从小学到博士，从幽禁在圆心到顶穿圆周

Matt Might，The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D. http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/

每年秋天，我都会向新一批博士生解释什么是博士。很难用语言来描述它。所以，我用图片。现在阅读下面的博士图解指南。

想象一个包含所有人类知识的圆圈:

Imagine a circle that contains all of human knowledge:

你读完小学的时候，你知道的是其中的一个点:

By the time you finish elementary school, you know a little:

当你高中毕业时，你知道的更多了:

By the time you finish high school, you know a bit more:

有了大学学士学位，你就获得了一个专业:

With a bachelor's degree, you gain a specialty:

硕士学位深化了这个专业:

A master's degree deepens that specialty:

阅读研究论文会把你带到人类知识的边缘:

Reading research papers takes you to the edge of human knowledge:

一旦你到了边缘，你就会聚焦于边缘上的某点:

Once you're at the boundary, you focus:

你在边缘上努力工作了几年:

You push at the boundary for a few years:

直到有一天，边缘被你突破了（你创造了新的知识）:

Until one day, the boundary gives way:

那个你凸起的鼓包，叫博士学位:

And, that dent you've made is called a Ph.D.:

当然，现在的世界对你来说不一样了（因为与此同时还有很多其他人在一起拓展边缘，等你拿到博士学位时，大家一起把边缘外延了，而不仅仅只有你凸起的那个小鼓包）:

Of course, the world looks different to you now:

所以，不要忘记知识全景图:

So, don't forget the bigger picture:

继续努力。

Keep pushing.

原文作者：

Matt Might, a professor in Computer Science at the University of Utah, created The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D. to explain what a Ph.D. is to new and aspiring graduate students. [Matt has licensed the guide for sharing with special terms under the Creative Commons license.] 

http://matt.might.net/