大学英语阅读教程Unit7howtobeascientist全文翻译.doc

How to be a scientistGina KolataAsk most people even students majoring in science to describe the typical life of a successful scientist, and chances are they will describe a dedicated existence: long hours in the laboratory, toiling alone among racks of test tubes and beakers.But researchers say that nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, they say, the irony is that to succeed in science, most people have to leave the lab completely. Leading biologists and chemists say they spend no time in the laboratory. Instead they write grant proposals, travel and give talks on their groups research; they think up ideas for their staff of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to work on, and try their best to motivate and encourage staff members to be creative and productive. Dr. Shirley, Tilghman, a molecular biologist at Princeton University, says that most people have no idea of the skills needed to succeed in science. “I get these undergraduates in my office saying they are trying to decide between medicine and science,” Dr. Tilghman said. “They say, I really want to go into medicine because I want to be involved with people. I just say, my God. The extraordinary thing about being a principal scientific investigator is that I should have been a psychology major. I do nothing but try to motivate people, try to figure out why theyre not working hard. Most of biology is a profession where success depends to a large extent on how you work with people.”Some researchers say that the most valuable course work for scientists may not even be science.Dr. Ponzy Lu, a chemist at the University of Pennsylvania, says his worst memories of his days as an undergraduate at the California Institute of Technology were the humanities courses he and every other science major were forced to take. “We had to write 500 to 1,000 words a week in essays,” Dr. Lu said. “I wasnt good at that kind of stuff.”But as soon as he become a successful scientist, Dr. Lu said he found that rather than puttering around the laboratory conducting experiments, he had to spend his time writing grant proposals, meeting deadlines. Dr. Lu said, writing “is about all I do.” And the dreaded essay writing at Cal Tech was “the most useful thing I learned.”Some scientists are delighted to leave the laboratory and find that they can finally shine when they are judged by their ideas and their administrative skills. Yet even people who feel this way are often loath to admit it, Dr. Lu said, because it is part of the mystique of science to say you love the lab. “Its like Jimmy Carter saying he lusted after women,” Dr. Lu said. “You can get in a lot of trouble saying things like that.”But no matter what they think of laboratory work, most researchers say that it was not until they were in graduate school, well on their way to becoming scientists, that they realized what the career path actually is.Dr. Kenneth Gross, a molecular geneticist at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., remembers well his epiphany. It happened when he was a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One day, Dr. Gross was working happily in the lab next to a postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Arthur Skoultchi, who is now at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Full of enthusiasm, Dr. Gross said, he remarked that “the most incredible thing is that hey paid you to work in a lab.” Dr. Skoultchi, he said, replied, “Enjoy it while you can,” and explained to Dr. Gross what lay ahead.Young scientists move up the ladder from graduate student to postdoctoral fellow to assistant professor to, they hope, recipient of a federal grant. From then on, their time in the lab rapidly dwindles to nothing.Dr. Lu explained that it was not so surprising that most successful scientists ended up as thinkers rather than doers. “Thats the whole problem with big science,” he said. “You have to have an army of people to do the work.” But, he added, “Part of what makes a person become a scientist is the desire for influence and power. And the only way you can have that is to have a group of people working on your ideas.”A typical research group at a leading university has about a dozen people, paid for mainly by grant money either from the federal government, private groups like the American Cancer Society or companies, that the principal investigator raises. Dr. Lu said that although his salary is paid by the university, he must bring in 300,000 a year to run his lab. This includes paying for equipment and paying the budding scientists who perform the experiments. Graduate students earn about 12,000 a year, some of which, is paid by fellowship; the rest comes from grant money. Postdoctoral fellows receive about 20,000 a year.Some scientists run huge groups that have budgets equal to those of small corporations. Dr. Jerome Groopman, an AIDS researcher at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, said his group of about 50 people had an operating budget of 2 million a year.“Its clearly a major problem for a lot of people,” said Dr. Tom Maniatis, a molecular biologist at Harvard. “Nowhere in your education are you trained to be a manager or administer. Suddenly you are faced with writing grants and keeping track of spending. But the most difficult challenge is managing people. I dont think scientists are prepared to do that at all.”From the new york times , april 4,1993.怎样成为一名科学家问大多数人 - 即使在科学专业的学生 - 来形容一个成功的科学家的典型生活，和机会，他们将在实验室中描述了一个专用的存在：时间长，独自之间的试管和烧杯架劳作。但研究人员说，没有什么能够进一步从真相。事实上，他们说，具有讽刺意味的是，成功在科学，大多数人都完全离开实验室。著名生物学家和化学家说，他们没有时间在实验室度过。相反，他们写的拨款建议，旅游，给他们组的研究上进行谈判;他们认为他们的研究生和博士后工作人员的思想，尽力激励和鼓励工作人员的创造力和生产力。雪莉，博士，在普林斯顿大学的分子生物学家，Tilghman说，大多数人都没有思想的科学成功所需的技能。 “我在我的办公室得到这些大学生说，他们正试图决定之间的医学和科学，Tilghman博士说。” “他们说，”我真的要进药去，因为我想与人的参与。“我只想说，我的上帝。”作为一个主要的科学调查的非同寻常的事情是，我应该是一名心理学专业。我什么也不做，但尝试激励人，揣摩他们为什么没有努力。生物学是一个专业的成功取决于对你如何与人合作在很大程度上。“一些研究人员说，科学家最宝贵的当然工作也未必科学。Ponzy路，在宾夕法尼亚大学的化学家，博士说，他最糟糕的日子的回忆，作为一个在加州理工学院的本科人文课程，他和其他一切科学的重大被迫采取的。 “我们不得不写一个星期500至1000字的散文，Lu博士说。” “我不是那种东西好。”但只要他成为一个成功的科学家，卢博士说，他发现，而不是puttering各地的实验室进行的实验，他不得不花费他的时间来写作拨款建议，会议的最后期限。卢博士说，写“是我做的一切。”在加州理工学院的可怕的写作是“我学到的最有用的东西。”一些科学家很高兴能离开实验室，并发现，他们终于可以照耀当他们判断他们的想法和他们的管理技能。然而，甚至觉得这样的人谁往往不愿意承认这一点，卢博士说，因为它是科学的神秘性，说你爱实验室的一部分。鲁说，“博士”这就像吉米卡特说，他贪恋后妇女。 “你可以得到很多的麻烦，说这样的事情。”但不管他们认为实验室工作，大多数研究人员说，这是不是直到他们在读研究生，以及对他们的方式成为科学家，他们意识到的职业生涯路径实际上是什么，。在纽约州布法罗市的Roswell Park癌症研究所的分子遗传学家肯尼思格罗斯博士，记得他的顿悟。这件事发生时，他是在美国麻省理工学院的研究生。有