15 · 工业中的秘密
Secrecy in Industry
区分观点、依据、例子与限制，用自己的话准确重建论述。
课文精读整篇课文
点选一句，句末即可听读；连起意思，大声读一遍。
Two factors weigh heavily against the effectiveness of scientific research in industry. One is the general atmosphere of secrecy in which it is carried out, the other the lack of freedom of the individual research worker. In so far as any inquiry is a secret one, it naturally limits all those engaged in carrying it out from effective contact with their fellow scientists either in other countries or in universities, or even, often enough, in other departments of the same firm. The degree of secrecy naturally varies considerably. Some of the bigger firms are engaged in researches which are of such general and fundamental nature that it is a positive advantage to them not to keep them secret. Yet a great many processes depending on such research are sought for with complete secrecy until the stage at which patents can be taken out. Even more processes are never patented at all but kept as secret processes. This applies particularly to chemical industries, where chance discoveries play a much larger part than they do in physical and mechanical industries. Sometimes the secrecy goes to such an extent that the whole nature of the research cannot be mentioned. Many firms, for instance, have great difficulty in obtaining technical or scientific books from libraries because they are unwilling to have their names entered as having taken out such and such a book for fear the agents of other firms should be able to trace the kind of research they are likely to be undertaking.
原稿补充 · 独立短句Such secret methods would be really effective, however unethical, only if those turning out the secret research had a personal interest in its secrecy. But here the system defeats itself. The general suppression of the results of industrial scientific research by the firms concerned has a depressing effect on the research worker.
本课原文与译文
展开完整文本 · 便于查阅与检索
整篇课文
Two factors weigh heavily against the effectiveness of scientific research in industry. One is the general atmosphere of secrecy in which it is carried out, the other the lack of freedom of the individual research worker. In so far as any inquiry is a secret one, it naturally limits all those engaged in carrying it out from effective contact with their fellow scientists either in other countries or in universities, or even, often enough, in other departments of the same firm. The degree of secrecy naturally varies considerably. Some of the bigger firms are engaged in researches which are of such general and fundamental nature that it is a positive advantage to them not to keep them secret. Yet a great many processes depending on such research are sought for with complete secrecy until the stage at which patents can be taken out. Even more processes are never patented at all but kept as secret processes. This applies particularly to chemical industries, where chance discoveries play a much larger part than they do in physical and mechanical industries. Sometimes the secrecy goes to such an extent that the whole nature of the research cannot be mentioned. Many firms, for instance, have great difficulty in obtaining technical or scientific books from libraries because they are unwilling to have their names entered as having taken out such and such a book for fear the agents of other firms should be able to trace the kind of research they are likely to be undertaking.
Such secret methods would be really effective, however unethical, only if those turning out the secret research had a personal interest in its secrecy. But here the system defeats itself. The general suppression of the results of industrial scientific research by the firms concerned has a depressing effect on the research worker.
工业科研的成效受到两个因素的严重制约：一是科研工作普遍处在保密的氛围中，二是研究人员个人缺乏自由。一项研究只要需要保密，参与者就难以与同行有效交流，不管同行是在其他国家、大学，还是常常就在同一家公司的其他部门。当然，保密程度各不相同。一些大公司从事的是一般性、基础性很强的研究，公开成果反而对它们很有利。不过，许多以这些研究为基础的工艺，在能够申请专利之前，仍是在严格保密的条件下开发的。还有更多工艺根本不申请专利，而是一直作为商业秘密保存。化学工业尤其如此，因为偶然发现的作用，在这个领域比在物理和机械工业中大得多。有时，保密甚至到了连研究大致属于什么性质都不能提的地步。比如，许多公司从图书馆借阅科技书籍时很为难：它们不愿留下自己借过某本书的记录，生怕其他公司的探子据此推断出它们可能正在研究什么。
然而，这类保密办法，不管多么不合道德，也只有在研究人员本人能从保密中获益时，才会真正有效。可恰恰在这一点上，这套制度适得其反。有关公司普遍压着工业科研成果不予公开，反而使研究人员感到沮丧。
学完这一课
用One is… the other…清楚列出两项不同原因。
译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第60—63页，2022年2月第2版。