Unit 15

Background Information

徐蒙娜 杨媛 黄晓琳

1.The author

2.The author‘s views in culture and technology in the 20th century

3.Scientific writing

Osborne Bennet Hardison Jr.(1928-1990)

The Author

1.He was born in San Diego, California in 1928.He was educated at University of North California and the University of Wisconsin.

2.He was poet, teacher, essayist and author of several books with subjects ranging from

Aristotle, to Homer, to culture and technology in the 20th century.

The author

3.He was a Shakespeare scholar, amateur physicist and also the director of the Folger. He originated such programs as the Folger Theater, and the Folger Consort, as well as Folger Institute.4.He has taught at Princeton, the University of North California and Georgetown University. During his tenure at the University of North California at Chapel Hill, he was featured in Time magazine as one of the country’s greatest teachers.

5.His main works: Lyrics and Elegies(1958) The Enduring Monument(1962) English Literary Criticism: The Renaissance(1964) Toward Freedom and Dignity: The Humanities and the Idea of Humanity(1973) Entering the Maze: Identity and Change in Modern Culture(1981) Disappearing Through the Skylight(1980)

The author's views in culture and technology in the 20th century

The writer puts forward his central theme of " disappearance " —nature disappears, history disappears and even the solid banks disappear.

Central Theme

1. the universalizing tendency of science and technology.

2. There is only one science of thermodynamics, genetics, etc. Architectural styles, dress styles, musical styles, are influenced by the universalizing.

3.They all tend to become world styles.

The second idea

The modern man is no longer a unique individual, They are shaped by environment and culture. They now lives in a homogeneous world

The third concept

Through play the disappearance of history is a form of liberation. The playfulness of science has produced game theory and virtual particles, in art it has produced many famous paintings

The last concept

Scientific writing

In order to meet the needs of the work for popular science, many scientific workers try to adopt a more popular style. then, there comes a popular and scientific and technical writing.

Scientific writing

1.Technical termsSuch as :cylinder block; Carburettor; therrodynamics,etc

Scientific writing

2. Objective : relying on facts, not involve emotion.

. seldom use figures of speech,

exclamation.

. the use of present tense

.the use of passive voice

Scientific writing3.sentences:

a) Complete:

.no contractions (dep’t—department)

b) Long 1)compound sentence 2)appositions 3)parenthesis 4)logical connections (such as: but, however ,also, yet, etc)