上外版大学英语写作精选第六册(8)

    To show other worlds， to describe possible future societies and the problems lurking ahead， is not enough. The writer of science fiction must show how these worlds and these futures affect human beings. And something much more important： he must show how human beings can and do literally create these future worlds. For our future is largely in our own hands. It doesn't come blindly rolling out of the heavens； it is the joint product of the actions of billions of human beings. This is a point that's easily forgotten in the rush of headlines and the hectic badgering of everyday life. But it's a point that science fiction makes constantly： the future belongs to us —— whatever it is. We make it， our actions shape tomorrow. We have the brains and guts to build paradise （or at least try）。 Tragedy is when we fail， and the greatest crime of all is when we fail even to try.

    Thus science fiction stands as a bridge between science and art， between the engineers of technology and the poets of humanity. Never has such a bridge been more desperately needed.

    Writing in the British journal New Scientist， the famed poet and historian Robert Graves said in 1972， "Technology is now warring openly against the crafts， and science covertly against poetry."

    What Graves is expressing is the fear that many people have： technology has already allowed machines to replace human muscle power； now it seems that machines such as electronic computers might replace human brainpower. And he goes even further， criticizing science on the grounds that truly human endeavours such as poetry have a power that scientists can't recognize.

    Apparently Graves sees scientists as a sober， plodding phalanx of soulless thinking machines， never making a step that hasn't been carefully thought out in advance.

    But as a historian， Graves should be aware that James Clerk Maxwell's brilliant insight about electromagnetism —— the guess that visible light is only one small slice of the spectrum of electromagnetic energy， a guess that forms the basis for electronics technology  —— was an intuitive leap into the unknown. Maxwell had precious little evidence to back up his guess. The evidence came later. The list of wild jumps of intuition made by these supposedly stolid， humorless scientists is long indeed.

    Scientists are human beings！ They are just as human， intuitive， and emotional as anyone else. But most people don't realize this. They don't know scientists， any more than they know much about science.

    Today most people still tend to hold scientists in awe. After all， scientists have brought us nuclear weapons， modern medicines， space flight， and underarm deodorants. Yet at the same time， we see scientists derided as fuzzy-brained eggheads or as coldly ruthless， emotionless makers of monsters. Scientists are minority group， and like most minorities they're largely hidden from the public's sight， tucked away in ghettos —— laboratories， campuses， field sites out in the desert or on Pacific atolls.

    Before the public can understand and appreciate what science can and cannot do， the people must get to see and understand the scientists themselves. Get to know their work， their aims， their dreams， and their fears.

    Science fiction can help to explain what science and scientists are all about to the non-scientists. It is no accident that several hundred universities and public schools are now offering science fiction courses and discovering that these classes are a meeting ground for the scientist-engineers and the humanists. Science and fiction. Reason and emotion.

    The essence of the scientific attitude is that the human mind can succeed in understanding the universe. By taking thought， men can move mountains —— and have. In this sense， science is an utterly humanistic pursuit， the glorification of human intellect over the puzzling， chaotic， and often frightening darkness of ignorance.