Abstract:

Taking two scientific works, Science and Civilization in China by Joseph Needham and The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking as example, the author pointed out that while translating titles of scientific books from English into Chinese, historical and cultural backgrounds reflected in the title and the author’s choice of the Chinese version should be taken into consideration. Moreover, attention should also be paid to background information such as literary annotations so as to convey the subtleties of the original version.

Key words: scientific works, Science and Civilization in China, The Universe in a Nutshel, book titles, translating into Chinese