PREFACE.

It is very necessary that all who desire to become really proficient¹ in any department of science should follow the beaten track, toiling² more or less painfully over the difficult parts of the high road which is their only trustworthy approach to the learning they desire to attain⁴. But there are many who wish to learn about scientific discoveries without this special labour, for which some have, perhaps, little taste, while many have scant⁵ leisure. My purpose in the present work, as in my “Light Science for Leisure Hours,” the “Myths and Marvels⁶ of Astronomy,” the “Borderland of Science,” and “Science Byways,” has been to provide paths of easy access to the knowledge of some of the more interesting discoveries, researches, or inquiries⁷ of the science of the day. I wish it to be distinctly understood that my purpose is to interest rather than to instruct, in the strict sense of the word. But I may add that it seems to me even more necessary to be cautious, and accurate in such a work as the present than in advanced treatises⁸. For in a scientific work the reasoning which accompanies the statements of factviii affords the means of testing and sometimes of correcting such statements. In a work like the present, where explanation and description take the place of reasoning, there is no such check. For this reason I have been very careful in the accounts which I have given of the subjects here dealt with. I have been particularly careful not to present, as established truths, such views as are at present only matters of opinion.

The essays in the present volume are taken chiefly from the Contemporary Review, the Gentleman’s Magazine, the Cornhill Magazine, Belgravia, and Chambers’ Journal. The sixth, however, presents the substance (and official report) of a lecture which I delivered at the Royal Institution in May, 1870. It was then that I first publicly enunciated⁹ the views respecting the stellar universe which I afterwards more fully³ stated in my “Universe of Stars.” The same views have also been submitted to the Paris Academy of Science, as the results of his own investigations¹⁰, by M. Flammarion, in words which read almost like translations of passages in the above-mentioned essay.

RICHARD A. PROCTOR.

1 proficient   

adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家

参考例句：

• She is proficient at swimming.她精通游泳。
• I think I'm quite proficient in both written and spoken English.我认为我在英语读写方面相当熟练。

2 toiling   

长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉

参考例句：

• The fiery orator contrasted the idle rich with the toiling working classes. 这位激昂的演说家把无所事事的富人同终日辛劳的工人阶级进行了对比。
• She felt like a beetle toiling in the dust. She was filled with repulsion. 她觉得自己像只甲虫在地里挣扎，心中涌满愤恨。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

5 scant   

adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略

参考例句：

• Don't scant the butter when you make a cake.做糕饼时不要吝惜奶油。
• Many mothers pay scant attention to their own needs when their children are small.孩子们小的时候，许多母亲都忽视自己的需求。

6 marvels   

n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor's treatment has worked marvels : the patient has recovered completely. 该医生妙手回春，病人已完全康复。 来自辞典例句
• Nevertheless he revels in a catalogue of marvels. 可他还是兴致勃勃地罗列了一堆怪诞不经的事物。 来自辞典例句

7 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 treatises   

n.专题著作，专题论文，专著( treatise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many treatises in different languages have been published on pigeons. 关于鸽类的著作，用各种文字写的很多。 来自辞典例句
• Many other treatises incorporated the new rigor. 许多其它的专题论文体现了新的严密性。 来自辞典例句

9 enunciated   

v.（清晰地）发音( enunciate的过去式和过去分词 )；确切地说明

参考例句：

• She enunciated each word slowly and carefully. 她每个字都念得又慢又仔细。
• His voice, cold and perfectly enunciated, switched them like a birch branch. 他的话口气冰冷，一字一板，有如给了他们劈面一鞭。 来自辞典例句

10 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。