汉语是联合国官方正式使用的 6 种同等有效语言之一。请不要歧视汉语! Chinese is one of the six equally effective official languages of the United Nations. Not to discriminate against Chinese, please! 2012-04-13,《增加SI prefixes的建议》,可能属于“0到1”原创 一、核心 增加 SI prefixes 的建议: 第一类方法是设计新的符号;或将现有的符号左右镜像、上下镜像之类,如、;Ω、℧ 等等。 第二类方法是使用大家熟悉的符号,如英文、希腊文、俄语等有“大小写”的字母符号,而且避开已经被常用的字母。 二、《增加SI prefixes的建议》,可能属于“0到1”原创 2012-02-06,在武警医院(天津)做了阑尾手术。前后住院大约10天?后几天躺在床上, 创新: (1)变形床板,防治褥疮; (2)建议修改 SI 安培定义; (3)增加 SI prefixes (前缀); …… 回到学校后,2012-04-12 先整理了“安培定义”,后来在《科学智慧火花》贴出。2012-04-13 写完《增加SI prefixes的建议》,可惜没有找到地方贴出。 2012-04-19,《增加 SI prefixes 的建议 (Suggestion to add the SI prefixes) 》在科学网贴出。感谢科学网! 建议SI prefixes (前缀),虽然不是惊天动地的大事,但毕竟是一件有一定意义的事情。昨天夜里(2020-10-04)The International System of Units (SI) 的“SI prefixes”截图如下,看上去还没有增加新的prefixes (前缀)。所以,再次建议一下吧! https://www.bipm.org/en/measurement-units/ 《增加 SI prefixes 的建议 (Suggestion to add the SI prefixes) 》,详见 2012-04-19 的科学网博文: http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-107667-561082.html 三、可能的意义 考虑这两件与SI相关的事情(新安培定义,增加 SI prefixes),可能属于“进入教材”量级的内容,所以,请大家给点建议吧! 为了中国人!“文化自信”、“原始创新”。 真傻年事已高, 行将就木 ,这些都无所谓了。 2008年11月的南开大学《科学素质教育课程骨干教师高级研修班》大会发言,应该进入官方记录吧?俺公开了两个重要观点:修改 SI 安培定义;***(吓死人,不敢在这里公开说出来)。 参考资料: 华春雷,2019-02-14,《自然》发文揭开大科学背后的沉重真相 http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-2910327-1162214.html 但是令人深思的事实是, 那些科学领域中的 不知名的 独立学者或小团队 , 却在科学和技术的最前沿的天际线上在拓荒和耕作. 他们在选择研究课题上, 往往 更重视真正的难题和最尖端性问题 , 因此, 他们才真正承担了科学前沿区的最大的风险性, 正是他们的努力和工作, 才 维持了科学的后驱力, 维持了科学的生命力 . 但是, 他们却往往得不到舆论的关注, 没有记者的注意, 无法被聚光灯照射, 在资金上也往往更困难 . 这就是该论文所揭示的 当今科学界原始森林中的沉重的生态真相. Lingfei Wu, Dashun Wang, James A. Evans. Large teams develop and small teams disrupt science and technology . Nature volume 566, pages378–382(2019), 2019-02-13 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-0941-9?wpisrc=nl_sciencewpmm=1 Small teams disrupt science and technology by exploring and amplifying promising ideas from older and less-popular work. Large teams develop recent successes, by solving acknowledged problems and refining common designs. Some of this difference results from the substance of science and technology that small versus large teams tackle, but the larger part appears to emerge as a consequence of team size itself. 刘全慧,2020-09-22,开学第一课,丘成桐给大学生指出一条成材捷径 http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-3377-1251601.html 念好大学里的每门课程的基础上, 集中精力把两门以上的专业课程学到通透的程度。 达到通透的必由之路是:认真做习题、特别是困难的习题。通 透的一个判据是:“当你在一门课里面把基本功夫搞扎实以后,你就发现书里面很多是错的”。 相关链接: 2019-07-02,记忆:南开大学2008年《科学素质教育课程骨干教师高级研修班》 http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-107667-1187783.html 2017-11-24,真傻的学院网页介绍更新(2017-11-23) http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-107667-1086643.html 蹉跎岁月、痴心不改: 2012-04-19,增加 SI prefixes 的建议 (Suggestion to add the SI prefixes) http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-107667-561082.html 2018-04-03,增加 SI prefixes 的建议 (Suggestion to add the SI prefixes)”再回首 http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-107667-1107140.html 2020-03-05,扩展 SI prefixes 的建议(Suggest to extend the SI prefixes) http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-107667-1221975.html 感谢您的指教! 感谢您指正以上任何错误! 感谢您提供更多的相关资料!
