What I'm going to do is to just give a few notes, and this is from a book I'm preparing called "Letters to a Young Scientist." I'd thought it'd be appropriate to present it, on the basis that I have had extensive experience in teaching, counseling scientists across a broad array of fields. And you might like to hear some of the principles that I've developed in doing that teaching and counseling.
Ovde ću prikazati par crtica i to iz knjige koju pripremam pod imenom ,,Pisma mladom naučniku''. Smatrao sam da bi bilo prikladno da je prikažem, zasnovano na tome da sam prethodno stekao široko iskustvo u učenju i savetovanju naučnika iz raznih polja. Možda biste želeli da čujete nešto o principima koje sam razvio kroz ta predavanja i savetovanja.
So let me begin by urging you, particularly you on the youngsters' side, on this path you've chosen, to go as far as you can. The world needs you, badly. Humanity is now fully into the techno-scientific age. There is going to be no turning back.
Dozvolite da počnem kroz podsticanje, pogotovo vas mladih, na ovom putu koji ste izabrali, da idete što je dalje moguće. Svetu ste potrebni, jako potrebni. Čovečanstvo je sada u potpunosti u tehnološko-naučnom dobu. Neće biti povratka.
Although varying among disciplines -- say, astrophysics, molecular genetics, the immunology, the microbiology, the public health, to the new area of the human body as a symbiont, to public health, environmental science. Knowledge in medical science and science overall is doubling every 15 to 20 years. Technology is increasing at a comparable rate. Between them, the two already pervade, as most of you here seated realize, every dimension of human life.
Iako postoje različite discipline - recimo, astrofizika, molekularna genetika, imunologija, mikrobiologija, javno zdravlje, pa od dela ljudskog tela koje je simbiont, do javnog zdravlja, ekologije. Fond znanja u medicinskoj nauci i nauci uopšte se udvostručuje svakih 15 do 20 godina. Tehnologija se razvija na sličan način. Ovo dvoje su prisutni, kao što većina prisutnih shvata, u svakoj dimenziji ljudskog života.
So swift is the velocity of the techno-scientific revolution, so startling in its countless twists and turns, that no one can predict its outcome even a decade from the present moment.
Brzina tehnološko-naučne revolucije je toliko strelovita, toliko zapanjujuća u svojim bezbrojnim zaokretima, da niko ne može da predvidi njene posledice čak ni u predstojećoj deceniji.
There will come a time, of course, when the exponential growth of discovery and knowledge, which actually began in the 1600s, has to peak and level off, but that's not going to matter to you. The revolution is going to continue for at least several more decades. It'll render the human condition radically different from what it is today. Traditional fields of study are going to continue to grow and in so doing, inevitably they will meet and create new disciplines.
Doći će trenutak, naravno, kada će eksponencijalni porast okrića i znanja, koji je zapravo počeo početkom 17. veka, dostići vrhunac i ustaliti se, ali to vama neće ništa značiti. Revolucija će se nastaviti bar još nekoliko decenija. Učiniće čovekovo stanje u korenu različitim nego što je danas. Tradicionalna istraživačka polja će nastaviti da se razvijaju i na taj način će se neizbežno ukrstiti, stvarajući nove discipline.
In time, all of science will come to be a continuum of description, an explanation of networks, of principles and laws. That's why you need not just be training in one specialty, but also acquire breadth in other fields, related to and even distant from your own initial choice.
Vremenom, čitava nauka će postati jedna celina sačinjena od opisa, objašnjenja mreža, principa i zakona. Iz tog razloga se ne treba samo obučavati u okviru jedne uske oblasti, već treba steći širinu u drugim poljima, koja su srodna ili čak udaljena od vašeg početnog izbora.
Keep your eyes lifted and your head turning. The search for knowledge is in our genes. It was put there by our distant ancestors who spread across the world, and it's never going to be quenched. To understand and use it sanely, as a part of the civilization yet to evolve requires a vastly larger population of scientifically trained people like you. In education, medicine, law, diplomacy, government, business and the media that exist today.
