|
<br />
<br />GIaIoIf'Ia .....-......Wn ~....
<br />pft,t/dItLa*W..u.ru.........ChlIIT.......,_
<br />~""""IMo"'1 ChI__........
<br />. 4S.. 1111"""_'" hid"'" 11_
<br />_U.~........INI............,..,....
<br />-..Id____ChlMtgNIr~IloIdIInu.
<br />
<br />TrespasslDI CfNltlmltll from p, 31
<br />
<br />we have the apertence to evaluate the
<br />quality of. particular piece of rese.rch,
<br />Of where WI! have worked on the ..me
<br />topic ounefva, or where WI! know the
<br />reputations of the people Involvtd.
<br />Judstna: the quality of. piece of re.
<br />:selrch In I completely different lCIence
<br />Is much more dlfflcult, .nd the erlterll
<br />may be quite different. At least at the
<br />beB1nnlna. one Is problbl,. dependent
<br />on the Judiinents of coIlea,ues flOm
<br />th.t olher Sdence. It Is of COUnt t'Ytn
<br />more dlm~1I for Ihe press and Ihe
<br />public to mike Icxurabe Iudlfllenu
<br />.bout the validity of panlcular
<br />5dmUnc mults.
<br />Given Ihls problem, It Is Impor.
<br />lant fOf wori:en In an Intl:rdlKlpllnlr)'
<br />subject to to oul of thdr WlIy to make
<br />II possible for 5dentlsn from remote
<br />fields to ludF published resulls. One
<br />needs to takt more clre In documen.
<br />tatlon than when wrttlng for fellow
<br />specl.llstL this may meln (EdIlOB.
<br />tal.;(! note!) .Ivlng explanallons or
<br />milkln. cltallons tlUlt would be con.
<br />sldered unnecusary or patronltlnlln
<br />most Itchnlalllterature.
<br />To faclllt.te Jud.menn about the
<br />reliability of resullS, WI an m.L:e use
<br />01. whole .....rlety 01 techniques .nl.
<br />lable 10 ICIf11tlsts, F'mlllar approaches
<br />Include the deterrnlnllton of analytical
<br />conndenct limits, esllrnatlng conn.
<br />dmce levels for less quantltatl'lt
<br />observations, r11OIOllS statlstlal testln.
<br />of h.ypotheses. Interl.boralOry allbra.
<br />lion of analytlal st.ndards, and Ihe
<br />Independent .n'lyslS of blind IImpl"
<br />from alUclJ locations. (Blind .nalysls
<br />of some crtllcal, disputed levels across
<br />the Itall.n KIT bound.ry Is currtntly
<br />btlng carried out under the supervision
<br />of Roben N. Glnsbu'1 of the Unl'ltnlty
<br />of MI.ml.) One an olten Invent or
<br />modify specl.1 techniques suited 10
<br />panlClllar questions; Muller's (1988)
<br />description of the use of the -G,me
<br />Pro.nm- to decide. mnndence lewl
<br />In a proposed perlodldty Is an
<br />excellmtexample.
<br />The key to Judlins research results
<br />.cross disciplines thus comes down 10
<br />rlsorous are .nd full expl.natlon on
<br />the part of the producer, and the wlll-
<br />Insnen of the ruder to delve deeply
<br />Into an unf.lmlllar llter.ture. This lasl
<br />consideration bonp us to the question
<br />of how well a scientist ftom one field
<br />
<br />can understand \\"h,H.l praClilioner of
<br />a remote Iptclillly i' Silying or \\'rlllng.
<br />
<br />Jarson aad Technical Lanpaa:c
<br />&I a Barrier to CommunlcatlolU
<br />:rhe fin.lltem In this IIsI of
<br />problems In crolllng dlsclpllnilr\.
<br />INrrlenlslhusthem.lteroflKhnlcal
<br />language and largon. I have come 10
<br />see Ihls ilS a m'lor banler to commu.
<br />nlcatlon, both In readln. the literature
<br />Ind In con'ltrYtWtl wllh scIenllsu
<br />horn olher disciplines. Newnhelns.