“ 一切真理开始时总是在少数人手里,总是受到大多数人的压力。这是一个规律。 ” 为我国2070年开始 的诺贝尔 科学奖“井喷”清除障碍、铺平道路! 客观规律是客观的;独立于人而客观存在。 出版纸质《文明火花淘金》的建议(要点) 淘金的工人,连续挖掘一百掀,不一定挖出一粒真金。但是,TA必须坚韧不拔地挖下去,尽管泥沙远远多于黄金。 先有金矿;后有金库。 1905年到1946年,爱因斯坦证明质能方程 E=mc 2 时共出现七次错误。 正如克莱因(Morris Kline)教授在《古今数学思想 Mathematical Thought from Ancient to Modern Time》的序言中写到: “课本中的字斟句酌的叙述,未能表现出创造过程的斗争、挫折,以及在建立一个可观的结构之前,数学家所经历的艰苦漫长的道路。学生一旦知道这一点,他将不仅获得真知灼见,还将获得顽强地追究他所攻问题的勇气,并且不会因为他自己的工作并非完美无缺而感到颓丧。实在说,叙述数学家如何跌跤,如何在迷雾中摸索前进,并且如何零零碎碎得到他们的成果,应能使搞研究工作的任一新手鼓起勇气。” 科技文化创新,人类社会的共同责任。 一、出版纸质《文明火花淘金》的建议 为了现实地促进人类文明的进步,建议: (1)出版连续性的正式纸质书籍或期刊《文明火花淘金》。 (2)《文明火花淘金》,纸质出版前随时进行网络出版。类似现行的“(录用定稿)网络首发”。待积累待一定数量时,再纸质出版。 二、《文明火花淘金》稿件写作建议 类似中国科学院《科学智慧火花》栏目。只出版“核心要点”。 (1)所属学科、领域、方向等; (2)证明“创新”的主流参考文献。即“主流”里没有的新看法。 (3)核心的创新点,最好配上一两副图片。 (4)不要详细的论证,只要核心要点。这样既保证了优先权,又尽力避免将来在主流学术发表或活动中的“重复发表”的麻烦。 投稿时需要两个资料:一个《文明火花淘金》纸质出版稿“要点版”;另一个是稿件的“完整版”,用于评审等。 (5)纸质《文明火花淘金》对应的网络电子版:可由投稿人自行选择“要点版”和“完整版”,或更详细的版本、补充资料等。 三、为什么要纸质版? 网络版的电子文件,太容易丢失了。 真傻曾经将20多个“创新点”汇集在《科学网·群组·综合·个人学术展示》。随着科学网的改版,它们“鸟儿已经飞过,天空没有痕迹”。我点一点鼠标,找不到一点痕迹。 真傻不是“美第奇家族(Medici family)”。真傻年事已高、身患数十种疾病。行将就木,“被”挫骨扬灰了。 赫胥黎( 1825-05-04 ~ 1895-06-29 )在1880说: “历史告诫我们说,一种崭新的真理惯常的命运是:始于异端,终于迷信。” Thomas Huxley: History warns us that it is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions.——The Coming of Age of the Origin of Species, 1880. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/thomas_huxley_403887 https://todayinsci.com/QuotationsCategories/H_Cat/Heresy-Quotations.htm 参考资料: 科学网,2008-11-13,《探索》杂志:爱因斯坦一生中的23个错误 http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2008/11/213197.html 中国科学院《科学智慧火花》栏目 http://idea.cas.cn/ 科学创新,社会的责任——读《居里夫人文选》有感 ,科普研究,2010,5(2):82-85。第5 卷总第(025)期。 http://qikan.cqvip.com/Qikan/Article/Detail?id=33866424 http://g.wanfangdata.com.cn/details/detail.do?_type=perioid=kpyj201002013 https://kns.cnki.net/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbname=cjfd2010filename=kuyt201002018 中国科学报,2020-06-16 第5版 大学周刊,盲目推崇论文引用率后果严重 http://news.sciencenet.cn/sbhtmlnews/2020/6/355871.shtm 以论文引用率来评判论文水平的“高低”,最大的问题是极易扼杀原始创新,令原创夭折。 原始创新、高深理论成果论文,一开始“曲高和寡”很正常,而且还有可能因其思想独特、超前而受到排斥。 1979年诺贝尔物理学奖得主谢尔顿来华访问时提到,他的那篇1961年发表并获得诺贝尔奖的重要论文, 发表后好些年几乎没什么引用,而且在开始被引用的时候也并不完全是正面的。 像这种获得诺贝尔奖的论文在获得诺奖前引用次数很低的情况并不少见。 相关链接: 2020-06-04, 科普自己的主要创新观点 http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-107667-1236400.html 2020-06-15,科技创新基本方法入门《科研原创群》微信 http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-107667-1237961.html 2019-06-09,科技成果依赖于研究条件 http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-107667-1183968.html 感谢您的指教! 感谢您指正以上任何错误! 感谢您提供更多的相关资料!
汉语是联合国官方正式使用的 6种同等有效语言之一。请不要歧视汉语! Chinese is one of the six equally effective official languages of the United Nations. Not to discriminate against Chinese, please! 增加 SI prefixes 的建议 (Suggestion to add the SI prefixes)”再回首 2012年春节期间,意外发现国际单位制SI里的前缀很快就不够用了。 You are here: measurement units SI prefixes Decimal multiples and submultiples of SI units can be written using the SI prefixes listed in the table below: https://www.bipm.org/en/measurement-units/prefixes.html 于是心血来潮,做了下表的建议: 转眼6年过去了。怀旧一下吧! (1)增加 SI prefixes 的建议 (Suggestion to add the SI prefixes) 已有 10169 次阅读 2012-4-19 09:47 |系统分类:科研笔记|关键词:增加,SI,prefixes,建议,词头,前缀,new,definition| 建议, 增加, 词头, prefixes, 前缀 http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-107667-561082.html (2)群组?数学物理科学区?物理综合?增加SI prefixes的建议 增加SI prefixes的建议,zlyang,发表于 2012-4-19 09:33:29,本帖最后由 zlyang 于 2012-4-19 10:02 编辑 http://bbs.sciencenet.cn/thread-551300-1-1.html (3)增加 SI prefixes 的建议 国家科技成果网,杨正瓴的个人空间 http://www.tech110.net/?11851 (Suggestion to add the SI prefixes) 已有 7024 次阅读2012-4-19 09:39 |系统分类:科学探索 http://www.tech110.net/home.php?mod=spaceuid=11851do=blogid=64076 \0 \0 感谢并祝福科学网! 感谢并祝福国科网! 感谢您的指教! 感谢您指正以上任何错误! 感谢您提供权威的资料! 2012-04-19 科学网—增加 SI prefixes 的建议 ( Suggestion to add the SI prefixes ) -.pdf 2012-04-19 科学网—增加 SI prefixes 的建议 - 物理综合.pdf 2012-04-19 增加 SI prefixes 的建议 ( Suggestion to add the SI prefixes) - 杨正瓴.pdf
