评论 | 疫情为镜，科学有多重要？

在中国新出炉的关于制定“十四五”规划的建议中，坚持创新被置于中国现代化建设全局中的核心地位。而人才是创新活动中最为活跃、最为积极的要素，创新离不开人才，尤其是科研人才。

In the newly released proposal for China's 14th Five-Year Plan, innovation has been placed at the core of the country's continued modernization. Ability is a key component of innovation, especially when it comes to scientific research.

有趣的是，投身科研，是很多中国人的梦想，尤其是对于中国的很多70、80、90后而言。

Interestingly, many Chinese have dreamed of contributing to scientific research, especially in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.

成为科学家是很多中国人儿时的梦想

Lots of Chinese Dreamed of Becoming Scientists as Children

《麻省理工科技评论》等曾汇集过61名儿时想当科学家的中国人的留言，他们大多数已过而立之年，当他们回忆过往人生时，会提到一些共同的词汇：

The comments of 61 Chinese citizens who wanted to be scientists as children, most of whom are now in their 30s, were compiled in a variety of publications, including the MIT Technology Review. Many used similar words and phrases to describe these early dreams.

这些词汇，构成了他们人生行至此刻的描像。但为什么他们小时候的梦想，都是当一名科学家？

These keywords illustrate their life paths up to this point, but what made these children dream of being scientists in the first place?

也许他们儿时并不能真正理解科学能给人类带来了什么，只是认为科学家厉害、无所不能。伴随年岁增长，儿时憧憬的英雄光环褪去，他们明白成为科学家并不是最终目的，科学本身代表的质疑、探索和创新精神才是。

At first, they may not have fully understood the way science benefits humanity. Perhaps as children they thought scientists were remarkable people who could do anything. As they grew older, the heroic aura that had attracted them faded, and they realized their goal was not to become scientists, but rather to continue to question, explore and innovate.

钟南山院士曾表示：“科学家成为偶像的目的，是要更好地消除青年人对偶像的盲从，让他们通过偶像学到对问题的看法，更多地问问为什么。”

Dr. Zhong Nanshan, one of China's most famous pulmonologists, once said that "if we present scientists as role models, it will help young people to learn to express their ideas, and to ask 'why', more often."

他们拥有科学家的梦想，离不开中国社会对于科学的崇尚。科学从来不只是科学家的事情，从小梦想当科学家的他们，是崇尚科学的中国人的缩影。

The dream of being a scientist comes from the general reverence for science in Chinese society. Science here is never just for scientists, and those who dream of becoming scientists since they were young are in many ways the epitome of the Chinese admiration of science.

2020年6月至8月，机器制造公司3M调研了十几个国家公民对于科学的态度，发现88%的中国人相信科学会让生活更美好，比同期被调研国家的均值高出9个百分点。

In 2020, 3M, the U.S. technology and manufacturing company, conducted a survey on attitudes towards science in more than ten countries. They found that 88% of Chinese believe that science will make their lives better, 9 percentage points higher than the average level in other countries surveyed.

中国人科学梦的真相：带给生活巨大变化

Behind the Chinese Science Dream: Revolutionising Daily Life

这样的相信，源于科学转换成技术后带给中国人生活翻天覆地的变化。

This belief stems from the revolutionary changes to people's lives wrought by the technologies derived from science.

牛津大学社会人类学教授项飙生于1972年的浙江温州，他曾回忆：“1984年，我们家有了电风扇，这是我们家第二个电器……那个风吹过来，还能摇头，在夏天带来的那种愉快感是革命性的。”

Xiang Biao, a professor of Social Anthropology at Oxford University – born in 1972 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province – once recalled that "in 1984, we bought an electric fan, which was the second electrical device my family owned. It could generate cool air and turn itself around. The pleasure that brought in the summer transformed our lives."

个人的经历也许难以感同身受，但数据会让变化更加直观。在中国建国初期，稻谷亩产量仅126公斤，粮食产量亟需提高。在湖南省安江农校早稻品种试验田中，彼时的青年教师袁隆平发现了一株天然杂交稻，株型优异，穗大粒多，160多粒稻粒，远超普通稻穗。此后，他开始了杂交水稻研究，不断提高杂交水稻亩产量。2017年，袁隆平团队选育的超级杂交稻品种“湘两优900(超优千号)”，平均亩产1149.02公斤，创造了世界水稻单产的最新、最高纪录。这一亩产量，是68年前的9倍。

It isn't always easy to empathize with personal experiences, but data helps make change more intuitive. In the early days of the People's Republic of China, the rice yield was only 1890 kg per hectare and there was an urgent need to increase production. While doing some of the first field tests at the Anjiang Agricultural School in Hunan Province, Yuan Longping, then a young teacher, discovered a natural hybrid rice, with an excellent shape, and large ears, capable of producing more than 160 grains, far exceeding the yield of ordinary rice. From that point onwards, he researched hybrid rice, continuously seeking to improve its yield. In 2017, the super hybrid rice variety "Xiang Liangyou 900 (Chaoyou 1000)" selected by Yuan's team produced an average yield of 17,235.3 kg per hectare, setting the world record for the highest yield, nine times greater than that of 68 years ago.

2020年，中国杂交水稻双季亩产突破了1500公斤大关，中国粮食人均占有量超过470公斤，高于国际公认的400公斤安全线。在中国4.5亿亩水稻种植面积中，杂交水稻占了约50%。

In 2020, the double-season hybrid rice yield per hectare exceeded 22,500 kg, and China's per capita grain production exceeds 470 kg, higher than the internationally recognized safety limit of 400 kg. Hybrid rice accounts for about 50 percent of the 30 million hectares of rice planted in China.

