“A house without books is like a room without windows,” wrote Horace Mann, the 18th-century writer. I agree wholeheartedly with Mann. 【小题1】

Recently, my husband and I did a painting project in a room we use as an office, which has a beautiful wall full of built-in bookshelves. As we started to pull my valuable books down off the shelves, I felt like I was pulling plants out of the garden. 【小题2】 But then I recognized what the project would offer — the opportunity to rethink our book collection.

The physical act of removing every book from its spot on the shelf showed a few unexpected insights (见解). 【小题3】 At the same time, there were a number of inviting surprises on the shelves — books I had forgotten were waiting for me to open them. So the painting job led to a parallel (并行的) project of organizing the bookshelves.

I took the opportunity and started by grouping the books. Then I thought about the layout of the books on the shelves. 【小题4】 I arranged (布置) a vase here, a figurine (小雕像), there, and a piece of my son’s school art there, each in its place as a symbol of aspects of my life I love as much as I treasure my books.

【小题5】 But it can also be an enjoyable experience if you spend the next rainy afternoon inside in search of something new. You can try pulling your books off the shelf, pay a visit to each one and think in a fresh way about how and where they might live their best lives.

What is the nature of the scientific attitude, the attitude of the man or woman who studies and applies physics, biology, chemistry, geology, engineering, medicine or any other science? We all know that science plays an important role in the societies in which we live. Many people believe, however, that our progress depends on two different aspects of science. The first of these is the application of the machines, products and systems of applied knowledge that scientists and technologists develop. Through technology, science improves the structure of society and helps man to gain increasing control over his environment.

The second aspect is the application by all members of society of the special methods of thought and action that scientists use in their work.

What are these special methods of thinking and acting? First of all, it seems that a successful scientist is full of curiosity — he wants to find out how and why the universe works. He usually directs his attention towards problems which he notices have no satisfactory explanation, and his curiosity makes him look for underlying relationships even if the data available seem to be unconnected. Moreover, he thinks he can improve the existing conditions and enjoys trying to solve the problems which this involves.

He is a good observer, accurate, patient and objective and applies logical thought to the observations he makes. He utilizes the facts he observes to the fullest extent. For example, trained observers obtain a very large amount of information about a star mainly from the accurate analysis of the simple lines that appear in a spectrum.

He is suspicious — he does not accept statements which are not based on the most complete evidence available — and therefore rejects authority as the only basis for truth. Scientists always check statements and make experiments carefully and objectively to verify them.

Furthermore, he is not only critical of the work of others, but also of his own, since he knows that man is the least reliable of scientific instruments and that a number of factors tend to disturb objective investigation.

Lastly, he is highly imaginative since he often has to look for relationships in data which are not only complex but also frequently incomplete. Furthermore, he needs imagination if he wants to make hypotheses of how processes work and how events take place.

These seem to be some of the ways in which a successful scientist or technologist thinks and acts.

Tom was pleased to get a role in the school play. It wasn’t a major role and he had only four or five lines. However, he worked hard at perfecting the lines, repeating them in front of a mirror over and over again, as his drama teacher had suggested. He had great fun rehearsing (排练) with the older students. Then finally the big night came.

Suddenly, things felt different. The theater was full of audience. He looked around at those experienced actors and saw the confidence they’d shown at rehearsal seemed to have disappeared. Everyone was on edge. When Tom got on stage, he couldn’t help hurrying into the words he had repeated so many times before. He tried to slow down but, thinking about doing that, he suddenly realized he had missed a sentence. With no time to think it over, he carried on. When he stepped off the stage, his hands felt sweaty and his heart was racing. He didn’t think about what he had achieved. Instead, he was beating himself up for the mistake that he had made.

The audience, of course, didn’t know he had missed a sentence. In fact, no one noticed it except his drama teacher. “Well done, ” she said. “Acting is like learning to ride a bike. You may fall off a few times, yet each time you get back on, you do it better. Your performance may not have been perfect but, for your first time, it was great. ”

The drama teacher’s words put Tom’s mind at ease. He caught the look of his face in a mirror, which was smiling back at him. Without knowing it, he raised two hands with his thumbs (拇指)up.