He pointed out that the method could be used to determine the composition
of celestial bodies, thus laying the foundation for the application of the
spectroscope in astronomy, among the modem scicnccs. He even callcd
attention to the possibility of detecting impurities in a metal by this method,
thus speaking the language of the most up-to-date spcctrographcr.
The only possible claim to priority over Altcr’s discovery can be made
in behalf of Sir John Hcrschcl, who in 1824 demonstrated the possibility
of detecting small quantities o f an alkali by its flame spcctrum. However,
this work was described in an inaccessible journal, thus receiving practically
no publicity. Unfortunately, it is not unfrcqucntly that this happens. That
is why scientists usually seek to publish their papers in prestigious journals:
the better the reputation of the journal, the sooner the information it contains
comes to the reader. Furthermore, confuscd by the continual presence of
the strong orange lines, later found to be sodium lines. Hcrschcl soon
regarded his own discovery as incorrect. The same prevalent sodium lines
kept other physicists of that time from realizing that each element has its
characteristic line in the spcctrum.
Alter, however, was not obstructed by this stumbling block. Neither
did the lack of scicntific instruments discourage him. He ground his own
prism and constructed his own apparatus.
Упр. 3. Передайте основное содержание текста в нескольких пред*
ложенпях.
Упр. 4. Какое слово в тексте
означает
« у д е р ж и в а т ь ,
мешать»?
Упр. 5. Найдите в тексте ответы на следующие вопросы:
1. What will surprise those who study the history of spcctrum analysis?
2. What conclusion did David Alter comc to? 3. How did it happen that
John HcrschcPs work remained unknown? 4. Why do scientists try to
publish their papers in well-known journals? 5. What prevented Hcrschcl
from drawing the right conclusion?
Упр. 6. Закончите следующие предложения:
1.
Five years prior to the work of Kirchhoff... 2. Alter pointed out
that... 3. He callcd attention of other scientists to... 4. The priority of
Hcrschcl’s work is shown by... 5. Hcrschcl was confuscd...
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