疾病是人类的天敌。沙眼是由沙眼衣原体引起的慢性传染性角膜炎症。上世纪五十年代前，沙眼是中国人失明的主要原因。当时，中国沙眼患病率约为50%，有些农村地区甚至达到90%以上，探讨沙眼病因的重要性不言而喻。经过一系列科学实验，中国第一代医学病毒学家、医学微生物学家汤飞凡否认了沙眼细菌病原学说，成功分离出了沙眼衣原体，甚至冒着失明的风险，用自己做实验，反复证实结论，最终引发了微生物分类的重大变革，增加了一个衣原体目，也将沙眼发病率从近95%降低至10%，极大地推进了沙眼的诊、治、防工作。

Disease is the natural enemy of humankind. Trachoma, a chronic infectious inflammation of the cornea, caused by Chlamydia Trachomatis, was the leading cause of blindness in China before the 1950s. At the time, the prevalence of trachoma was about 50%, and in some rural areas, it reached as high as 90%. Finding the cause of the disease was therefore vital. After a series of experiments, Tang Feifan, one of China's first-generation medical virologists and microbiologists, disproved the trachoma’s bacterial aetiology, and successfully isolated Chlamydia Trachomatis. Risking blindness, he conducted experiments on himself to double-check his findings, which eventually led to a major change in the classification of microorganisms, added an additional order of Chlamydia and reducing the incidence of trachoma from nearly 95% to 10%, promoting the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of trachoma.

曾困扰了人类至少3000年的烈性传染病天花，仅在20世纪就夺去了3亿人的生命。因为使用了汤飞凡研究出来的乙醚杀菌法，痘苗产量迅速增加。最终，中国在1961 年就消灭了天花，比全球普遍消灭天花早16年。

Similarly, Tang's work helped China eradicate smallpox, a virulent infectious disease that plagued humanity for at least 3,000 years, and which claimed the lives of 300 million people in the 20th Century. Using the ether sterilization method he developed, the production of pox seedlings was increased, allowing China to eradicate smallpox in 1961, 16 years before it was finally eradicated worldwide.

疫情后，民众对科学的认可度普遍提升

Public Acceptance of Science Generally Increased After the COVID-19 Pandemic

正是因为有了科学家，科学才得以转换成技术惠及民众。也正是科学家的建议和指导，以及中国人长期以来对科学的尊重和信任，助力了中国高效的疫情防控。

It is because of scientists that science can benefit the public. Scientific guidance, as well as a long-standing trust in science, has helped China prevent and control epidemics efficiently.

疫情不仅仅验证了科学的重要性，也提高了各国民众对于科学的认可度。

The COVID-19 epidemic not only validated the importance of science, but also increased public recognition of science worldwide.

机器制造公司3M分别在2019年8月至10月和2020年6月至8月，即疫情前后调研了各国普通民众对于科学的态度，经历疫情后，对于“I trust science”这一表述，各国民众的认可度（somewhat agree + completely agree）普遍提高，其中韩国人和德国人均提高了9个百分点。

From mid-2019, and mid-2020 – in other words, before and amid the pandemic - 3M conducted a survey into the public attitudes towards science. They found a general rise in acceptance of the expression "I trust science"(somewhat agree + completely agree), with 9 percentage points more Koreans and Germans agreeing with the statement in 2020 than in 2019.

科学不只是科学家的事

Science is Not Just for Scientists

值得注意的是，中国人对科学的高度认可，还得益于中国公民不断提升的科学素质。中国也在为此设立目标，依据中国“十三五”规划，2020年，中国公民的科学素质要达到10%以上。中共中央关于制定“十四五”规划的建议中也提到：弘扬科学精神和工匠精神，加强科普工作，营造崇尚创新的社会氛围。

It's worth noting that the high recognition of science in China is related to increasing public scientific literacy. China is also setting national goals to ensure this increase continues. Under the 13th Five-Year Plan, by 2020, the level of public scientific literacy was due to exceed 10%. The proposal for the 14th Five-Year Plan includes promoting science and craftsmanship, increasing the popularity of science as a subject, and creating a national atmosphere that advocates innovation.

同时，也有越来越多的人，为科学家梦想投身科研。

At the same time, a growing number of people are choosing careers in research, to follow their own dreams of becoming scientists.

他们的科研成果丰富，论文被引用次数持续增加。根据统计结果，2009年至2019年（截至2019年10月），中国科技人员发表的论文共被引用2845.23万次，相比2008至2018年增加了25.2%，自2007年起，一直排在世界第2位。

As research expands, citations of Chinese researchers are continuing to rise. According to statistics from the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China, as of October 2019, Chinese scientists had been cited a total of 28,452,300 times between 2009 and 2019, an increase of 25.2% from a time period between 2008 to October 2018. Since 2007, China has ranked second in the world in terms of citations.

当然，所有这些都离不开科普和科研经费逐年攀升的投入，2019年中国全社会研发投入为2.17万亿元，占GDP比重为2.19%，大体上与欧盟平均水平相当。

Of course, all of this is inseparable from the investment in popularising science and scientific research, which has been increasing year by year. In 2019, China invested 2.17 trillion yuan, 2.19% of its GDP in R&D, which was roughly on par with the EU average.

也许你会说，那些儿时梦想成为科学家的小朋友，长大后并没有都成为科学家呀。这其实并不重要，科学本来就不只是科学家的事情，它关系着全人类的生存发展，与每一个个体都息息相关。也许小朋友长大后没有成为科学家，但他一直崇尚科学，这本身就非常重要。

Perhaps not all the children who dreamed of becoming scientists grew up to become scientists. But such a thing isn't that important. Science is not just for scientists. It is related to the survival and growth of humankind, and so has touched the lives of everyone. So perhaps a child did not grow up to become a scientist, but they continued to advocate science, and that is important, in itself.

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