Английский язык для студентов магистратуры = English for master's degree students. В 2 частях. Ч. 1. Учебное пособие

• Politics

While Dewey thought that a democracy was the best type of government, he believed that America’s democracy was strained in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. Industrialization, he believed, had quickly created great wealth for only a few people, rather than benefiting society as a whole. Viewing the major political parties as servants of big business, Dewey became president of the People’s Lobby, an organization that often lobbied their own candidates — in lieu of affiliating themselves with big business — in accordance with everyday people’s social interests.

In 1946, Dewey even attempted to help labor leaders establish a new political party, the People’s Party, for the 1948 presidential elections.

• Later Life and Death

In 1946, Dewey, then 87, remarried to a widow named Roberta

Grant. Following their marriage, the Deweys lived off of Roberta’s inheritance and John’s book royalties. On June 1, 1952, John Dewey, a lifelong supporter of educational reform and defender of rights for everyman, died of pneumonia at the age of 92 in the couple’s New York

City apartment.

Text B. Copernicus biography1

By Pettinger Tejvan

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) — Polish / Prussian mathematician and astronomer. Copernicus created a model of the universe which placed the sun at the centre of the universe (heliocentrism) — challenging the prevailing orthodoxy of the time — which believed the earth at the centre of the universe.

His major work “De revolutionibus orbium coelestium” (On the

Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) (1543) was published just before his

1 From P. Tejvan. Biography of Nicolaus Copernicus. — URL: www.biographyonline.net.

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death and marked an important scientific landmark — it was a key moment in the scientific revolution of the Renaissance period.

As well as being a pioneering astronomer, Copernicus excelled in many different fields — he was a practising physician, economist, diplomat, scholar and gained a doctorate in canon law.

• Early Life Copernicus

Copernicus was born 19 February 1473, in the city of Thorn in the province of Royal Prussia — the Kingdom of Poland. [Copernicus would likely have considered himself Prussian.] His father was a wealthy merchant, who was also politically active in supporting Poland against the Teutonic Order, and he played a leading role in peace negotiations between the two factions. His mother’s family were also very wealthy and influential making Copernicus well connected throughout his life.

After the death of his father, Copernicus was given a full education by his maternal uncle — Lucas Watzenrode (1447–1512). Copernicus became prolific in several languages, including spoken Latin, German, Polish, Greek and Italian. He studied at the Cathedral School at Wloclawek and the University of Krakow. Copernicus’ studies included astronomy and mathematics, Aristotelian philosophy and Aristotelian natural-sciences.

Copernicus supplemented his studies with his own private reading, including works by Euclid, Pythagoras, Plutarch, Ptolemy and many works related to astronomy.

In 1496, Copernicus left to the University of Bologna Italy, where he studied Canon Law with a view to a career in the church. After completing his studies, he temporarily succeeded to the Warmia Canonry. However, he was never fully ordained as a priest and turned away from Canon law — preferring the humanities which were of greater interest to him.

Copernicus also began making an increasing number of astronomical observations, such as the lunar eclipse of 1 500. It was through his close studies and astronomical observations that he began to increasingly develop a different view of the Universe to which most people held at the time.

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In addition, to these studies, he became a practicing physicist and would perform operations on many significant people throughout his life.

In 1503, Copernicus returned to Poland where he served as a secretary to his uncle who was the Prince-Bishop of Warmia. In this capacity, he also became involved in diplomatic negotiations over the ongoing tensions between Prussia and the Teutonic Order.

• Religious beliefs

Copernicus was broadly supportive of the humanist movement, which sought to offer a more liberal approach to life, literature and the sciences. He printed translations of Greek literature, which showed his support for more a more liberal approach to non-Christian literature.

He felt his scientific studies and reading was fully compatible with being a good Catholic Christian; he also never showed any interest in the new Protestant Reformation movement. Copernicus believed the right attitude was to use his God-given reason and scientific method and not just rely on blind faith in scriptures.

• Heliocentric view of the Universe

After the death of his uncle, Copernicus moved to Frombork, in the Kingdom of Poland where he continued to make more astronomical observations, such as viewing Mars, Saturn and the earth’s eccentricity in relation to the movement to the stars; he used fairly primitive instruments and telescopes in these observations. These observations continued to inform and develop his heliocentric view of the universe. He shared his radical ideas and observations in private letters but held back from publishing because he feared receiving criticism and scorn for his revolutionary new theories.

In 1532, Copernicus finished writing his life’s great work “Dē revolutionibus orbium coelestium”. The major points of the work included:

“The sun is not inappropriately called by some people the lantern of the universe, its mind by others, and its ruler by still others. The Thrice

Greatest labels it a visible god, and Sophocles’ Electra, the all-seeing. Thus indeed, as though seated on a royal throne, the sun governs the family of planets revolving around it”.

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1.There is no one centre of all the celestial circles or spheres.

2.The centre of the earth is not the centre of the universe, but only of gravity and of the lunar sphere.

