2012gre写作宝典:GRE作文范文大全(37)
The speaker's assertion that work in any field can be judged only by experts in that field
amounts to an unfair generalization, in my view. I would concur with the speaker when it
comes to judging the work of social scientists, although I would strongly disagree when it
comes to work in the pure physical sciences, as explained in the following discussion.
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With respect to the social sciences, the social world presents a seamless web of not only
anthropogenic but also physical forces, which interact in ways that can be understood only in
the context of a variety of disciplines. Thus experts from various fields must collectively
determine the merit of work in the social sciences. For example, consider the field of cultural
anthropology. The merits of researcher's findings and conclusions about an ancient civilization
must be scrutinized by biochemists, geologists, linguists, and even astronomers.
Specifically, by analyzing the hair, nails, blood and bones of mummified bodies, biochemists
and forensic scientists can pass judgment on the anthropologist's conjectures about the life
expectancy, general well-being, and common causes of death of the population. Geologists
are needed to identify the source and age of the materials used for tools, weapons, and
structures--thereby determining whether the anthropologist extrapolated correctly about the
civilization's economy, trades and work habits, life styles, extent of travel and mobility, and so
forth. Linguists are needed to interpret hieroglyphics and extrapolate from found fragments of
writings. And astronomers are sometimes needed to determine with the anthropologist's
explanations for the layout of an ancient city or the design, structure and position of
monuments, tombs, and temples is convincing-because ancients often looked to the stars for
guidance in building cities and structures.
In contrast, the work of researchers in the purely physical sciences can be judged only by
their peers. The reason for this is that scientific theories and observations are either
meritorious or not, depending solely on whether they can be proved or disproved by way of the
scientific method. For example, consider the complex equations which physicists rely upon to
draw conclusions about the nature of matter, time, and space, or the origins and future of the
universe. Only other physicists in these specialties can understand, let alone judge, this type of
theoretical work. Similarly, empirical observations in astrophysics and molecular physics
require extremely sophisticated equipment and processes, which only experts in these fields
have access to and who know how to use reliably. 感谢您阅读《GRE作文范文大全(37) 》一文,出国留学网(liuxue86.com)编辑部希望本文能帮助到您。
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