|
天才少年，胸有成竹，笔尖轻触，闲庭信步间，便改变了整个世界。一个在过去屡屡上演的故事，为何变成今天难以再现的神话。且听Michael Biercuk为你一一道来。 爱因斯坦曾说“学术上，人一定要三十而立，否则亦难有作为。” Einstein, who was 26 when he first proposed the special theory of relativity in 1905, lived in a time when it was it was common for young scientists to produce breakthroughs. 这的确算他的亲身感受，1905年，年仅26岁的爱因斯坦首创了狭义相对论。 For example, Werner Heisenberg, a father of modern quantum physics, produced his Nobel Prize-winning breakthroughs between the ages of 23 to 25 — an age where most of us are still trying to figure out what we're doing with our lives.同时期的现代量子物理之父维尔纳·海森堡也在23~25岁的时候，就完成了日后为其赢得诺贝尔物理学奖的研究成果。那是一个年少成名的年代，也是一个让现在年轻人情何以堪的年代。 The notion of high-performing graduate students or junior research scientists making Nobel Prize-winning discoveries before the age of 30 has become ingrained in the cultural perception of science and scientists.因此，科学界也在潜移默化间达成共识：真正年轻有为的研究生或科学家，都会在30岁前提出其足以问鼎诺贝尔的科学突破。 But it bears little resemblance to reality. At least not today.可惜这个共识却越来越难照进现实，尤其是当今的科学界。 Age of great achievement成名要趁早？ A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences dispels this myth by examining the "Mean Age of Great Achievement" leading to an eventual Nobel Prize, across several disciplines.最新的研究表明，年少成名很可能真的已成神话。这篇刊登在美国国家科学院院刊上的文章，对诺贝尔科学奖历届获奖人进行了成名平均年龄的研究。 Looking at the mean age at which scientists over the last century made their Nobel Prize-winning breakthrough, the study shows a rather a sharp decline in the frequency of great achievements by age 30 since about 1920, across physics, chemistry and medicine. Young scientists do not dominate the realm of major discovery — at least not any longer.研究发现，上个世纪诺贝尔物理学、化学和医学三个奖项的获奖人，在30岁前发布获奖成果的人数自1920年后骤然下降。青年科学家并非是有重大突破领域的主力军，至少不再是。 The discipline in which I work, physics, possesses an interesting maximum in the frequency of great achievements by age 30, centered around the 1930s. According to the study (and history) this relates directly to the creation of quantum mechanics.就我所从事的物理学领域而言，年少成名的人数竟然是最多的，且主要集中于20世纪30年代，这与物理史上量子力学的崛起有着直接的关系。 This branch of physics was dominated by substantial theoretical contributions in which the development of new ideas was key, and in which old ideas could be discarded when shown to be incorrect. The authors of the study substantiate this interpretation, examining the extent to which major new and significantly impactful work drew on established knowledge or new ideas. 该物理学分支曾是理论研究的主战场，当时旧观念因不准确而被舍弃，创新思维成为主流。文章的作者研究了大量具有深远影响的论文，分析了其运用现有知识体系和新思想的程度，研究结果证实了这个解释。 Remarkably, it is this anomalous period of great and revolutionary discovery in the 1920s and 30s, centred around the formulation of quantum mechanics, that primarily established the image of the twenty-something genius scientist. 令人惊讶的是，上世纪20、30年代，这场以量子力学为主的科学革命，竟成就了20多位天才科学家。 Science in the 21st century成名在当代 More generally the data show — unsurprisingly — that the nature of the training program and relative importance of theoretical work in a field has a large impact on the age at which great achievements are made. 数据表明，通常某个领域专业技术培养的内在要求和理论研究所占的重要性将毫无疑问地影响着该领域科研人员发表重大科学突破的年龄。 How does this relate to science today?具体到现代科学又如何理解呢？ First, as the authors of the study point out, it's quite uncommon for modern science students to receive their terminal degree before age 25, while this was the norm in the early 20th century. 首先，文章的作者指出，现在的研究生很难在25岁前获得其攻读领域的终极学位，而这在20世纪早期却是非常普遍的。 This trend comes from a few different sources, including changes in society, work experience, and the like. But moreover it reflects a general lengthening of scientific education programs. Australia and the UK are in aiming for a short three-year PhD, and it is becoming increasingly clear that a degree of this length is generally not competitive with international programs in the US or EU, where median degree completion times are five to six years. 造成这种现象的原因是多因素的，包括类似社会、工作经历方面的改变。但它仍反应出科学领域教育培养周期延长的普通性。在澳大利亚和英国，教育机构通常不再设置3年制的博士，因为它们越来越清楚地意识到，这种短期制博士在国际上已无法与美国或欧盟其他国家的博士相抗衡，一般这些国家的博士生平均需要5到6年的时间才能完成学业。 The lengthening of degrees abroad (and hopefully soon at home) — is being driven by a change in science as an enterprise, a fact reflected in the published data.公开资料表明，科研机构企业化倾向的转变是国外学位周期普遍延长的源动力。