Day1:

1.assert

state a fact or belief confidently and forcefully.

e.g. "the company asserts that the cuts will not affect development"

synonyms: declare, maintain, contend, argue, state, claim, propound, proclaim, announce, pronounce, swear, insist, avow; More

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cause others to recognize (one's authority or a right) by confident and forceful behavior.

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behave or speak in a confident and forceful manner.

e.g. "it was time to assert himself"

2.if one object had twice the weight of another, it would fall twice as fast.

Using comparative degree

e.g.  One turkey weighs 3 pounds less than twice another.

3.empirical

based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic.

e.g. "they provided considerable empirical evidence to support their argument"

synonyms: experiential, practical, heuristic, firsthand, hands-on; More

4.carry out

Complete activity

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Phrases

carry into effect  (achieve)

carry one's point (to accomplish one's object, as in a controversy.）

5.pick holes in

to find mistakes in something or someone ha said or done, to show that it is not good or correct

e.g. The lawyer picked holes in the witness's story.

6.speculative

forming conclusions not based on fact: given to forming conclusions or opinions that are not based on the fact

7.deflect

cause (something) to change direction by interposing something; turn aside from a straight course.

e.g. "the bullet was deflected harmlessly into the ceiling"
synonyms: turn aside/away, divert, avert, sidetrack; More

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(of an object) change direction after hitting something.

e.g. "the ball deflected off his body"
synonyms: bounce, glance, ricochet, carom; More

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cause (someone) to deviate from an intended purpose.

e.g. "she refused to be deflected from anything she had set her mind on"

8.bounce back

recover quickly: to recover quickly and completely after a bad experience

9.foil

a piece of thin and flexible sheet metal

10.as though

like

11.compelling

holding attention: attracting strong interest and attention

e.g. a compelling movie about human relationships

making somebody do something: necessitating action or belief

e.g. I felt a compelling need to explain my actions.

some very compelling arguments

12.bring an entire theory crashing down

13.but almost every advance depends in some measure on previous work and theories

In some measure 多少，稍稍

14.as a result we remember him to this day

to this day 至今

15.inspire rapid advances

16.alchemy

the medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the supposed transformation of matter. It was concerned particularly with attempts to convert base metals into gold or to find a universal elixir.

17.weaken the monopoly

18.exquisite illustrations

19.quash

put an end to; suppress.

e.g. "a hospital executive quashed rumors that nursing staff will lose jobs"

synonyms: put an end to, put a stop to, stamp out, crush, put down, check, curb, nip in the bud, squash, quell, subdue, suppress, extinguish, stifle; More

20.Then in 1687 came what many view as the most important science book of all time

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Day2:

笃学奖-Topic1-B17166-甘比精读

Day3:

This introduction pinpoints the essence of science at the very beginning, which is to search for the truth. Then it uses a famous story to transition the topic smoothly to the scientific method.

The scientific methods are simple. Through Hypothesizing and experimenting, many theories has been proven to be true.

But the proceeding of science is complex. New ideas were developed in some measure according to the previous work. Old dots were connecte to generate the new ideas.

Ideas were formed by a great many scientists. The scientists from east and west developed many theories that are remembered even to this day.

A new chapter of science was brought with the publications of books in analogy, biology, chenmistry, physics and astronomy, shaping a prototype for the modern science.

The introduction further describes the uncertainties and infinities of the universe, the progress we've made in explaining the secrets of life.

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This introduction concerns with a wide range of subjects in the definition of science. The most classical examples are used to illustrate the development of science. Moreover, it arouses the readers' interest to learn about the contents in this book, which will bring them into a fresh new world of science.