“The most remarkable discovery ever made by scientists was science itself”

Jacob Bronowsky

Learning Objectives

In this module you will

• learn how to make a poster presentation

• talk about scientific discoveries and inventions

• learn how to express opinions in arguments and discussions

• describe fact and opinion in writing

• distinguish international words from ‘false friends’ words

• revisit Past Tenses

Unit 1 Necessity is the Mother of Invention
	Lead In

1. Think of the difference between the words ‘discovery’ and ‘invention’. Work with a partner and write down a definition for each of these words.

2. Sort out the inventions and discoveries into two columns. Compare and discuss your lists with a partner.

e. g. X-rays e. g. telescope

3. Which areas of scientific study or technology do they belong to? Which of

them are used in more than one natural science?

Reading

1. Work with a partner. Name any accidental discoveries

or inventions you have ever heard about.

• How did people benefit from them?

• Did they cause any problems?

2. The words in column A are in the text you are going to read. Match them with the words in column B which are similar in meaning.

A	B
1) wire	a) mix
2) spark	b) to move suddenly
3) to jerk	c) to vaccinate
4) to inoculate	d) flash
5) compound	e) covered
6) coated	f) cable

3. Read the text about four unexpected scientific discoveries. How did they change the world?

Unexpected Discoveries

As Archimedes settled into his evening bath and noticed that the water level rose, he accidentally realized that water displacement relates to volume. He proclaimed "Eureka!". Since that day and more regularly in modern times, some of the most impactful scientific discoveries have occurred by accident.

Let's review just a few of the important discoveries of the past couple of centuries that were made entirely by chance.

In 1791 Luigi Galvani was an anatomist at the University of Bologna. Galvani was investigating the nerves in frog legs, and had threaded* some legs on copper wire hanging from a balcony. Once a puff of wind caused the legs to touch the iron railing. A spark snapped* and the legs jerked violently (even today, we speak of being "galvanized" into action). In one unintentional step, Galvani had observed a closed electrical circuit, and related electricity to nerve impulses. So he is typically credited with the discovery of bioelectricity.

In 1879, Louis Pasteur inoculated some chickens with cholera bacteria. It was supposed to kill them, but Pasteur or one of his assistants had accidentally used a culture from an old jar and the chickens merely got sick and recovered. Later, Pasteur inoculated them again with a fresh culture that he knew to be dangerous, and the chickens didn't even get sick. Chance had led him to discover the principle of vaccination for disease prevention.

Wilhelm Roentgen was experimenting with electrical discharges one evening at the University of Wurzburg in 1895. There was a screen coated with a barium compound lying to one side, and Roentgen noticed that it would fluoresce when an electrical discharge would occur in the tube he was watching. On reaching for the screen, Roentgen got his hand between the discharge tube* and the screen and saw the bones of his own hand through the shadow of his skin. In 1901, Roentgen received the Nobel Prize for his accidental discovery of X-rays.

Alexander Fleming was a young bacteriologist at St. Mary's Hospital in London in 1928. One day in his cluttered laboratory, he noticed that a culture dish of bacteria had been invaded by a mould* whose spore must have drifted in through an open window. Under the microscope, he saw that, all around the mould, the individual bacteria that he had been growing had burst. He saved the mould, and from it produced the first penicillin.

Although the mad scientists or eccentric inventors so often portrayed in old movies are still good for laughs, that's not what we're talking about here. Surely the need still exists for the imaginative and inventive experimenter.

(Adapted from “Unexpected scientific discoveries are often the most important” by Larry Gedney. Alaska Science Forum, 1985)

---------------------------------------

*to thread - здесь нанизывать

*a spark snapped – здесь проскочила искра

*a discharge tube – здесь газоразрядная трубка

*mould - здесь плесень

4. Explain what the highlighted words and expressions mean. Use a dictionary or consult your teacher if necessary.

5. Here are some answers. What are the questions?

Example: Q___When and where was Luigi Galvani doing his investigations?

A In 1791 at the University of Bologna.

a) Q__________________________________________________________?

A A puff of wind.

b) Q _________________________________________________________?

A To nerve impulses.

c) Q__________________________________________________________?

A Louis Pasteur.

d) Q ___________________________________________________________?

A With electrical discharges.

e) Q ___________________________________________________________?

A Barium compound.

f) Q ___________________________________________________________?

A The bones of his own hand.

g) Q__________________________________________________________?

A The Nobel Prize.

h) Q ___________________________________________________________?

A Bacteriologist.

i) Q ___________________________________________________________?

A The first penicillin.

6. Sum up in your own words how these discoveries were made.

bioelectricity	c) X-rays
vaccination	d) penicillin

Discuss

• Do you think these discoveries were absolutely unexpected? Why?/Why not?

• Why are scientists often portrayed as mad or eccentric experimenters?

• How many joint discoveries or inventions can you name?

• Who made them? Did they find any application?

• Which would you prefer: working in collaboration with other scientists and making a joint discovery or competing with others and working on your own? Why? Give reasons.

• Comment on the saying by Louis Pasteur “Chance favors the prepared mind”.

Focus on language

1. Read the sentences. What grammar tenses are used?

• We were tired because we had been experimenting all day long.

• After I had worked in the lab for a few weeks, I felt I knew the equipment

very well.

• They were making observations of the night sky for several years hoping to discover the planet they had calculated.

• First students had a short talk with a lab instructor about safety in the lab and then they were allowed to work with some chemicals.

• The lecture had already finished before we got there.

Past Tenses We use Past Simple talk about an activity or situation that began and ended at a particular time in the past. We use Past Progressive to say that something was going on around a particular time in the past or a longer background action or situation which was interrupted by a shorter action. We use Past Perfect to speak about an action which happened before another past action. We use Past Perfect Progressive to talk about an action or event continuing up to a specific time in the past. We put the emphasis on ‘how long’.

2. List time expressions under the correct tense heading. Some expressions can be used more than once.

for	before	already	first
since	after	ago	until
when	while	as soon as	during

Past Past Past Past

Simple Progressive Perfect Perfect Progressive

……….. ………… …………

……….. ………… ………. …………

……….. ………… ………. …………

3. Complete the sentences with the correct Past tenses.

1. Class (begin, already) ___________ by the time I (get) ___________ there, so I (take, quietly) __________ a seat in the back.

2. My group mate (discuss) ___________ something with professor when I (walk) ____________ into the room.

3. It was midnight. I (study) ____________ for five straight hours. No wonder I (get tired).

4. Millions of years ago, dinosaurs (roam) _____________ the earth, but they (become) ____________ extinct by the time humankind first (appear) ____________.

5. I (call) Kate at nine last night, but she (be, not) ____________ at home. She (study) _____________ at the library.

6. Kevin suddenly realized that the teacher (ask) him a question. He couldn’t answer because he (daydream) _____________ for the last ten minutes.

7. I (see, never) __________ any of Picasso’s paintings before I (visit) ___________ the art museum.

8. The anthropologists (leave) ___________ the village when they (collect) ____________ enough data.

9. While Roger (write) ___________ an essay his roommate (clean) ___________ the room, so Roger (cannot) ____________ concentrate and (get) ____________ angry.

10. As I (pass) _____________ the hardest exam and (get) _____________ an excellent mark I (feel) ____________ a know-it-all.

Speaking

1. Look at the pictures of the inventions and label them.

А

В

C

D