3.All the spheres revolve about the sun as their midpoint, and therefore the sun is the centre of the universe.

He was very reluctant to publish, despite some favourable interest shown by friends and even the Pope and Catholic cardinals in the Vatican.

However, encouraged by friends, students and elements within the Church, he finally published in 1543, the year of his death. He died on 24 May 1543 — one story says that on the very day he died, he awoke from a coma to view his life’s work finally printed — before dying peacefully in his sleep.

• Economics

Amongst his many achievements, Copernicus was also a pioneering economist. He developed a theory on the value of money (later became known as Gresham’s Law — the idea that bad (debased money) drives out good money. In 1517, he created the first attempt at a quantity theory of money — Inflation was related to the amount of money in circulation; this became a principal element of economic theory. It was important for that particular time period, where governments struggled with currency devaluation. His writings on economics became influential for both Prussia and Germany (Teutonic states).

• Influence of Copernicus’ work

For sixty years after his death, only a small number of astronomers and intellectuals accepted Copernicus’s heliocentric viewpoint. However, on the publication of his thesis, there was little controversy and no real criticism from the church.

There were theological objections from leading figures in the Protestant Reformation, such as Martin Luther and John Calvin. The Protestant Reformation placed biblical scripture as the ultimate authority and rejected Copernicism for the perceived conflict with Biblical sources.

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However, by 1616, more objections from Catholic church were being made. Members of the Inquisition, such as Francesco Ingoli wrote Copernicism was theologically heretical.

Galileo’s (1564–1642) work in astronomy made him come to the conclusion Copernicus was right. In particular, it was Galileo (with the use of improved telescopes) who found moons orbiting the planet Jupiter; this was a justification for Copernicus’ view. But as Galileo advanced the view of heliocentrism, he received considerable opposition from the Catholic Church, and he became convicted of heresy on the basis that heliocentrism was contrary to the sense and authority of Holy Scripture. Galileo was placed under house arrest for many years. But, Galileo played a key role in seeing heliocentrism accepted as scientific fact.

Copernicus’ “De revolutionibus” and Galileo’s “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems” were placed on the Catholic

Church’s prohibited list until 1835.

• Copernican Revolution

The Copernican Revolution is said to be the period from 1543 to the time of Isaac Newton and his works on gravity. Nicolaus Copernicus was the first astronomer to formulate a scientifically-based heliocentric cosmology that displaced the Earth from the center of the universe. His epochal book, “De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium” — On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres — is often regarded as the starting point of modern astronomy and the defining epiphany that began the Scientific Revolution.

Text C. Michael Faraday1

By Pettinger Tejvan

•Introduction

English physicist and chemist Michael Faraday (1791–1867) was one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century. His many experiments contributed greatly to the understanding of electromagnetism, amongst

1 From P. Tejvan. Biography of Michael Faraday. — URL: www.biographyonline.net.

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other discoveries he helped to turn electricity into a property that could be easily used.

• Early life and education

He was born on 22 September 1791 in south London to relatively poor parents. Michael Faraday’s father was a blacksmith. His mother was a country woman of great calm and wisdom. Faraday was one of four children who were often hungry, since their father was often ill and couldn’t work steadily. At an early age, Faraday began to earn money by delivering newspapers for a book dealer and bookbinder. At the age of 14, he left school and started an apprenticeship at a local book binder. In his spare time he was an avid reader, teaching himself many scientific concepts.

Faraday was thus mostly self-taught and became one of the greatest scientists despite his rudimentary maths. In 1812, at the age of 20 he received some tickets for a series of lectures by the eminent scientist Humphry Davy. After the lecture Michael sent Davy a 300-page document offering notes on the lectures. Davy was impressed and he employed Faraday as an assistant. This later led to a Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, a position to which he was appointed for life.

• Science work

His early work centered on chemistry. He made a special study of Chlorine and new chlorides of carbon. Faraday was a great practical inventor and one of the most useful pieces of chemistry equipment he developed was an early form of the Bunsen burner. By mixing air with gas before lighting, Faraday found an easily accessible form of higher temperature. His model of the Bunsen burner was developed, but is still used in laboratories around the world.

Faraday's greatest achievement was in the development of electromagnetism and electricity. Though people already knew of electricity, it was Faraday who played a pivotal role in providing a continuous source of electricity, through his electro-magnetic rotation model of 1821. Later he was able to develop the first electric dynamo and his theories of

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electromagnetism proved influential in the new electricity industry of the nineteenth century.

As well as being a prominent scientist, Faraday also undertook other projects related to science. For example, after a large explosion in a coal mine in County Durham 1865, he along with Charles Lyell, produced a report on the dangers of coal dust. He offered practical recommendations which, unfortunately, were not acted upon until after another coal tragedy in 1913. Faraday also investigated levels of pollution in the River Thames and in London, offering recommendations to improve the cities air and water quality. His other areas of interest included designing lighthouses and protecting ships from corrosion.

