Scienceisadominantthemeinourculture.Sinceittouchesalmosteveryfacetofourlife,educatedpeopleneedatleastsomeacquaintancewithitsstructureandoperation.Theyshouldalsohaveanunderstandingofthesubcultureinwhichscientistsliveandthekindsofpeopletheyare.Anunderstandingofgeneralcharacteristicsofscienceaswellasspecificscientificconceptsiseasiertoattainifoneknowssomethingaboutthethingsthatexciteandfrustratethescientist. Thisbookiswrittenfortheintelligentstudentoflaypersonwhoseacquaintancewithscienceissuperficial;forthepersonwhohasbeenpresentedwithscienceasamustystorehouseofdriedfacts;forthepersonwhohasbeenpresentedwithscienceastheproductionofgadgets;andforthepersonwhoviewsthescientistsassomesortofmagician.Thebookcanbeusedtosupplementacourseinanyscience,toaccompanyanycoursethatattemptstogiveanunderstandingofthemodernworld,orindependentlyofanycourse—simplytoprovideabetterunderstandingofscience.Wehopethisbookwillleadreaderstoabroaderperspectiveonscientificattitudesandamorerealisticviewofwhatscienceis,whoscientistsare,andwhattheydo.Itwillgivethemanawarenessandunderstandingoftherelationshipbetweenscienceandourcultureandanappreciationoftherolessciencemayplayinourculture.Inaddition,readersmaylearntoappreciatetherelationshipbetweenscientificviewsandsomeofthevaluesandphilosophiesthatarepervasiveinourculture. Wehavetriedtopresentinthisbookanaccurateandup-to-datepictureofthescientificcommunityandthepeoplewhopopulatedit.Thatpopulationhasinrecentyearscometocomprisemoreandmorewomen.Thisincreasingroleofwomeninthescientificsubcultureisnotauniqueincidentbut,rather,partofthetrendevidentinallsegmentsofsocietyasmorewomenentertraditionallymale-dominatedfieldsandmakesignificantcontributions.Indiscussingthesechangesandcontribution,however,wearefacedwithalanguagethatisimplicitlysexist,onethatusesmalenounsorpronounsinreferringtounspecifiedindividuals.Tooffsetthisbuilt-inbias,wehaveadoptedthepolicyofusingpluralnounsandpronounswheneverpossibleand,whenabsolutelynecessary,alternatingheandshe.Thispolicyisfarfrombeingideal,butitisatleastanacknowledgmentoftheinadequacyofourlanguageintreatinghalfofthehumanequally. Wehavealsotriedtomakethebookentertainingaswellasinformative.Ourapproachisusuallyinformal.Wefeel,asdomanyotherscientists,thatweshouldn’ttakeourselvestooseriously.Asthereadermayobserve,weseescienceasadelightfulpastimethanasagrimanddrearywaytoearnaliving. Weneedtoknowsomethingaboutthestructureandoperationofsciencebecause_____.
A.it is not easy to understand the things that excite and frustrate science
B.science affects almost every aspect of our life
C.scientists live in a specific substructure
D.it is easier to understand general characteristics of science
正确答案是B