<br />Ihll bUfler an be overcome, and
<br />overcomlnf It Is In Itself an Interesllnl
<br />pn><<>'
<br />Whalls the role of IU80n .nd
<br />lechnlallangu.ge In science? Why
<br />do they exist? T<<hnlallangwle Is
<br />dearly a necesllry part of science. We
<br />need ne-y "ords to descrlbe new pht-
<br />nomena Ihat.re not covered by the
<br />voabulary of IIle common tongue. But
<br />J.rzon seems 10 play two addltlon.1
<br />roles In K1ence, one detrlment.1 and
<br />Ihe olher beneflClaI. In lIS detrlmenlal
<br />role, jargon serves to exclude the
<br />untnlned from. speclnc hl.h priest.
<br />hood-those who a~ Initiated In .
<br />par!lculJ,r discipline or specialty, In Its
<br />more benefldal role. larlon serves al a
<br />1001 fOl aUblltln.the level of exper.
<br />tlse of a new 'cqualnt.nce, .nd helplnl
<br />you choose the Jew:!. on which to
<br />communlClre.
<br />To me, Iu.on and technlal
<br />IaRJUlF presenl the hl8hesl barrier
<br />10 crossInf dlsclpllne boundaries. The
<br />olher malor barriers,. especially cultunl
<br />differences .nd notions about. hler.
<br />Irchy of 5dencn. melt .way once Ihe
<br />l.nlU'F problem Is surmounted,
<br />
<br />AN APPROACH TO
<br />CROSSING DISCIPUNE
<br />BOUNDARIES
<br />So how does one overcome the
<br />lil1luage burler belween dlsclpllnn?
<br />It seems 10 me lhallanguage fluency
<br />comes IlmOSI automatically. If we treilt
<br />Ihe boundaries between disciplines nOI
<br />as barrlen, bulas pteways leadln8 to
<br />new thlnp 10 explore. After .Il,'s sclen.
<br />tlsts we are drtven by curiosity .bout
<br />n.lure, Why an'l we be IUSI II ClIrlous
<br />about Ih.e worklnss of somebody else's
<br />field 01 science? Each field has lu own
<br />history, lis own Ir.dlttons and w'Ylof
<br />Ihlnkln. and working. lIS own folL:.lore.
<br />and evt!n Its own language.
<br />I ha'lt come 10 view langu.ge
<br />learnln. as the key to InterdlKlplln.ry
<br />work. There Is no pracllcll way to get
<br />different specI.llus to use Ihe lime
<br />tonp. so Ihose wanting to ClOSS
<br />b.rrlers simply must learn other
<br />5dentlsu' lan.uales.
<br />What does this languase learnln!!:
<br />Involve? First of all, we need to know
<br />wh.t the words mean. The same word
<br />may GUry very different meanlnp
<br />whm used by lwo dlfferenl people, W~
<br />know about this In foreign lanlu.BtS;
<br />for eumple, A.no means donkey In
<br />Spanish. but II meanl butter In llallan.
<br />Or 10 rake.n ulreme ca:se, lit muns
<br />no In YUloslavl., but across Ih~ border
<br />In Greece. II means yes. No wonder
<br />Balkan hlltory hIS been so troubled.
<br />Different meanings for the same word
<br />arise through lime In the same Ian.
<br />lua8e. In order to underst.lnd Shake.
<br />speare's plays, ~ need to know Ihlt
<br />words like comptlSJ Ind COIICtlt munr
<br />something qulle different to th~ Eliza-
<br />bethans Ihan they do to us, To il che.
<br />miSt, rrJdlatt.cm means light, but to .
<br />paleontologist II means apptuance of
<br />new species from a common ancestor.
<br />However, even this doesn'l end the
<br />problem, for 1p<<fts has different
<br />me.nlnp 10. paleonlologlst and .
<br />chemist.