（希望国内的研究生培养也能尽快做出改变） An unfortunate reality is that while in principle new ideas can and occasionally do supplant old, for the most part scientific research today involves delving deeper in a specific area, rather than upending the whole of a discipline with a few key insights. And this means that more and more "basic" knowledge is required by a modern practicing scientist.其次，略感遗憾的是，虽然仍有新思想取代旧观念的可能性，并偶有成真。但现在多数的科学研究更倾向于在某一特定领域拓展深度，而不期望靠几个重要闪光点就足以颠覆整个学科。这意味着现代的科学工作者在科学实践中需要具备越来越多的基础知识。 For instance, while I specialise in quantum physics, I still have to know, in detail, classical mechanics and electromagnetism, because these theories explain most of the world around me, and the performance of the vast majority of equipment in my lab. I do not get to fully abandon the old for the new. I have to learn both — the development of science now requires greater accumulation and integration of knowledge. 以己为例，我虽然主攻量子物理，但仍需要仔细学习经典力学和电磁学。因为这些理论更便于解释我所处的这个世界以及描述实验室多数设备的工作表现。我做不到完全地喜新厌旧，只得双管齐下，现代科学的发展越来越要求知识的积累。 But there's more. In physics, the era in which easily accessible phenomena such as light and electricity could be studied in detail with (reasonably) straightforward experiments and clever insight is largely gone.此外，在物理学领域，像光、电这类易观察的现象完全有理由直接通过实验进行缜密的科学研究，纯理论的思维碰撞正在远去。 Complex experimental studies 成名靠实验 Science is becoming increasingly reliant on complex experimental studies designed to access extreme regimes of nature. In physics this encompasses the nanoscale dominated by quantum physics at very low energies, as well as the subatomic regime of quarks and other exotic particles or the breadth of the cosmos at very high energies.现代科学越来越倚重于复杂的实验研究。实验的设计初衷是了能够探索各种极端尺度下物质世界的真实面貌，以物理学为例，它既可微观到到量子物理主导的低能量纳米级，由夸克和其他奇特粒子组成的亚原子级，又可宏观到高能量宇宙的广度。 Look no further than the multi-billion-dollar Large Hadron Collider for an example of an extraordinarily complex experiment. An experiment that has taken decades to become operational.不需枚举太多，仅看看实验界的航母，价值数十亿美元的大型强子对撞器（LHC），就花费了数十年的时间才建造完成。 Closer to home, in my subfield we use individual trapped atoms to probe exotic effects of quantum physics. This, however, does not simply require knowledge of quantum physics and atomic physics. It also requires technical skills in ultra-high-vacuum systems, ultra-stable laser system development, optics, nonlinear optics, analog and digital electronics, radiofrequency and microwave engineering, computational methods, and hardware-software interfacing, to name a few. It even requires students be conversant in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning in order to ensure that the environmental conditions in the laboratory are sufficiently regulated to allow our experiments to proceed.再举个熟悉点的例子，在我所从事的领域，我们通过捕获单个原子来研究奇特的量子效应。但这并意味着你仅仅掌握量子物理和原子物理就可以了，它还要求你熟悉诸多领域的专业技能，例如超高真空系统，超稳定激光器的发展现状，光学，非线性光学，模拟与数字电路，射频与微波工程，计算方法，软硬件接口等。它甚至还需要学生能够熟识加热、通风以及空气调节设备的使用，以确保实验室的工作环境达到实验要求。 Most graduate students participating in this enterprise require years of training to acquire the skill-set necessary for them to lead new scientific developments, and those developments generally come from group-based activities under the guidance of a senior researcher.参与类似这种科研的学生往往需要数年的训练才能掌握必需的专业技能，而这种技能有助于其在资深研究员率领的科研团队中取得科学突破。 Of course, strokes of genius do come along, and there are occasionally very young and very talented students earning doctoral qualifications in science.当然，天才时刻都有。偶有凤毛麟角的科学翘楚，年纪轻轻即获得博士学位。 But this is quite unusual. Generally, the complexity of experiments, and the need for extended technical training mandates greater time before major discoveries are made.但科研实验的复杂性以及对专业技能需求的增多，让获得科学成就的年龄延后变为一种常态。 And this reality is reflected in the statistics. For instance, since 1980 the mean age of Nobel Prize-winning achievements in physics … is 48.这并非空口白话，统计数据显示，1980年以来诺贝尔物理学奖获奖人发表获奖成果的平均年龄是......48岁。 Science is just not as 'simple' as it used to be. It's often a long, hard slog — even for modern Nobel laureates. The romantic ideal of a young genius changing the world with the stroke of a pen bears little resemblance to modern science. And it would be better if society recognised the extremely hard work, long hours, and dedication required for science to advance. 科学之路不再“平坦”，即便对于诺贝尔奖得主来说，其也是一段漫长而艰辛的旅程。天才少年动动笔就改变世界的时代正在远去，这也许也并非坏事，默默耕耘、无私奉献或才是科学发展的本质。 愿所有科研工作者都能多一分从容，少一分浮躁，辞君向沧海，烂熳从天涯。(译者加) 作者简介：Michael J. Biercuk博士，实验物理学家，悉尼大学量子控制实验室的主要研究员。该实验室隶属于澳大利亚科研委员会精英中心的量子系统工程项目。作者的研究方向为原子系统的量子控制、动态误差压制、纳电子学和精密测量。 |
|
|
