Unit10IsScienceDangerous.ppt

Unit 10 Is Science Dangerous? Lewis Wolpert Background information About the author Lewis Wolpert: He works in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College, London. eugenics movement (优生运动): The word eugenics (from the Greek eugenes or wellborn) was coined in 1883 by Francis Galton, an Englishman and cousin of Charles Darwin, who was the founder of the movement and applied Darwinian science to develop theories about heredity and good or noble birth. The science has two chief divisions, namely, heredity (遗传) and environment. Galton believed that heredity was by far the more important. He derived his main idea from the breeding of the race-horse. Just as we can breed horses for points, so also, it is contended, can we breed men for points. The eugenics movement, however, consists of more than study. It includes public action in the way of legislation, administration, and the influencing of human conduct. Shelley, Mary: (1797-1851) English Romantic novelist, best known as the author of Frankenstein, and The Modern Prometheus (1818), in which she narrates the dreadful consequences that arise after a scientist artificially creates a human being. The man-made monster in this novel inspired a similar creature in several famous American horror films of the 1930s. Frankenstein: The first important Frankenstein film was James Whales Frankenstein, shot in 1931. Despite the liberties taken with the original plot, this film provided the definitive lasting visual image of the Frankenstein monster: to most people Boris Karloff as the Monster has become synonymous with Frankenstein. Lord Rutherford (/`rQTEfEd/): Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937), 1st baron (男爵) British physicist, born in New Zealand. His most important work was in atomic science and radioactivity. In 1908 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements and the chemistry of radioactive substances.” He identified alpha a