最常见的英文写作问题 ――源自200多篇由中国科技类研究生撰写的英文论文 作者:Felicia Brittman 本文目的 中国学者的英文科技论文写作中,最常见的写作问题:语法错误、口语化、格式组织问题(大多数情况下,格式的不当组织妨碍了作者意思的清晰表达)。本文仅作为一个指南服务于中国作者编辑其科技论文。 本文结构 分两节:第一节列举一些在我看来最需注意的问题;第二节列举一些其次要注意的问题,这些问题对于了解一些英文表达的细微差别非常有用。 第一节 “ a , an, the” 最常见的错误是漏写。 使用错误包括:1)该用的时候漏写,2)不需要的时候却出现或画蛇添足,3)正确的冠词用在错误的地方。 冠词,又称限定词或名词标记,包括a, an 和the。 冠词的出现指示一个名词将尾随其后,或者,在冠词及所修饰名词之间还有其他修饰语。a,an修饰一个泛指的名词,the修饰一个特指的名词,名词之前的the,表示该名词是一个已知的、特定的名称。 过长的句子 很长的句子在中国人的英文写作中特别常见,这是中文直译为英文的后果。把几个说明性内容写在一个句子中以表示它们(内容)之间的关系,这在中文写作中是可以接受的,但是,在英文里,每一个主要意思通常都由一个单独的、只包含一个支持性内容的句子来表达。 人们意识到一个句子太长,通常是因为它的长度――60个单词甚至更多,但是,较短长度的句子也可能“太长”,如果它包含了多重陈述并使主要意思模糊不清。怎样避免长句呢?可以把每个句子限定为一个或两个主题。如果作者确实想用一个句子来强调几个主题之间的关系,这时应该使用分号。 另一种类型的超长句子也经常出现在科技论文中,那就是列举。作者给出了大量的数据(通常是各种参数值)并把它们安排在一个句子里,这就制造了一个长句――足足与一个段落长度相当的长句。然而,表达这一类包含大量信息的句子的最好方式却是表格化――用平行排列的着重号或字母开头来列举这些信息。 在一个句子中,先写目的、地点或原因,再写主题 中国作者在引出主题之前,习惯于首先陈述目的、地点、原因、例子或条件(在句子中用作先行状语)。这样做的效果却是,降低了主题思想的重要性,并使读者认为作者喜欢兜圈子。正确的做法是,把主题放在句子的开始,然后说明地点、原因等等。 习惯于把指示时间的词组放在句子的开始 把最重要的主语放在句子的开始以示强调 (即使研究了原文中的2个例子,仍不十分明了作者的意思――译者注) “which / that” 指代不明,引起混淆 “respectively”and “respective” 通常用在句末 “in this paper”,”in this study” 两个错误。首先是使用过多。在一些中国人的文章中,这些短语甚至在一页中出现2次。而母语为英语的作者的文章中,这些短语的使用主要限定于2处: 1. 用在引言和总结中强调文章的内容; 2. 在正文部分出现的in this paper / study,是在提及他人的工作(发表在其他期刊或出版物上的论文)之后。 所以,如果一篇文章中如果3次出现这些短语,它的使用是有问题的。实际上,读者明白文章所展示的工作是由作者完成的(除非作者是另类),所以,没理由重复这些短语。 “study”指作者所完成的工作,而“paper”指这一工作用文字所展示出来的形式,是读者正手持的或阅读的实体。记住,作者还可以用其他短语,比如“in this research”,“this paper presents”,来表达同样的意思。 数字和等式 两个非常常见的错误是有关阿拉伯数字和等式的出现形式。中国作者通常用阿拉伯数字取代其英文拼写。尽管阿拉伯数字本身的使用没有错误,但它们绝不应该出现在句首。 另外,阿拉伯数字往往被过多使用。阿拉伯数字应该用在科技类文章中提供数据,而不应该用来表示一般的数目信息。 这类错误的出现,可能源自普通话是一种符号语言而不是字母语言。因此,中国作者习惯选择写简单的数字符号而不是字母拼写。特别是同时又有等式占据文字位置的情况下,错误使用阿拉伯数字的问题更加严重,英文为母语的人是不会把等式写在文字位置上的。 格式1. 段落 所有的英文段落的第一行都缩进约1英寸,或2个段落之间空1行,后者在商务写作中更常见。 中国学生经常为段落的分合而困惑,他们可能会犯2个错误。其一,他们未能把2个段落区分开来。尽管新的段落以新的一行开始,但新的一行没有缩进。其二,一个新的段落之前有单一的句子独占一行(该行有缩进)(不懂原文意思,作者是想说,一个短句不能单独作为一个段落?――译者注) 格式2. “Figure”和“Table” 二者的缩写分别是Fig和Tbl。但是,Table的缩写很少见于正文。你可以用Figure,也可以把Figure简写为Fig,但在一篇文章中,你应该始终保持一致。你不应该在Figure,figure,Fig 或fig之中随意变来变去。另外,缩写不能用在句首,单词或其缩写与数字之间应有一空格。 格式3. 变量符号 变量符号,特别是那些英文字母的变量符号,在科技类文章中应该用斜体,以区别于英文单词。当然,这取决于一个杂志所规定的风格。 格式3. 大写 注意大写不能出现在句子中间。 “such as”和”etc.” 二者经常被中国作者误用。Such as意思是“例如”并提示其后有一个不完全的列举;etc.意思是“等等”,用在列举的最后以表示那个列举是不完全的。所以,同时用such as和etc.就重复了。 Such as的出现意味着其后将有一个不完全的列举,所以当给出了全部的列举时,就不能用such as了。 第二节 1)一些单词的单复数形式相同,所以不需要再加s把它们变为复数形式,例如:literatue, equipment, staff, faculty. 2) 避免重复。下列短语形式经常在中国作者的英文中出现: Research work,(要么用research, 要么用work,下同――译者注) Limit condition Knowledge memory Sketch map Arrangement plan Output performance Simulation results Knowledge information Calculation results Application results 3) 一些单词修饰的名词需要改为复数。这些修饰单词包括:different, various, 数字单词 different nodes 而不是different node various methods 而不是various method two advantages而不是two advantage 4) 绝对不要以单词的缩写形式(如Fig.)或阿拉伯数字(如8)开头写英文句子 5) 不要写“by this way”,取而代之的应该是“by doing this” 或“using this method”。 6)千万不要在句子的开头写“how to ……”(也不要这样讲) 7)要这样写:“the results are shown in Figure 2”,而不是“the results are showed as Figure 2”。 8)在正文中变量符号要用斜体,以示它们与单词的区别。当变量符号是英文字母时,斜体尤其重要。要写“The graph shows t (斜体), a (斜体), and C (斜体) as a function of time”. 不要写 “The graph shows t, a, and C as a function of time”。 9)在科技类论文中,单词obviously要避免如下例子中的使用: 错误:Obviously, detecting regimes by means of PMH maps is a novel method. 正确:Detecting regimes by means of PMH maps is a novel method. 10) 国际出版物中的论文不应该使用诸如“at home”,“abroad”,“here”,“our country”等指定不确定的地方性术语,因为读者很可能不是中国人或并不生活在中国。取而代之的应该是“in China”。 11)避免过多使用短语“that is to say”和“namely”. 取而代之的是,要尽量把你的意思用一句话来表达。 12)不要在句末用“too”,特别是在科技类论文中尤其要避免在句末用“too”。 文章转载自科学网董仕勇博客 http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-62049-47853.html
