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These are the words that have really made a lasting impact on me over the years, about science, technology, and goals we are pursing in life.
1. Seeking the Great White Bird of Absolute Truth
The following texts are excerpted from the biography of Alan G. MacDiarmid, a New-Zealand-born polymer scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000 on the discovery of conducting polymers.
I first read this piece in 2007. I still read it from time to time. Elegant and powerful, from a beautiful mind.
2. Steve Jobs' Commencement address at Stanford
Jobs delievered this speech to Stanford graduates in 2005. It has since made a worldwide impact on students and young entrepreneurs, and perhaps for many generations to come. I, for one, found his words to be truly motivating and inspiring. https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/
Jobs was such a talented speaker. It is better to watch him delivering this speech than just reading the texts. For users in China, here is an alternative link to the video clip: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1oW411h7Ea
3. Mark Zuckerberg's Commencement address at Harvard
If Steve Jobs made a good example of us trying to answer the big question 'how do we live?', then Mark Zuckerberg, a well-known young entreprenuer and founder of Facebook (now Meta), has attempted to answer the even bigger question and perhaps the ultimate one in life: 'why do we live?'
What really amazed me was that Zuckerberg delivered this speech at the age of 33, in 2015. Profound, inspiring, and thought-provoking. Highly recommended.
Alternative link to the video (for users in China): https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Rx411Y7WW
"I decided to give one of these rods a huge stretch, fast, a jerk... and it stretched 1000%." - Wilbert L. Gore, inventor of Gore-Tex.
“Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth, nor does lightning travel in a straight line.” - Benoit Mandelbrot, in his introduction to The Fractal Geometry of Nature.
"云不是球体，山不是圆锥体，海岸线不是圆，树皮不是光滑的，闪电传播的路径也不是直线。"
- 曼德博，《大自然的分形几何》绪论
I believe these words are equally important in scientific research.
Covid-19 vs. romance, social distancing vs. human affection, ordinary people in a once-in-a-hundred-year pandemic... everything is put in such high contrast.
