考研英语阅读命题思路透析和真题揭秘(54)

Specialisation can be seen as a response to the problem of an increasing accumulation of scientific knowledge. By splitting up the subject matter into smaller units, one man could continue to handle the information and use it as the basis for further research. But specialisation was only one of a series of related developments in science affecting the process of communication. Another was the growing professionalisation of scientific activity.

No clear-cut distinction can be drawn between professionals and amateurs in science: exceptions can be found to any rule. Nevertheless, the word 'amateur' does carry a connotation that the person concerned is not fully integrated into the scientific community and, in particular, may not fully share its values. The growth of specialisation in the nineteenth century, with its consequent requirement of a longer, more complex training, implied greater problems for amateur participation in science. The trend was naturally most obvious in those areas of science based especially on a mathematical or laboratory training, and can be illustrated in terms of the development of geology in the United Kingdom.

A comparison of British geological publications over the last century and a half reveals not simply an increasing emphasis on the primacy of research, but also a changing definition of what constitutes an acceptable research paper. Thus, in the nineteenth century, local geological studies represented worthwhile research in their own right; but, in the twentieth century, local studies have increasingly become acceptable to professionals only if they incorporate, and reflect on, the wider geological picture. Amateurs, on the other hand, have continued to pursue local studies in the old way. The overall result has been to make entrance to professional geological journals harder for amateurs, a result that has been reinforced by the widespread introduction of refereeing, first by national journals in the nineteenth century and then by several local geological journals in the twentieth century. As a logical consequence of this development, separate journals have now appeared aimed mainly towards either professional or amateur readership. A rather similar process of differentiation has led to professional geologists coming together nationally within one or two specific societies, whereas the amateurs have tended either to remain in local societies or to come together nationally in a different way.

Although the process of professionalisation and specialisation was already well under way in British geology during the nineteenth century, its full consequences were thus delayed until the twentieth century. In science generally, however, the nineteenth century must be reckoned as the crucial period for this change in the structure of science.

专业分工可以看作是针对科学知识不断膨胀这一问题所做出的反应。通过将学科细化成较小的单元，人们能够继续处理这些不断膨胀的信息并将它们作为深入研究的基础。但是专业分工仅是科学领域内一系列影响交流过程的有关方面之一。另一现象是科学活动的日益职业化。

在科学领域内，专业与业余之间没有绝对的明确区分：任何规律都有其例外。但是"业余人员"这个词的确具有特殊的含义，其所指的那个人没有完全融入某个科学家群体，具体地说，他可能并不完全认同这个群体的价值观。19世纪的专业化的发展，以及随之而来的对训练的长期性和复杂性的要求，对业余人员进入科学界造成了更大的障碍。这种趋势特别是在以数学和实验室训练为基础的科学领内自然表现得尤为明显，这可以通过英国的地质学发展过程得到证实。

对过去一个半世纪的英国地质出版物进行比较，人们不但发现研究的重要性越来越受到强调，而且学术论文的出版标准也在不断变化。因此，在19世纪，区域地质研究本身就可形成一种有价值的研究；而到了20世纪，区域地质学研究越来越倾向于必须体现或思考更广阔的地质面貌，只有这样它才能够被专业人员接受。另一方面业余人员继续以旧的方式从事区域研究。结果是，业余人员在专业性地质学杂志发表论文更加困难，而审稿制度的全面引进使这个结果得到加强，这一制度开始是在19世纪的全国性杂志引入，到了20世纪后也在一些地方性的地质杂志实行。这样发展的必然结果是出现了针对专业读者和业余读者的不同杂志。类似的分化过程也导致专业地质学家聚集在一起，形成一两个全国性的团体，而业余地质学家则要么留在地方性团体中，要么以不同方式组成全国性的团体。

虽然职业化和专业化过程在19世纪的英国地质学界中已经得到发展，但是它的充分后果直到20世纪才充分显示出来。不过，从科学这个整体来看，19世纪必定被视为科学结构改变的关键时期。