科学网可以出手了 建议: 1 、将博文“ 科学网注册用户需认真阅读法律文件 ”放到博客首页头条 理由: a 、切合当下博主关注的话题; b 、符合科学网的正能量; c 、对科学网的具体问题有突出贡献; d 、避免科学网亲自出口的尴尬; 个人对此博文的看法是: a 、没有人因为没有认真阅读注册协议和相关法律而违规违法,以此为理由违规违法的人,绝对是托词; b 、没有人反对科学网,甚至其他网络的管理和执法,反对的最大声是“选择性执法”和“个性化执法”; c 、既然博主和科学网签的是平等使用协议,科学网有没有义务公开科学网基本运行的情况?比如主管、编辑的情况和变动。就像期刊编辑部一样。这些情况可能部分影响了博主的发博行为。我大胆猜测,最近是有人事变化的。精选博文列表还有两天前的博文,这是以前很少出现的。 2 、开辟专栏,名曰“管理信息” 将“新博推荐”合并过来,公告新博加入信息,违规处理信息等等,涉及到和科学网博主管理相关的信息,因为很多博主经常发现自己的博友“失联”,造成恐慌。只涉及科学网内部事务、和大部分博主关系不大的信息,依然归于公告栏。 3 、澄清几个概念 封博,按汉语意思,“封”的意思暗含保留原样,以后仍然可以恢复,比如贴个封条,指不定哪天可以揭开封条。“封”还意味着从原样可以调查线索。如果科学网对某博主封博,按理应该在其页面显示,“此博主博客已封,目前不能访问!”。提示某被封博主为未开通博客,是不符合事实的。 科学网博主们目前风传的,其实不是严格意义的“封博”,而是“清除”某博主的博客。目前意见最大的,也在于清除博客中有巨大价值的博文,是科学网、原博主以及博友看客的损失。没有赢家的结局是最不可取的。 目前出手澄清,可以消除争议,平息风浪(当然,有些人见的风浪多了)。
汉语是联合国官方正式使用的 6 种同等有效语言之一。请不要歧视汉语! Chinese is one of the six equally effective official languages of the United Nations. Not to discriminate against Chinese, please! 安培力定律(Ampère's force law) 与 洛伦兹力(Lorentz force) 的 高精度现代检验 在宏观低速情况下,用高稳定性高精度的现代实验, 重新进行安培力定律(Ampère's force law)与洛伦兹力(Lorentz force)的实验检验。 万一当初的实验精度与稳定性不够,里面有某些偏差怎么办? 起因: 统一场! 引力相互作用和电磁相互作用, 至今未见公认的良好统一。 有没有下述可能: 即 安培力定律(Ampère's force law) 洛伦兹力(Lorentz force) 等 经典实验的精度不够 , 我们现在看到的方程形式不是很准确? 物理学, 归根到底是实验科学。 理论, 归根到底来自实验。 参考文献: Williams E R, Faller J E, Hill H A. New experimental test of Coulomb's law: a laboratory upper limit on the photon rest mass . Physics Review Letters, 1971, 26(12): 721-724. http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.26.721 基础课的精华性(引力磁),《高教研究与探索》,1997,2:pp34-36. Lorentz force - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorentz_force Ampère's force law - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amp%C3%A8re%27s_force_law Newton's law of universal gravitationw - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_law_of_universal_gravitation 安培力定律 (Ampère's force law) 与洛伦兹力 (Lorentz force) 的高精度现代检验 http://bbs.sciencenet.cn/thread-2276084-1-1.html
今天获悉我国高分二号高分辨率光学遥感卫星发射成功,心底由衷的为我国遥感事业的快速进步感到高兴。高分二号最高空间分辨率达到1m,标志着我国也将进入亚米级遥感行列。但是我感觉中国的遥感事业还有几个亟待去完善的地方,需要新一代遥感人继续努力。 首先,我不知道我国的军用光学侦察卫星分辨率达到多少,从目前的民用卫星的分辨率看应该也不会太高。目前达到1m左右的也只是全色波段,希望能尽快将多光谱数据也能提高到1m的级别。从高分一号单景宽幅大800km的覆盖范围来看,我国在长焦距和大孔径成像技术上已经来到了世界先进行列。但是图像的质量来看,和发达国家还有一些差距。我们在资源卫星和环境卫星获取的图像上可以看到,我国的卫星成像图像信噪比还相对较低,总体感觉图像中条纹、黑点和无效值较多,需要进行大量的研究进行赶超。我国的高分率光学卫星发展总体要晚于亚洲强国6-8年,更不要提美国和欧盟,像印度和日本在2005-2006年就发射了类似高分率光学卫 星(CartoSat-1和ALO S)。 CartoSat-1 和 AL ) 。 其次,总体感觉我国对地观测星座较少,国家的“十二五”规划也仅仅发射5-6颗左右,应对突发事件不足,特别从鲁甸地震抢险救灾、MH370搜救和981平台事件来看,还远不能满足我国实时监测的需要。从我国目前的星座大轨道设计也多考虑中国内地及亚洲资源观测的需要。这是我国对地遥感观测初级阶段的必要步骤,但是今后的星座发展还是要从全球的角度出发。 再次,光学遥感卫星只是遥感观测的一部分,目前雷达成像卫星和高光谱卫星还比较落后。雷达成像卫星多用于军事目的。印度2012年就发射了 Risat-1卫星,最高成像分辨率达到2m,日本的 雷达4号 也已经发射成功。我国的高分率雷达成像卫星值得期待。 从我掌握的数据来看,我国目前的高光谱卫星平台除了载人工程和天宫系列附带试验的一些高光谱星座就只有环境星和气象卫星的风云系列了。总体来看,存在的问题比较多,以环境星为例,环境星的幅宽50km,空间分辨率100m,光谱分辨率为4nm。但是图像质量很差,图像上有很多条纹,是否和推扫式的成像方式有关还不得而知。同时光谱分辨率达到4nm已经很了不起了。但是覆盖的光谱范围仅限于可见光范围,这极大的限制了卫星的应用前景。发展新型高空间分辨率和覆盖可见光、近红外的高光谱成像星座很有必要。 最后,目前我国的航空航天事业发展主要有军队系统推进,这存在一个缺点就是商业化进程缓慢。体现在遥感卫星发展与市场需求有脱节,商业化应用受限,这与欧美的发展模式相比还是有很大的差距。我国目前能够公开获取的卫星数据极为有限,只有环境星和资源星是可以的,其他卫星数据获取极为困难。建议可以成立国家卫星应用服务中心,将所有卫星资源进行集中整合,一方面有利于国家在应急事件上的数据获取,另一方面有利于卫星遥感事业的商业化拓展,实行公开获取和有偿获取,这也有利于促进我国科研事业的发展。 个人观点,欢迎批评指正! 文献来源: Li J, Pu L, Zhu M, et al. Monitoring soil salt content using HJ-1A hyperspectral data: A case study of coastal areas in Rudong County, Eastern China . Chinese Geographical Science, 2014: 1-11.