<br />
<br />A second ObSCl"l'.lIIOn aboul
<br />language is th.u <<rt.lin key ph rues aCl
<br />.n passwords for rtcognillon among
<br />speakers of the same dlillect, If \~ heOlr
<br />phrases like -rlghl on- or -jolly good:
<br />we Immedlatel\' L:.now which side of
<br />the Allilnllc th~ speake-r comes from.
<br />The same thlnl holds true In Klenrlflc
<br />dlalecu. Trivial as It may seem, I found
<br />th.atmynlllnbre.akthrough Into thc
<br />physics communi!}' ame when I
<br />stopped 1ll}1n. that something ~WilS .l
<br />hundred times Lafler, - as . geologist
<br />would. ilnd beaan saylnl -two orders
<br />of magnllude areater,-
<br />AI a more subtle level, one nnds
<br />th.atcadence and style reflect the
<br />complexll!-', the u;adlllons, Ind Ihe
<br />foll.w.}'S of a particular science and
<br />denne recolnlzable dl.llecls. For
<br />n:ample, there Is a dlalfCt known IS
<br />Physics; ~Iacho, In which any derlva.
<br />tlon thar tilkes a sophisticated
<br />mathematician less lhan a weoek I!
<br />n!ferredlou-anexerclseforlhe
<br />student.- Anolher n:ample Is a dialect
<br />ailed EcoIOSlcJilrgon Overkill, Here
<br />Is a. sample from the literature, only
<br />sUghlly edlled: -Dlsslmllalory anoxic
<br />oxidation ls carried oulln the
<br />lulfun!tum by photollthotrophlc
<br />bacterlil like: the Chloroblaceae, which
<br />are obligate pholOllthGlUlotrophs and
<br />strict anaerobes, the Chcomatl.ceae,
<br />which are panly obllple. panly
<br />facultlllvc photollthotrophl, and Ihe
<br />RhodosplrlllJ,cele, which .re pholo-
<br />heterotroph! .n althouah m.ny of
<br />thtm are able 10 grow phOlolllho.
<br />lrophlcallyaswell.-
<br />Geolollal dl.lect undoubledly
<br />hIS In Ol\'n sllllnesses, too, which I
<br />would like 10 report to you If I could,
<br />but Ih.ey are much harder for , native
<br />speaker lib! me to rKOgnlu. ~rhaps
<br />an outside observer would find Ihe
<br />dl.lect of 8eotogy to be colored by Ihe
<br />description and dasslnatlon of
<br />complex phenomena, which has been
<br />I malor tlSk of our SCIence. Thus our
<br />dialect mllht be represented by.
<br />paper, published In the last century,
<br />wllh thlllltle: -A Description of Ihe
<br />Daslated Human Remains In the
<br />Ollfoml. Stlte Mlnlnl Bureau-
<br />(Anderson, 1888).
<br />The dlmcultyof leOlrnJng a Iiln-
<br />8uageorasclentlncdlalcctlsclcilrly
<br />relllecl to lIS complexity. RussIan, with
<br />Its ornate system of dtclenslons. Is
<br />hard~r for Enlllsh speakers to learn
<br />th.n are Romance Iilngu.ges. Geolo&y
<br />Is a more comple:cly descrlpllve subject
<br />th.n physics (though nol neceswrlly
<br />more dlmClllll, and IS a resull. Its
<br />dialect II harder for physlclsU to learn
<br />than vice Ye/'Sil. for the lime reason
<br />blolos:e~ has been very dUflcul1 for ~e
<br />10 learn. I stili an't speak Eccl081C
<br />Jargon Ovetklll, but I'm worl:.lnS on It.
<br />Serious underslandlng or .nolher
<br />field does not Immediately result from
<br />learnln. IClenrlnc dlaltcls. But with
<br />the I.n.uage mastered, you have the
<br />tools for dllCuulng the subJeC1 mailer
<br />and re.dln8 Ih~ Illerilture In depth.
<br />.nd Ihe pr.ctltloners of Ihe neld wtlI
<br />take you senously. M.ny people have
<br />done this In the gener.ll neld or
<br />research on Impacu and mISs exllnc-
<br />lions, and have found It 10 be Klen-
<br />Ilflatly .nd penonally rewarding. I
<br />believe It Is the key 10 successfullnler.
