one of the items or another= on or another of the items
in all the less controversial fields… 在不太令人争论的一些领域
nebulae 星云
all that we know of…
that we know 做all的后置定语
of 做all的后置定语
social insects群居生活的昆虫
let us say = so to speak
major social sciences主要的社会学
substitute替换,替代
that of 作同位语
In all the less controversial fields like the study of cacti or termites or the nature of nebulae, the necessary method of study is to group the relevant material and to take note of all possible variant forms and conditions. In this way we have learned all that we know of the laws of astronomy, or of the habits of the social insects, let us say. It is only in the study of man himself that the major social sciences have substituted the study of one local variation, that of Western civilization. 省略谓语
group 种族 = race
born into 出生于
globe = earth
no—— 整体否定
cultural transmission 文化传递
it is more incumbent upon us to understand… 插入语
incumbent 只能使用上面的结构.
until 直到
as to +名词 = about 关于
complicating = difficult 复杂
unintelligible 难以理解的