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科普不是嚼别人嚼过的甘蔗皮
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科普不是嚼别人嚼过的甘蔗皮
2008.12.12
今天晚上见到石磊先生（Richard Stone），他送给大家一人一本他自己2001年出版的科普著作《Mammoth: The Resurrection of an Ice Age Giant》（《猛犸：冰河时代巨人的复活》）。
我记起好像两个多礼拜前的的新闻中有提到Mammoth的基因被克隆的事情，就问他当初他写这本书的原因是否与此有关。Richard告诉我说，十多年前他第一次听说有人试图寻找在地球上已经绝迹的Mammoth的DNA碎片并克隆其DNA的时候，他认为这是天方夜谭。可是他很快发现推动相关计划的一些科学家曾经有很好的科学声誉，所以觉得也许这不是一件科学上绝对不可能的事情，于是他便开始关注和了解这件事情。他先是在《科学》杂志上写了一篇相关报道，后来就决定写一本书。他说现在也许是他考虑再版这本书的时候了。
Amazon网站《Mammoth: The Resurrection of an Ice Age Giant》一书的信息链接：http://www.amazon.com/Mammoth-Resurrection-Ice-Age-Giant/dp/0738202819
维基百科上关于Mammoth的介绍：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth
11月20日纽约时报上关于Mammoth的DNA克隆的新闻链接：http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/science/20mammoth.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2
在这本2001年出版的书的最后，Richard写道：
Frozen woolly mammoths are our strongest link to a time deep in our common past, before our own kind began writing, cultivating crops, or forming nations. These long-lost animals exert a pull on our minds that can be understood only through the eyes of the scientists and explorers in pursuit of the beast. As I journeyed through Siberia and got to know them, I grew to share their infatuation with a creature that looms so large in our imaginations.
I believe that a habitat can be created for the woolly mammoth, and if we can find enough DNA to resurrect several breeding pairs, we would not doom cloned mammoths to a sad existence. Whether it is five years, five decades, or five centuries from now, woolly mammoths will once again walk the earth.
克隆mammoth绝对没有想象的那么容易。不过，显然Richard在2001年出版这本书的时候，已经在很大程度上相信克隆Mammoth在科学上和技术上是很有可能的了。我还没有时间去通读Richard的这本书。我粗略地翻看了一下前言和后语，发现Richard当年花了很长的时间，并且和那些到西伯利亚去寻找Mammoth残骸的科学家以及更多的相关研究人员一起摸爬滚打之后，才写出了这样一本资料详尽的第一手的科普著作。后来的人如果要对同样的科普话题发表意见，应该是必须站在他的肩上，寻找新的信息和发掘更多的故事。
做好的科普其实也是一种富含创造性的劳动，需要对第一手的研究信息和资料的掌握和发掘，而不是去反复咀嚼别人嚼过的甘蔗皮。在一流的科学研究和一流的科普之间的关系中，前者是“源”，后者是“流”。不能直接地去了解世界上最好的科学家的工作，如何能够写出最好的科普作品出来？难道我们可以相信只是去嚼别人嚼过的甘蔗皮，再写一些看起来很美的心得体会，就会是很甜蜜的事业吗？
Asimov后来自认并不是很好的科学家，所以投身于自己擅长的科普和科学幻想写作。但他毕竟近距离接触了非常多一流的科学家和学者的研究，并且曾经是他们中的一员，否则我真不知道他如何能够成为世界上最成功的科普和科幻作家。
最后，说到克隆使我想起了多年前看过的Asimov写过的一首打油诗，叫做The Clone Song （克隆之歌），还能就着调子唱呢。这首歪诗是这样的：
The Clone Song
-Isaac Asimov
Oh, give me a clone
Of my own flesh and bone
With its Y chromosome changed to X
And after it's grown
Then my own little clone
Will be of the opposite sex.(Chorus) Clone, clone of my own
With its Y chromosome changed to X
And when I'm alone
With my own little clone
We will both think of nothing but sex.Oh, give me a clone
Is my sorrowful moan,
A clone that is wholly my own.
And if she's X-X
And the feminine sex
Oh, what fun we will have when we're prone.(Chorus) Clone, clone of my own
With its Y chromosome changed to X
And when I'm alone
With my own little clone
We will both think of nothing but sex.My heart's not of stone,
As I've frequently shown
When alone with my own little X
And after we've dined,
I am sure we will find
Better incest than Oedipus Rex.(Chorus) Clone, clone of my own
With its Y chromosome changed to X
And when I'm alone
With my own little clone
We will both think of nothing but sex.Why should such sex vex
Or disturb or perplex
Or induce a disparaging tone?
After all, don't you see
Since we're both of us me
When we're having sex, I'm alone.(Chorus) Clone, clone of my own
With its Y chromosome changed to X
And when I'm alone
With my own little clone
We will both think of nothing but sex.And after I'm done
She will still have her fun
For I'll clone myself twice ere I die.
And this time without fail
They'll be both of them male
And they'll each ravage her by and by(Chorus) Clone, clone of my own
With its Y chromosome changed to X
And when I'm alone
With my own little clone
We will both think of nothing but sex.
我不记得第一次看见这首诗是我上中学或者大学的时候。或许您能够告诉我Asimov写这首诗是哪年的事儿来着。
https://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-176-50892.html
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