Theoretical foundations of the translation of scientific literature from Russian into English

Abstract

In this scientific paper some problems of translation of scientific texts from Russian into English have been developed. Translation of scientific texts is a challenge, because it is not enough to translate the scientific text into only the rules of language. This article provides advice on scientific translation. Such texts, for the most part, are aimed at specialists who, as they say, ‘in the subject line’. Almost always, the author does not burden himself with explaining specific terms, reasonably believing that this will only clutter the text, since the target audience is also well-versed in all the intricacies of the terminology used. In the case of the actual scientific texts, one of the main tasks of the translator is the greatest possible informational accuracy of the translation: he cannot afford an error in interpreting one or another term or an ordinary word used in its specific meaning. The above example with the “American Township and Range Surveying System” very clearly illustrates what is being said. The translator must take care of the accessibility of the text to the simple reader, because otherwise the text and its translation loses meaning. So, the main goal of scientific texts of this kind is to convey essential scientific information to scientists who are experts in the subject matter. The first task is that information should be significant and interesting for the relevant scientific community: in other words, it should be either new or represent the old in a new capacity, from a new angle.