汉语是联合国官方正式使用的 6 种同等有效语言之一。请不要歧视汉语! Chinese is one of the six equally effective official languages of the United Nations. Not to discriminate against Chinese, please! 增加 SI prefixes 的建议 Suggestion to add the SI prefixes 目前国际单位制(The International System of Units,SI)中被批准的国际单位制词头(SI prefixes)如下图1。即,BIPM(Bureau International des Poids et Mesures)的《SI brochure, Section 3.1》: http://www.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/chapter3/prefixes.html 表1. 现有国际单位制词头(SI prefixes)。 Table 1. The SI prefixes at present. 这里面只有10的正负24次方的词头。 近二十年,计算机硬件技术飞速发展。硬盘的存储容量在1990年代先从M比特到G比特,本世纪以来则再从G比特到T比特。每10年大约增大10的3次方。照此发展速度,再过大约40年,存储容量将用Y(10^24,yotta,10的24次方)来表示。又如,科学家猜想,宇宙中的原子数目约有10的80次方个。 所以,建议用剩余的英文、希腊文字母,按照字母表顺序依次表示更大的、更小的国际单位制词头(SI prefixes)。如图2,大写字母表示正次方的词头,用对应的小写字母表示负次方的词头。为方便,新词头的名称和发音(Name/Symbol)合一,正的次方发音为现有发音增加a,负的次方发音为现有发音增加o。类似现有的从M(mega)、(micro)到Y(yotta)、y(yocto)的发音相关。 表2. 建议新的国际单位制词头(SI prefixes)。 Table 2. New SI prefixes are suggested as the unused alphabetical letters of English and Greek alphabets. 相关链接: 《 SI基本单位中安培定义的两种可能缺陷 Two possible defects in the definition of Ampere in the SI base unit 》 http://bbs.sciencenet.cn/home.php?mod=spaceuid=107667do=blogquickforward=1id=558804
2016年3月29日更新:将 STVR 的审稿指导意见换成了OOPSLA的审稿指导意见。 2013年9月17日更新:添加了You and your research。 2012年1月12日更新:添加了论文Rebuttal写法的推荐。 2011年2月23日更新:添加了科研基本方法文章的推荐。 相信各位做科研的同学都多多少少读过一些应该如何做科研的指导文章。在这个信息爆炸的时代,我们能看到的指导文章不是太少,而是太多了。比如,在软件工程/程序语言领域著名的 Tao Xie's Advice Collection 中就包含了400多条方方面面的科研建议。相信没有人看过全部的文章,就算看过,真正能记住并对自己科研起指导作用的也就是一两篇文章。对于初学者来说,应该从那篇看起就成了很大的问题。 在本文中,我将列出我读过的各种指导文章中最好的部分文章,尽量做到覆盖科研的各方面而互不重叠。希望能给初入科研领域的朋友提供帮助。 本列表将随着我读的文章数增加和科研经验的积累不断更新。如果大家觉得有更好的文章推荐,也请在下面留言。 小熊推荐的最佳论文写作建议: How to write a great research paper Simon Peyton Jones http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/simonpj/papers/giving-a-talk/writing-a-paper-slides.pdf 除了23页论文结构段落的建议有些极端外,其他部分都很棒。我的早期论文基本都是按照这份胶片的模式写出来的。Simon Peyton Jones是当今Haskell圈子里当之无愧的头号人物,在微软的 最近五年程序语言研究人员排名 中排第一。 小熊推荐的最佳英文写作指导书籍: Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace Joseph Williams, 2006 http://www.amazon.com/Style-Lessons-Clarity-Grace-9th/dp/0321479351 这本书现在都出到第九版了,我看的应该是第二版。这本书最大的优势是全书只围绕一个简单的理论,非常容易掌握和应用,同时书中又通过大量的例子展现该理论确实是有用的。说到英文写作可能很多人会推荐The Elements of Style,我没有读过那本书,但是考虑到我现在实验室的很多人读了后写出的论文还是很难懂,我还是推荐Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace。 不过比较搞笑的是,这本书教会了很多人如何写简单易懂的文章,但这本书本身却写得晦涩难懂。学习了书中的理论后,可以发现这本书的写作充满了违背自己理论的地方。希望我读了之后的七次再版已经在这方面有所改进。 (北大软工所的同学:所里有一本第二版的复印版,是梅老师05年去美国的时候带回来的,找不到的同学可以问问高年级的师兄师姐) 小熊推荐的最佳研究报告陈述建议: (空缺) 这个项目列在这里是因为如何做研究报告确实是非常重要的一个方面,也确实包含很多技巧可能通过阅读指导文章学习。但我没有可以推荐的,因为我做报告技巧不是读文章学来的。我的博士导师做研究报告非常精彩,他自己得了两次日本全国最佳研究报告奖,而他指导的博士生很多人也得过。听过他们的报告之后,我再看任何文章都觉得too simple, sometimes naive,所以只好推荐一个不可操作的方法了。 小熊推荐的研究报告发表替代学习途径: 实地聆听日本国立情报研究所胡振江教授的研究报告或者日本东北大学森畑明昌助教授的日文研究报告 小熊推荐的最佳研究报告发表建议候补: How to give a good research talk Simon Peyton Jones, John Hughs, and John Launchbury, 1993 http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/simonpj/papers/giving-a-talk/giving-a-talk-html.html 如果大家有其他推荐的文章也欢迎在下面留言。 