Issue87-Spring第3次作业

lifeng_913UID: 2397925

TOPIC: ISSUE87 - "In any field of inquiry, the beginner is more likely than the expert to make important discoveries."
WORDS: 675          TIME: 01:19:18          DATE: 2007-11-4 11:42:21

Recently I have read an article on the scientists' age when they made their important discoveries. Statistic data tells me that in the 16th century the average age of scientists when they proposed their important discovery was over 50, while this data decreases to 34.5 in 20th century. In my point of view, both beginners and experts among persons in modern society call for a balance in the fields of inquiry.
    To begin with, in some circumstances, the novice makes discoveries for their characteristics. On the one hand, the beginner strides forward for lacking the experience in areas that his / her engages in. For this, they have no barriers of extent thought way, which impede him / her to think forward. Considering about Albert Einstein, he published an article entitled "A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions", subsequently in the same year, Einstein published other papers, including his revolutionary theory that light exists in both waves and particles and his pioneering work, putting forward special theory of relativity. That year was 1905, which he was only 26years old as a young technical assistant at the Swiss patent office in Bern, immediately. Just about by right of intense curiosity about the unknown and extraordinary courage in breaking the normal procedure, which exists generally on the novice, Einstein has obtained the achievement, which attracts worldwide attention and influences the masses profoundly.
    When talking about beginners, people always recall some words with them, like energy, enthusiasm, curiosity, creativity and courage. However, do all these qualities only belong to beginners? Obviously, the answer is no. Through years of researching experiences and facing with sorts of difficulties, they hide these moral characters deeply and ponder the questions in the sane and stead-going attitude. As the matter of mere fact, most great explorers have these valuable qualities no matter when they are beginners or experts. As we know, through his indefatigable striving, ten years after the proposal of special theory of relativity, Einstein, who has already been a physical scientist at that time, consummated his general theory of relativity. The implications of this announcement shook the world of science and earned Einstein the international acclaim he had long deserved. His courage and belief make him adhere in his theory persistently, and enthusiastically went on his work until the last moment of his life. In this sense, the immortal discovery needs enthusiasm, creativity and courage as the fundamentals, which not only exist in beginners mind.
    While when it comes to another valuable quality for discoveries--experience, it seems that it can provide both benefits and drawbacks as well. In common sense, experts are full of experience, which helps them away from the incorrectness that processors have ever experienced. However, the valuable experience belonged by experts often plays negative role in great breakthrough. The most famous mistake of experience made by experts may be the earth-center theory. No one could deny that Aristotle is a great sage of human, however, it is the experience that the sun rose and fell everyday which misled him to a false conclusion that the earth was the center of the universe. This may be the baggiest mistakes that human ever committed. It tells us experience is not always correct, if an expert emphasizes his experience largely, he/she would be conservative to make any breakthrough. In certain sense, the process of development of science is the process that human gave up the old experience and established the new one, and subsequently gave up by offspring. From this angle, the valuable experience owned by experts is not as valuable as it appears. It always prevents the breakthrough that obeys it.
    In sum, it would be better to consider that whether creativity is more important than good experiential bases in making important discoveries, rather than to discuss whether beginners or experts are more likely to make important discoveries. It is obvious that both of them are necessary. Briefly, both beginners and experts may achieve great fruition and make immortal discoveries. It depends on the attitude towards the qualities they have.