causal relationships in the material world, and both employ an experimental methodology that results in empirical demonstrations that can be verified by repetition. (47)Science, at least in theory, is less concerned with the practicality of its results and more concerned with the development of general laws, but in practice science and technology are inextricably involved with each other. The varying interplay of the two can be observed in the historical development of such practitioners as chemists, engineers, physicists, astronomers, carpenters, potters, and many other specialists. Differing educational requirements, social status, vocabulary, methodology, and types of rewards, as well as institutional objectives and professional goals, contribute to such distinctions as can be made between the activities of scientists and technologists; but throughout history the practitioners of “pure”science have made many practical as well as theoretical contributions.

(48) Indeed, the concept that science provides the ideas for technological innovations and that pure research is therefore essential for any significant advancement in industrial civilization is essentially a myth. Most of the greatest changes in industrial civilization cannot be traced to the laboratory. Fundamental tools and processes in the fields of mechanics, chemistry, astronomy, metallurgy, and hydraulics were developed before the laws governing their functions were discovered. The steam engine, for example, was commonplace before the science of thermodynamics elucidated the physical principle underlying its operations.

In recent years a sharp value distinction has their bitter opponents, but today many people have come to fear technology much more than science. (49) For these people , science may be perceived as a serene, objective source for understanding the eternal laws of nature, whereas the practical manifestations of technology in the modern world now seem to them to be out of control.

(50) Many historians of science argue not only that technology is an essential condition of advanced, industrial civilization but also that the rate of technological change has developed its own momentum in recent centuries. Innovations now seem to appear at a rate that increase geometrically, without respect to geographical limits or political systems. These innovations tend to transform traditional cultural systems, frequently with unexpected social consequences. Thus technology can be conceived as both a creative and a destructive process.

答案

46.科學(xué)與技術(shù)都包含有一種思維的過(guò)程，兩者都涉及到物質(zhì)世界的因果關(guān)系，兩者都運(yùn)用了一套實(shí)驗(yàn)的方法論，這種方法論所產(chǎn)生的是能夠通過(guò)重復(fù)得以驗(yàn)證的經(jīng)驗(yàn)性的實(shí)證結(jié)果。

47.至少在理論上，科學(xué)較少地關(guān)心其研究成果的實(shí)用性，而更多地關(guān)注于歸納出普遍的法則;但是在實(shí)踐中，科學(xué)與技術(shù)卻相互關(guān)聯(lián)，無(wú)法割裂。

48.人們認(rèn)為科學(xué)為技術(shù)創(chuàng)新提供理念，因此，對(duì)于工業(yè)文明中的任何一次意義重大的進(jìn)步，純理論的研究是必不可少的，當(dāng)然，這種觀念其實(shí)是個(gè)神話。

49.對(duì)于這些人來(lái)說(shuō)，科學(xué)或許被看成是一種平靜的、客觀的理解自然永恒法則的出發(fā)點(diǎn)，而如今在他們看來(lái)，現(xiàn)代世界里技術(shù)的實(shí)際運(yùn)用似乎已失去控制。

50.許多科學(xué)史家認(rèn)為，技術(shù)不僅是先進(jìn)的工業(yè)文明必不可少的條件，而且在最近的幾個(gè)世紀(jì)里，技術(shù)變革的速度已形成了自身的勢(shì)頭。

總體分析

本文介紹了科學(xué)和技術(shù)之間的關(guān)系以及對(duì)人類的影響。

第一段：科學(xué)和技術(shù)之間的相似性要大于差異性，它們之間的相互影響反映在各個(gè)行業(yè)的發(fā)展中。

第二段：技術(shù)的發(fā)展不依賴科學(xué)的發(fā)展，兩者之間的價(jià)值分歧越來(lái)越尖銳。而且，現(xiàn)在很多人對(duì)技術(shù)的恐懼甚于對(duì)科學(xué)的擔(dān)心。

第三段：技術(shù)的發(fā)展既有創(chuàng)造性也有毀滅性。