小熊推荐的最佳论文审稿指导文章: OOPSLA 2013 Call for paper Cristina V. Lopes, 2013 http://splashcon.org/2013/cfp/1019 OOPSLA会议多年来一直采用的四个方面的审稿标准,包括原创性、重要性、可信性和清晰性。这四个方面简单清晰,同时又覆盖了一篇优秀论文应该具备的主要属性。除了OOPSLA之外,一些兄弟会议也逐渐开始采用,比如ECOOP。描述这四个方面的词语在每年的征文通知中常常被更换,但核心内容一直没有变化,我上面列举的是我自己在审稿委员会的OOPSLA 2013的征文通知。从容易记忆的角度,我个人更喜欢把这四个方面称为NICE,即Novelty, Importance, Clarity, Evidence。 在一些PC Chair写的审稿意见中还有对这四个方面的详细解释,不过我没有找到网上公开版本的。如果有其他老师同学知道的话欢迎贡献一下。 需要注意的是这里的审稿指导意见其实并不是审稿的时候才会用到,更重要的是他告诉我们一篇优秀论文的质量属性是什么,而我们自己在写论文的时候就要注意去提升这些质量属性。 小熊推荐的最佳会议论文Rebuttal写法文章: Patterns for writing good rebuttals Andreas Zeller http://www.st.cs.uni-saarland.de/zeller/onresearch/rebuttal-patterns.php3 计算机领域的会议论文比期刊论文好是大家都知道的,而会议的组织本身也越来越想期刊发展,很多会议都引入了Rebuttal机制。所谓Rebuttal,就是在程序委员会委员写完评审意见之后,给论文作者一个回复的机会,回复的内容(称作Rebuttal)将在程序委员会会议的时候被用作参考。 由于是一个新生事物,这方面的指导文章一直比较欠缺,本来我想自己写一篇的,但看到这篇觉得我不用写了,这里面包含很多比我自己想的更有深度的东西。 小熊推荐的做研究基本方法指导文章 : 如何做研究? MIT人工智能实验室, 1988 中文翻译: 柳泉波 http://bbs.sciencenet.cn/forum.php?mod=viewthreadtid=35645 英文版:http://www.cs.indiana.edu/mit.research.how.to.html 这篇文章是用wiki的形式让实验室所有学生提建议写出来的,里面有很多好的建议。可能很多同学不熟悉MIT人工智能实验室,MIT的实验室跟普通大学的实验室概念不一样,MIT跟计算机相关的总共也就2个实验室,学术界知名度最高的也就是人工智能实验室。里面包含100名教授,从做程序语言到数据库,软件工程到网络,各种各样的人应有尽有。所以这篇文章实际上是MIT整个计算机学科的经验总结。 不过这篇文章最精彩的部分还要算“情感因素”。相信各位读完后都会会心一笑,果然只有博士生才最理解博士生啊。 小熊推荐的最佳科研生涯指导文章: You and Your Research Richard Hamming, 1986 http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html 这篇文章是12年去参加FSE的时候Zhendong Su老师推荐的,作者是大名鼎鼎的海明码发明人,图灵奖获得者Richard Hamming。这是一篇教你仰望星空的文章,作者回忆了他在的人生中与各种不同的大牛相处的经历,分析为什么有的人得了图灵奖/诺贝尔奖有的人没有。读了这篇文章,就算我们仍然没有得图灵奖诺贝尔奖的本领,但至少让我们有勇气有方向去做一些伟大的事,或者至少向着伟大的目标努力。 小熊推荐的最佳科研生涯指导文章候选 : 有了博士学位还不够 (A PhD is not enough) Peter J. Feibelman, 2006 http://book.douban.com/subject/1926932/ 这本书只进入候选没有进入推荐的原因是因为我觉得他的质量并没有达到前面几篇文章/书的标准。我是临近博士毕业的时候读的,感觉里面讲的大多数东西我都知道。但另一方面,对于初入科研的新人来说,除了科研方法本身,多了解一下这个学术圈子的整体情况或者说是潜规则是非常重要的。这本书虽然是讲的物理学的情况,但书中讲的大多数东西都能适用于计算机科学。另外,虽然这本书作者声明是写的博士毕业之后的建议,但其实刚入学的博士就应该看,甚至在入学之前就应该看。
一所美国小学对于一年级学生暑期英语作业的建议 黄安年文 黄安年的博客 /2010 年 6 月 25 日发布 这里说的是美国一所学校对于小学一年级学生暑期英语作业的建议 , 不要求必需 , 但有明确建议,这样的建议值得我们的小学语文暑期作业对比和思考。 The following is the suggestion from School: 1. Retell a story (for fiction) from the beginning to the end; By asking, What happened at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the story? (can also be used nonfiction) (Retells should include important details about the characters, setting, problem, events, solution to problem, and ending.) 2. Talk about personal opinions - Did you like this story or book (nonfiction)? Why or why not? What is your favorite part and why? 3. Make connections - Which part of this story is most interesting or surprising to you? Why? Show how something that happened in this story is like something that happened in your life. 4. Make predictions - What do you think will happen next? What makes you say that? 5. Questions About Story Elements: 1. How did ____ feel when _______? 2. What is ____'s main problem in the story? 3. How did _______ solve his/her problem? 4. What is the setting (time place) in this story? 5. What lesson does _____ learn in this story?
