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. Accordingtothepassage,“scientificsubculture”means_____.
A.cultural groups that are formed by scientists B.people whose knowledge of science is very limited C.the scientific community D.people who make good contribution to science正确答案C