<br />dlsclplln.ryresearch.
<br />
<br />CONCLUSION
<br />
<br />A! science penetrates deeper .nd
<br />deoeper Into Ihe unknown, mon nelds
<br />become of necessity more ilnd more
<br />separaled .nd Ipeclilltzed. Yet some
<br />topics seem naturally 10 bridge the glps
<br />betw~en fields. The ltudy of ImpaC1s
<br />ilnd mISS extinctions sums to be one
<br />01 Ihue brld81n8 loplcs. f'erhilps the
<br />
<br />scienllflcstylelhilllsgro".ing upin
<br />lhit 1i\'ld mil}" ~'entu~lIy bo\' IS Impor,
<br />ranI as the things we ~te Itarnins
<br />aboulniltllre.
<br />
<br />ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
<br />This paper IS based on Ihlngs l
<br />have learned from and ,,1rh m.n\'
<br />people Interested In Impactl.nd 'milSl
<br />eJrllncti!tns, Forrmosr anlong liK'm .lfC
<br />my original collealues In Ihe Berkelev
<br />group-luiS Ah'aru,. Fran!; Asaro, .n~
<br />Helen Michel. I especially Ihiln!.: Frank
<br />for organlz.Jnl the Amerlan Chemlc;al
<br />Sodely symposium that WilS Ihe SPUt
<br />to think these matten throUGh.. The
<br />thoua:h!ful boola by D.n1d Raup
<br />(1986).nd Rich Mullerl19881\o\"ere
<br />. further stimulus 10 Ihlnk nOI onlv
<br />aboul whal sctence leilms. but abo~1
<br />how science Is done. Desplle the fact
<br />Ih.1 our work WiIs oflen difficult 10
<br />pl8eonhole In the structure or aca.
<br />demlc disciplines. m~' colleagues ilnd
<br />I have received lenenl financial sup-
<br />port from DOE, NSF, t<\AS).. .nd lht"
<br />California Space InsUtule, ilnd more
<br />lpecl.llzed s'"'pport from the Murdoch
<br />CharllableTrust,lhe Hewletl.r.clo:.lrd
<br />Company Foundiltlon, Dr. John
<br />Lawrence, Gordon Geu)', and the
<br />U.c. Berkeley Foundation.
<br />
<br />REFERENCES CITED
<br />....r...m. LW~ "b'WU" w. "SIlO, F~ InII
<br />"'1dI.r.K.V~ltIIQ"E.lllIl_rbl",_lbrl""
<br />cm-TfttJll)'uUnnlon::klnxw.w.ZUI,
<br />p.10II1-110l.
<br />.......fU.W~I"I.lnlen:llKlplllloll)'alp<<l'ol
<br />_rdo.......pactland"""'.lIl...,....lO~
<br />1X'1IOIIII.......IIIS/YtpI....\'.LandW.nt,rll
<br />Illl, Gliat*calallraphn pGCftdlnp: ee.qkal
<br />SocktrIllAIllfflnSpedaII':l"":t.47,
<br />AlY:;IIU, W. "'nllur. M.A. FlKhn. A.G. ,-..10:.
<br />w. Napoll:one.G. 1'It'I1...ISl""'-I.'....
<br />"'nll_. \'I,M. l.n, Uppnc-..
<br />""__ rftlI'WIlt ."'I.,raphrat G"'~ l~.)"
<br />V,Tl'Pf.a....IbIIIw........Crcucn~......
<br />poma&nfIlc.........lllrnetnlr.GtolnIbl
<br />SoatIr.AtIMIIcalullcUra.......p.JIJ-JI,.
<br />Anoltnon. W. IIIL ",dR:rl..lonol.M
<br />dnslnllll h.._n rernalft'l In IhtCallf..nll Sla.c
<br />lofIIlLnl~u:CaII.....nla5l""~U"I......nrau
<br />...11ft1ra....I.p.l...l.
