On first seeing this book, my attention was immediately drawn to its cover, which incorporates a photograph of its subject, Sir Barnes Wallis, surrounded by depictions of his designs. He is seen wearing horn-rimmed spectacles and a comfortable tweed jacket - the very model of a stereotypical wartime 'boffin'. On opening the book, I found a foreword written by the lately deceased Richard Todd OBE who played Wing Commander Guy Gibson in The Dam Busters film. He refers to: "the brilliance and scientific achievements of this otherwise modest and unpretentious man." On first seeing the book, I was also immediately tempted to criticise its title and the use of the word 'science'. Barnes Wallis was not a scientist; he was an engineer, a designer and an inventor. In his preface, Dr. Iain Murray does make a point of discussing his use of the word and acknowledges that Wallis would have considered his work to be engineering. The author attempts to justify his use of the term 'science' as a 'coverall word', intended to encompass engineering, mathematics and technology. Nevertheless, I remain quite unconvinced, as, in my opinion, the word 'technology' is, itself, frequently misused as a 'coverall' term.
展开▼
机译：第一次看到这本书时，立即引起了我的注意，它的封面是主题巴尼斯·瓦利斯爵士的照片，周围是他的设计插图。人们看到他穿着角质眼镜和舒适的花呢夹克-这是刻板的战时“棺材”的典范。在打开这本书时，我发现了由已故的理查德·托德·奥伯（Richard Todd OBE）撰写的前言，后者曾在《大坝克星》电影中饰演Wing Commander Guy Gibson。他提到：“这个谦虚谦虚的人的才华和科学成就。”第一次看这本书时，我也立即被诱惑去批评它的标题和“科学”一词的使用。巴恩斯·瓦利斯（Barnes Wallis）不是科学家。他是一名工程师，设计师和发明家。 Iain Murray博士在序言中确实着重讨论了他对该词的使用，并承认Wallis会认为他的工作是工程学。作者试图证明他使用“科学”一词作为“总括词”的理由，意在涵盖工程，数学和技术。但是，我仍然不太相信，因为我认为“技术”一词本身经常被误用为“全面”一词。
展开▼
