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/