<br />..b1.A.lC..lf'tO.Scardohwrwfladlcl.)'In......1
<br />l!Wfntlln II........II:~: Q-> .....1lIUI~:
<br />GcoIlrsr....I..p.ttlJ......,
<br />DI.to.W.HUI....anol~h,....l.A..IM.I.~I...,U1
<br />oI~.,.pntadlC'_w-n.:~IUn:,
<br />w.Jr1Lp.1lS_717.
<br />EIl'.llnLC.lr:llv\L...a""S/M......I:o.'I',F.~t,
<br />19l1,SuddtlIMlha.th'......f1ftl"').I........-:
<br />f"nhlnoll"LlMlI')'Sd.."""I.,",n.w.S5.
<br />p.317.13~.
<br />GII_.I.W..n.am.W.La..,"'........LI'IIlY.
<br />~laIarwIWflrelalllwc-.TfIIlM).tQ...wy.
<br />I..CIubt..S,V,),I.N..CalastropllnandlMll..t".Il:
<br />A._rnlnl............lonlOCaIlllrMI'loElll".....
<br />CarnbrklpUnh'fI'lol'rl'rna.p.19J.211.
<br />Glen. W. IfK1 T1Iuoad IO""lrnllb- Slanf<Wll.
<br />eallfoml:t.Slanronl Un......nlt)."'"..~S. p.
<br />Gr~......f~S""rpt<rrl.V.LGoor.lK""A.l:....a..1
<br />GaMra.}.I.INS.A..np<<lh"on.Iw",.Iok"""
<br />rorpn\odk'(OfIlf\I.I)'I..lpKlIonf.anh:FOInha....
<br />PlI""'a')' SdnIA lctlfn. w. 7" p. 1-9.
<br />Hut.P.19I-l.H_lU/lll:lunalol""",,"lnlcb:1r.
<br />llIal nn 11'111'/1" rna. utlrlCllon' on [,uth!:
<br />Nalllot,W,211.p.6JII-+IQ.
<br />H..l.r.Alv:orft,.W.FJokf.\\".I'.H.n.....T..
<br />Ka..nman, LG. 1ttIIn, G. SIIotma...., F.lol. and
<br />Wo:h_n.I'.l..I'B7.~1howt"lIaca....
<br />ofma.....IIIC1Ion':NaI.."','..U9.p.ll.....ll6.
<br />.....IIn.l..A.I9ILNarntIllOs.wYClI'k"W,loknf.-ld
<br />.ndNlI:ofson, 1931"
<br />aa..,. O,W. 19M. T1wNo:_atralr. ~ '1'..1<,.
<br />W.W.Nonon,UOp.
<br />bup.D.~..andStpllol.kJ.JJ.JI.I9I~,
<br />""rIodll:ll)'oIulIOKllon, lnlhtl poIop:pal':
<br />Nltlonal Acad.my 01 1c:I.nc.-. l'rocenI1nll"...BI.
<br />p.llCIl-IQS,
<br />
<br />aa..,.D.loI.,ndStpll:ollrJ,JJ.Jr.l'l6.l'trlodlc
<br />ulllIC1lon or (Imlllftlnd ......1: Scltnn....l-ll.
<br />p.8):)--I36.
<br />ShOfmlIl:tI.L/rol..lndWolf...F.l9l6.~lall
<br />ullnalon..c.llf.a..... .""_, ,ho_n.'~
<br />Srnoklc'-tll.L l.. ..hulL I.J'. .nd WllIh....,
<br />"".LtcI.Tho..lnr,nd1M IOlIr'l'1IfIII:TlInon,
<br />Unhotnlly or A"___ Pml. p. 13'..3&6.
<br />WIlllmll., OJ'" andJKbon. I. I'..... Are Pftlocllc
<br />mauutlnct.on,drl...nbyldlltln.sollr
<br />cornpanlon~:lILolure....3OI,p.1U-1IS..
<br />
<br />34
<br />
<br />GSA TODAY, February 1991
<br />
|