• Education work

As well as being an expert scientist, Faraday had the common touch to teach science through his popular lectures. Using wit, props and humour, Faraday energised the audience with experiments, demonstrations and encouraging them to think about the significance of the scientific results they could see all around. Between 1827 and 1860 Faraday gave Christmas Lectures to a young audience at the Royal Institution in London. This tradition is continued today.

• Faraday’s Religious Beliefs

Faraday had strong religious convictions, belonging to a strict Christian sect called the Sandemanian Church — founded in the eighteenth century — an offshoot of the Church of Scotland. His religious beliefs influenced his work and he was keen to show the unity of God and nature through his scientific discoveries. “I shall be with Christ, and that is enough” — said Michael Faraday, on being asked about the afterlife.

His religious beliefs may have been a reason why he refused the

British government’s request that he develop chemical weapons for the

Crimean war. He served as deacon and elder in the Sandemanian Church. Faraday married Sarah Barnard, who he met through his church, on 12 June 1821. They had no children.

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• Later Life and Death

In the early 1840s, Faraday’s health began to deteriorate and he began to do less research. He died on 25 August 1867 at Hampton Court, where he had been given official lodgings in recognition of his contribution to science.

INTRODUCTION TO TEXT 4:

An autobiography is the story of a person’s life. It is different to a diary, which is usually a personal account of events but as they happen.

And it’s different to a biography, which is the story of someone’s life, but written by somebody else. There are different ways to tell the story of someone’s journey through life. Using a traditional story arc, with a clear beginning, middle and ending, can make an autobiography more interesting and engaging.

You can start at the beginning, your birth, and describe the journey from there. Or you can start later in your story, at the point when you made an important decision, took part in a memorable event or tried something for the first time. Wherever you choose to start, it’s important to describe key places and events, the different things you saw and did. As with any story, pick the events, people and places that will capture the reader’s interest and imagination and maybe leave the boring bits out! Don’t just list events or anecdotes, piece together a story.

Did an event change the way you think about things? Did it offer you new opportunities? What did you learn from your experience? For example, when Roald Dahl wrote his first autobiography “Boy” he chose to focus on his school years. He tells the story of his local sweet shop and his dreams of being an inventor for a chocolate company. No wonder he wrote “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”! So, autobiography can come out in all kinds of ways. Which things in your life will you write about?

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TEXT 4. HOW TO WRITE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

READING

Task 4.1. Skim the text and find out:

1.Where does the word autobiography come from?

2.Understand why autobiographies are written.

3.How to structure an autobiography.

• 1Etymology of autobiography

Etymology is the study of the origin and history of words. The word

“autobiography” has Greek origins. It’s helpful to divide the word into sections to see how the meaning of this word has developed. You may already be familiar with the word “biography”, which means to write about someone else’s life. The word “autobiography” has the following etymology: Autos

(self, one's own, by oneself, of oneself) + Bios (to life) + Graphia (record or account). Therefore, Autobiography = an account of one’s own life.

Although the word itself was first used in the 18th century, there are examples of writers recording their own life experiences from ancient civilisations, including Egypt and Greece.

• What is an autobiography?

An autobiography is a life story about oneself. It can be a book, a collection of letters, diaries or memoirs. Some autobiographies are formal and provide personal insight on powerful figures and their role in key events, for example, “Becoming” by Michelle Obama or “Long Walk to Freedom” by Nelson Mandela.

Others are informal and about the lives of average people (“Smile” by American cartoonist Raina Telgemeier), famous people (“Will” by Will Smith) or the unique experiences of people (“The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank).

1 From “Biographies and autobiographies”. — URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ articles/zq46trd#zrbm6g8.

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Autobiographies are written for a variety of reasons and there are a variety of types:

1.A full autobiography, detailing someone's life from childhood through to old age.

2.An autobiography based around a theme and which details universal or life-changing experiences.

3.A confessional autobiography revealing deep and personal life experiences.

4.An account of overcoming adversity, illness, imprisonment, trauma, war or other challenges.

• Why to write an autobiography?

There needs to be a purpose and something of interest to say before writing an engaging autobiography. Famous people often write their autobiographies, but this doesn’t mean that writers must be well known. Some autobiographies are fascinating because they record the lives of ordinary people. Autobiographies are often retrospective.

A life story could provide lessons for readers, record important historical events form a personal viewpoint, allow the reader to understand their own life experiences better, entertain the reader.

• Selecting moments from life

Autobiographies are a collection of important moments which allow readers to understand the origins of a person, their behaviour, thinking, feelings, experiences and motivations.

Every single detail of a person’s life cannot be included. However, there are some key moments that may be considered important:

1.The early years of someone’s life, including their place of birth, dates and key early experiences that shaped them.

2.Key experiences and interactions that shaped life perspectives. Unique personal experiences that were challenging and resulted in personal growth. This could include failures, falling in-love, loss, illness, rejections, conflict, friendship, loneliness, and success.

3.Details about training, hobbies and work, discussing what was learnt, gained, or lost.

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