阻碍法国科学发展的学界陋习例证

法国曾是世界科学的中心,物理学也曾是法国的传统强势学科。但是19世纪后半叶尤其20世纪前50年左右,法国的物理学与英国、德国的该学科发展相比,明显滞后了。贝尔纳在其著作中,表达了他对法国科学发生这一变化的原因的看法。贝尔纳的观点扼要却没有通过具体事例予以说明。通过著名的法国科学家迪昂与居里等人的遭遇,可以看出贝尔纳的说法是准确的,即科学界的老人统治以及政府的不重视是法国科学发展滞后的关键症结。法国科学界老人统治的后果值得中国科学界引以为戒。

Exemplification of the Corrupt Customs in the Academic Community Which Have Impeded the Development of French Science

France was once the center of the world’s science, and physics a superior discipline in French history of science. Butafter the second half of the 19th century, especially in the first half of the 20th century, French physics, compared with physics in theUK and in Germany, was obviously lagging. Bernal expressed his view on the reasons which caused the change of French science.His views were brief, and he did not illustrate his ideas. The miserable experiences of Duhem and Curie could prove that Bernal wasright, namely science was not emphasized by the French government and the gerontocracy in the French academic community wasthe crucial reason that led the French science to backwardness. The fateful consequence of French science caused by thegerontocracy is mindful of the scientific community of China.