Stearns教授的一些犀利的观点,你认同吗? ------------------------------------------------------------ 准备坏的结局。 没人(包括有些教授)会在乎你;主动接近导师。 应该明确为什么你的研究重要。 心理问题会成为最大障碍。 不要选修课程:太低效。 找人批评你的研究计划。 管理你的导师:让他知道你的存在。 在不同的论文形式中选择适合你的挑战方式。 早发文章(署名、合作等有技巧)。 不用小看硕士论文。 经常性发文章,但别太多。 @Zurich ------------------------------------ Some Modest Advice for Graduate Students by Stephen C. Stearns Always Prepare for the Worst. Some of the greatest catastrophes in graduate education could have been avoided by a little intelligent foresight. Be cynical. Assume that your proposed research might not work, and that one of your faculty advisers might become unsupportive - or even hostile. Plan for alternatives. Nobody cares about you. In fact, some professors care about you and some don't. Most probably do, but all are busy, which means in practice they cannot care about you because they don't have the time. You are on your own, and you had better get used to it. This has a lot of implications. Here are two important ones: 1. You had better decide early on that you are in charge of your program. The degree you get is yours to create. Your major professor can advise you and protect you to a certain extent from bureaucratic and financial demons, but he should not tell you what to do. That is up to you. If you need advice, ask for it: that's his job. 2. If you want to pick somebody's brains, you'll have to go to him or her, because they won't be coming to you. You Must Know Why Your Work is Important. When you first arrive, read and think widely and exhaustively for a year. Assume that everything you read is bullshit until the author manages to convince you that it isn't. If you do not understand something, don't feel bad - it's not your fault, it's the author's. He didn't write clearly enough. If some authority figure tells you that you aren't accomplishing anything because you aren't taking courses and you aren't gathering data, tell him what you're up to. If he persists, tell him to bug off, because you know what you're doing, dammit. This is a hard stage to get through because you will feel guilty about not getting going on your own research. You will continually be asking yourself, What am I doing here? Be patient. This stage is critical to your personal development and to maintaining the flow of new ideas into science. Here you decide what constitutes an important problem. You must arrive at this decision independently for two reasons. First, if someone hands you a problem, you won't feel that it is yours, you won't have that possessiveness that makes you want to work on it, defend it, fight for it, and make it come out beautifully. Secondly, your PhD work will shape your future. It is your choice of a field in which to carry out a life's work. It is also important to the dynamic of science that your entry be well thought out. This is one point where you can start a whole new area of research. Remember, what sense does it make to start gathering data if you don't know - and I mean really know - why you're doing it? Psychological Problems are the Biggest Barrier. You must establish a firm psychological stance early in your graduate career to keep from being buffeted by the many demands that will be made on your time. If you don't watch out, the pressures of course work, teaching, language requirements and who knows what else will push you around like a large, docile molecule in Brownian motion. Here are a few things to watch out for: 1. The initiation-rite nature of the PhD and its power to convince you that your value as a person is being judged. No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to avoid this one. No one does. It stems from the open-ended nature of the thesis problem. You have to decide what a good thesis is. A thesis can always be made better, which gets you into an infinite regress of possible improvements. Recognize that you cannot produce a perfect thesis. There are going to be flaws in it, as there are in everything. Settle down to make it as good as you can within the limits of time, money, energy, encouragement and thought at your disposal. You can alleviate this problem by jumping all the explicit hurdles early in the game. Get all of your course requirements and examinations out of the way as soon as possible. Not only do you thereby clear the decks for your thesis, but you also convince yourself, by successfully jumping each hurdle, that you probably are good enough after all. 2. Nothing elicits dominant behavior like subservient behavior. Expect and demand to be treated like a colleague. The paper requirements are the explicit hurdle you will have to jump, but the implicit hurdle is attaining the status of a colleague. Act like one and you'll be treated like one. 3. Graduate school is only one of the tools that you have at hand for shaping your own development. Be prepared to quit for awhile if something better comes up. There are three good reasons to do this. First, a real opportunity could arise that is more productive and challenging than anything you could do in graduate school and that involves a long enough block of time to justify dropping out. Examples include field work in Africa on a project not directly related to your PhD work, a contract for software development, an opportunity to work as an aide in the nation's capital in the formulation of science policy, or an internship at a major newspaper or magazine as a science journalist. Secondly, only by keeping this option open can you function with true independence as a graduate student. If you perceive graduate school as your only option, you will be psychologically labile, inclined to get a bit desperate and insecure, and you will not be able to give your best. Thirdly, if things really are not working out for you, then you are only hurting yourself and denying resources to others by staying in graduate school. There are a lot of interesting things to do in life besides being a scientist, and in some the job market is a lot better. If science is not turning you on, perhaps you should try something else. However, do not go off half-cocked. This is a serious decision. Be sure to talk to fellow graduate students and sympathetic faculty before making up your mind. Avoid Taking Lectures - They're Usually Inefficient. If you already have a good background in your field, then minimize the number of additional courses you take. This recommendation may seem counterintuitive, but it has a sound basis. Right now, you need to learn how to think for yourself. This requires active engagement, not passive listening and regurgitation. To learn to think, you need two things: large blocks of time, and as much one-on-one interaction as you can get with someone who thinks more clearly than you do. Courses just get in the way, and if you are well motivated, then reading and discussion is much more efficient and broadening than lectures. It is often a good idea to get together with a few colleagues, organize a seminar on a subject of interest, and invite a few faculty to take part. They'll probably be delighted. After all, it will be interesting for them, they'll love your initiative - and it will give them credit for teaching a course for which they don't have to do any work. How can you lose? These comments of course do not apply to courses that teach specific skills: e.g., electron microscopy, histological technique, scuba diving. Write a Proposal and Get It Criticized. A research proposal serves many functions. 1. By summarizing your year's thinking and reading, it ensures that you have gotten something out of it. 2. It makes it possible for you to defend your independence by providing a concrete demonstration that you used your time well. 3. It literally makes it possible for others to help you. What you have in mind is too complex to be communicated verbally - too subtle, and in too many parts. It must be put down in a well-organized, clearly and concisely written document that can be circulated to a few good minds. Only with a proposal before them can they give you constructive criticism. 4. You need practice writing. We all do. 5. Having located your problem and satisfied yourself that it is important, you will have to convince your colleagues that you are not totally demented and, in fact, deserve support. One way to organize a proposal to accomplish this goal is: a. A brief statement of what you propose, couched as a question or hypothesis. b. Why it is important scientifically, not why it is important to you personally, and how it fits into the broader scheme of ideas in your field. c. A literature review that substantiates (b). d. Describe your problem as a series of subproblems that can each be attacked in a series of small steps. Devise experiments, observations or analyses that will permit you to exclude alternatives at each stage. Line them up and start knocking them down. By transforming the big problem into a series of smaller ones, you always know what to do next, you lower the energy threshold to begin work, you identify the part that will take the longest or cause the most problems, and you have available a list of things to do when something doesn't work out. 6. Write down a list of the major problems that could arise and ruin the whole project. Then write down a list of alternatives that you will do if things actually do go wrong. 