Popular Science And Translation

In an era that sees the distance between nations increasingly shortened by deepening international communications, the translation pf popular science books plays a significant role in China’s ongoing campaign of science popularization. However, the entry of China’s progressively marketized publishing industry into the 21st century is accompanied by the uncomfortable prevalence of poorly translated popular science books. Among others, the much criticized simplified Chinese renditions of Stephen Hawking’s world-renowned popular science classics highlight the call for greater public awareness, especially theoretical research on E-C translation of such an under-noticed genre. In light of this, this paper serves as a criticism and revision of Wu Zhongchao’s Chinese translations, while at the same time as an attempt to answer some fundamental questions regarding the translation of such an under-noticed genre. The paper firstly deals with the characteristics of popular science works and the criteria for the E-C translation of such works, followed by a systematic analysis and correction of typical errors and defects in the simplified Chinese editions of Hawking’s popular science works, and finally concluded with my own insight into the major factors that affect the translation quality, the translation process as well as the training of translators.