Тема: «Жизнь и деятельность известных ученых»

Цель: Тренировка навыков чтения с применением различных стратегий .

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания, приведенные ниже:

С F. Powell

Powell was a prominent English scientist noted for his techniques and discoveries in particle physics. He was also deeply concerned with problems relating to the responsibility of scientists. Powell was a leader in the World Federation of Scientific Workers in the mid-1950s. Powell was born in December 1903 in England. His parents were poor but still they wanted to give good education to their children. In 1921 Powell won a scholarship of one of the colleges at Cambridge. He graduated from it in 1925 with first-class honors in science. He started his scientific career at the Cavendish laboratory headed by Ernest Rutherford. After gaining his scientific degree at Cambridge in 1928 Powell accepted a position at the new Physics laboratory in the University of Bristol. Powell spent the rest of his career there advancing to professor in 1948 and director of the laboratory in 1964. In 1947 Powell’s Bristol group identified a new particle in the cosmic radiation. Powell and other two scientists discovered sub-nuclear particle, which was produced directly in nuclear reactions. The discovery solved a complicated scientific problem and helped open a new era of particle physics. Powell continued to develop and apply the photographic method of Bristol. His laboratory became the source of new experimental discoveries. It was also an international training centre for physicists of many countries. In 1950 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his development of the photographic method and his meson discoveries.

James Clerk Maxwell

Maxwell, born of a well-known Scottish family, early showed signs of mathematical talent. At the age of 15 he contributed a piece of original work on the drawing of oval curves to the royal society of Edinburgh. The work was so well done that many refused to believe that such a young boy could be the author. At Cambridge, which he entered in 1856, he graduated the second in his class in mathematics. Maxwell was appointed to his first professorship at Aberdeen in 1859. In 1871 Maxwell was appointed professor of experimental physics at Cambridge. While at Cambridge he organized the Cavendish Laboratory, named in honour of the eccentric English scientist of the previous century Henry Cavendish. Several decades later the Cavendish Laboratory was to do great work, which was connected with radioactivity. The most important work of Maxwell’s life was carried on between 1864 and 1873. He placed into mathematical form the speculations of Faraday concerning magnetic lines of force. Maxwell’s theory showed that electricity and magnetism could not exist in isolation. Where there was one, there was the other, so that his work is usually referred to as the electromagnetic theory. Maxwell died before the age of fifty in 1879. When Einstein’s theories upset almost all of «classical physics», Maxwell’s equations remained untouched as valid as ever.

Alexander Fleming

Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, was born in Scotland in 1881 at a farm. He began to go to school when he was five. In 1895 he went to London and decided to dedicate his life to medicine. At first Fleming wanted to become a surgeon but soon he got interested in bacteriology and decided that he was to find his future in research. Sir Alexander Fleming did not have such life which was outwardly very exciting. He spent his working hours in hospitals and laboratories. He went from his home to his laboratory every morning and went from his laboratory to his home every night. He sat in front of his fire and talked to his wife. He taught his son to swim and to fish. It was life that seemed not to differ from the life of the bank manager or the office worker. But it was not so. The great work that he did was done for the benefit of sick men and women. His discovery of penicillin did more to help suffering mankind than anything else for centuries. When he died in 1955 his old friend said: «. . . by his work he relieved more suffering than any other living man».

Ernest Rutherford

Ernest Rutherford is called the Newton of atomic physics. He was recognized by his fellow scientists as a man of colossal energy and tireless enthusiasm. As he himself remarked he lived in the «heroic age of physics». Ernest Rutherford was born in New Zealand. He graduated from New Zealand University and entered Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1919 he was appointed Professor of experimental physics in the University of Cambridge. E. Rutherford’s early researches concerned electromagnetic waves. His experiments led him to develop a magnetic detector, which at that time was the best detector of electromagnetic waves. His detector was later used by Marconi, one of the inventors of the radio in his well-known investigations. E. Rutherford’s big triumph began when he turned his attention to radioactivity. His brilliant researches established the existence and nature of radioactive transformations. He also investigated the electrical structure of matter and the nuclear nature of atom. He was one of the founders of the atomic theory of physics and creators of the first atomic model. He stated that the atom consisted of a nucleus around which electrons revolved in orbits. His works didn’t lose their importance till nowadays.

Vocabulary:

prominent – выдающийся

particle – частица

gain – получить

equation – высказывание

a surgeon - хирург

matter – материя

creator - создатель

attention - внимание

Задание 1. Найдите в тексте английские эквиваленты следующих слов и выражений:

быть озадаченным проблемой

научная карьера

под руководством

стать источником чего-либо

получить место

отказываться верить

связанный с

относиться к

облегчить страдания

обращать внимание

один из родоначальников

Задание 2. Ответьте на вопросы:

1. Where did Powell get his education?

2. What were his scientific interests?

3. Can electricity and magnetism exist in isolation?

4. Did Flemming have an exciting life?

5. How was Rutherford recognized by his fellow scientists?