7. It is not a bad idea to design two or three projects and start them in parallel to see which one has the best practical chance of succeeding. There could be two or three model systems that all seem to have equally good chances on paper of providing appropriate tests for your ideas, but in fact practical problems may exclude some of them. It is much more efficient to discover this at the start than to design and execute two or three projects in succession after the first fail for practical reasons. 8. Pick a date for the presentation of your thesis and work backwards in constructing a schedule of how you are going to use your time. You can expect a stab of terror at this point. Don't worry - it goes on like this for awhile, then it gradually gets worse. 9. Spend two to three weeks writing the proposal after you've finished your reading, then give it to as many good critics as you can find. Hope that their comments are tough, and respond as constructively as you can. 10. Get at it. You already have the introduction to your thesis written, and you have only been here 12 to 18 months. Manage Your Advisors. Keep your advisors aware of what you are doing, but do not bother them. Be an interesting presence, not a pest. At least once a year, submit a written progress report 1-2 pages long on your own initiative. They will appreciate it and be impressed. Anticipate and work to avoid personality problems. If you do not get along with your professors, change advisors early on. Be very careful about choosing your advisors in the first place. Most important is their interest in your interests. Types of Theses. Never elaborate a baroque excrescence on top of existing but shaky ideas. Go right to the foundations and test the implicit but unexamined assumptions of an important body of work, or lay the foundations for a new research thrust. There are, of course, other types of theses: 1. The classical thesis involves the formulation of a deductive model that makes novel and surprising predictions which you then test objectively and confirm under conditions unfavorable to the hypothesis. Rarely done and highly prized. 2. A critique of the foundations of an important body of research. Again, rare and valuable and a sure winner if properly executed. 3. The purely theoretical thesis. This takes courage, especially in a department loaded with bedrock empiricists, but can be pulled off if you are genuinely good at math and logic. 4. Gather data that someone else can synthesize. This is the worst kind of thesis, but in a pinch it will get you through. To certain kinds of people lots of data, even if they don't test a hypothesis, will always be impressive. At least the results show that you worked hard, a fact with which you can blackmail your committee into giving you the doctorate. There are really as many kinds of theses as their are graduate students. The four types listed serve as limiting cases of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Doctoral work is a chance for you to try your hand at a number of different research styles and to discover which suites you best: theory, field work, or lab work. Ideally, you will balance all three and become the rare person who can translate the theory for the empiricists and the real world for the theoreticians. Start Publishing Early. Don't kid yourself. You may have gotten into this game out of your love for plants and animals, your curiosity about nature, and your drive to know the truth, but you won't be able to get a job and stay in it unless you publish. You need to publish substantial articles in internationally recognized, refereed journals. Without them, you can forget a career in science. This sounds brutal, but there are good reasons for it, and it can be a joyful challenge and fulfillment. Science is shared knowledge. Until the results are effectively communicated, they in effect do not exist. Publishing is part of the job, and until it is done, the work is not complete. You must master the skill of writing clear, concise, well-organized scientific papers. Here are some tips about getting into the publishing game. 1. Co-author a paper with someone who has more experience. Approach a professor who is working on an interesting project and offer your services in return for a junior authorship. He'll appreciate the help and will give you lots of good comments on the paper because his name will be on it. 2. Do not expect your first paper to be world-shattering. A lot of eminent people began with a minor piece of work. The amount of information reported in the average scientific paper may be less than you think. Work up to the major journals by publishing one or two short - but competent - papers in less well-recognized journals. You will quickly discover that no matter what the reputation of the journal, all editorial boards defend the quality of their product with jealous pride - and they should! 3. If it is good enough, publish your research proposal as a critical review paper. If it is publishable, you've probably chosen the right field to work in. 4. Do not write your thesis as a monograph. Write it as a series of publishable manuscripts, and submit them early enough so that at least one or two chapters of your thesis can be presented as reprints of published articles. 5. Buy and use a copy of Strunk and White's Elements of Style. Read it before you sit down to write your first paper, then read it again at least once a year for the next three or four years. Day's book, How to Write a Scientific Paper, is also excellent. 6. Get your work reviewed before you submit it to the journal by someone who has the time to criticize your writing as well as your ideas and organization. Don't Look Down on a Master's Thesis. The only reason not to do a master's is to fulfill the generally false conceit that you're too good for that sort of thing. The master's has a number of advantages. 1. It gives you a natural way of changing schools if you want to. You can use this to broaden your background. Moreover, your ideas on what constitutes an important problem will probably be changing rapidly at this stage of your development. Your knowledge of who is doing what, and where, will be expanding rapidly. If you decide to change universities, this is the best way to do it. You leave behind people satisfied with your performance and in a position to provide well-informed letters of recommendation. You arrive with most of your PhD requirements satisfied. 2. You get much-needed experience in research and writing in a context less threatening than doctoral research. You break yourself in gradually. In research, you learn the size of a soluble problem. People who have done master's work usually have a much easier time with the PhD. 3. You get a publication. 4. What's your hurry? If you enter the job market too quickly, you wont be well prepared. Better to go a bit more slowly, build up a substantial background, and present yourself a bit later as a person with more and broader experience. Publish Regularly, But Not Too Much. The pressure to publish has corroded the quality of journals and the quality of intellectual life. It is far better to have published a few papers of high quality that are widely read than it is to have published a long string of minor articles that are quickly forgotten. You do have to be realistic. You will need publications to get a post-doc, and you will need more to get a faculty position and then tenure. However, to the extent that you can gather your work together in substantial packages of real quality, you will be doing both yourself and your field a favor. Most people publish only a few papers that make any difference. Most papers are cited little or not at all. About 10% of the articles published receive 90% of the citations. A paper that is not cited is time and effort wasted. Go for quality, not for quantity. This will take courage and stubbornness, but you won't regret it. If you are publishing one or two carefully considered, substantial papers in good, refereed journals each year, you're doing very well - and you've taken time to do the job right. Acknowledgements Thanks to Frank Pitelka for providing an opportunity, to Ray Huey for being a co-conspirator and sounding board and for providing a number of the comments presented here, to the various unknown graduate students who kept these ideas in circulation, and to Pete Morin for suggesting that I write them up for publication. http://www.yale.edu/eeb/stearns/index.htm