Držite svoje oči širom otvorene i pratite. Potraga za znanjem nam je u genima. Tu su je postavili naši daleki preci koji su se raširili po svetu, i nikada neće biti ugašena. Njeno razumevanje i razumno korišćenje, kao deo civilizacije koja će se tek razviti, zahteva mnogostruko veći broj naučno obučenih ljudi kao što ste vi. U obrazovanju, medicini, pravosuđu, diplomatiji, upravi, biznisu i medijima današnjice.
Our political leaders need at least a modest degree of scientific literacy, which most badly lack today -- no applause, please. It will be better for all if they prepare before entering office rather than learning on the job. Therefore you will do well to act on the side, no matter how far into the laboratory you may go, to serve as teachers during the span of your career.
Naše političke vođe moraju da poseduju bar osnovnu naučnu pismenost, koja mnogima u potpunosti nedostaje danas -- bez aplauza, molim. Biće bolje za sve ako se pripreme pre zauzimanja funkcije, umesto da uče usput. Zato ćete dobro delovati sa strane, bez obzira koliko imate iskustva sa laboratorijom, služeći kao učitelji tokom trajanja vaše karijere.
I'll now proceed quickly, and before else, to a subject that is both a vital asset and a potential barrier to a scientific career. If you are a bit short in mathematical skills, don't worry. Many of the most successful scientists at work today are mathematically semi-literate.
Sada ću brzo nastaviti govoreći, pre svega, o temi koja je istovremeno i neophodno sredstvo i moguća prepreka u jednoj naučnoj karijeri. Ako vam matematika nije jača strana, ne brinite. Neki od najuspešnijih naučnika današnjice su matematički polu-pismeni.
A metaphor will serve here: Where elite mathematicians and statisticians and theorists often serve as architects in the expanding realm of science, the remaining large majority of basic applied scientists, including a large portion of those who could be said to be of the first rank, are the ones who map the terrain, they scout the frontiers, they cut the pathways, they raise the buildings along the way.
Poslužiće metafora: dok veliki matematičari, statističari i teoretičari predstavljaju arhitekte u širećem svetu nauke, preostala većina primenjenih opštih naučnika, od kojih se mnogi smatraju prvoklasnim stručnjacima, su oni koji mapiraju teren, izviđaju granice, oni utabaju staze, podižu zdanja na svojem putu.
Some may have considered me foolhardy, but it's been my habit to brush aside the fear of mathematics when talking to candidate scientists. During 41 years of teaching biology at Harvard, I watched sadly as bright students turned away from the possibility of a scientific career or even from taking non-required courses in science because they were afraid of failure. These math-phobes deprive science and medicine of immeasurable amounts of badly needed talent.
Neki su me smatrali preterano odvažnim, ali sam često smatrao strah od matematike potpuno nebitnim u razgovoru sa naučnicima-kandidatima. Tokom moje 41 godine predavanja biologije na Harvardu, tužno sam posmatrao kako bistri studenti odustaju od mogućnosti za naučnom karijerom ili čak pohađanja neobaveznih naučnih kurseva zbog straha od neuspeha. Ovi mato-fobi uskraćuju nauci i medicini nemerljive količine jako potrebnog talenta.
Here's how to relax your anxieties, if you have them: Understand that mathematics is a language ruled like other verbal languages, or like verbal language generally, by its own grammar and system of logic. Any person with average quantitative intelligence who learns to read and write mathematics at an elementary level will, as in verbal language, have little difficulty picking up most of the fundamentals if they choose to master the mathspeak of most disciplines of science.
Evo kako da se izborite sa svojim strahovima, ako ih imate: shvatite da je matematika jezik određen kao i drugi govorni jezici ili govorni jezici uopšte, sopstvenom gramatikom i logičkim sistemom. Svaka prosečno inteligentna osoba koja uči da čita i piše matematiku na osnovnom nivou će, kao i sa govornim jezicima, bez muke savladati osnovne stvari ako reši da ovlada govorom matematike velikog broja naučnih disciplina.
The longer you wait to become at least semi-literate the harder the language of mathematics will be to master, just as again in any verbal language, but it can be done at any age. I speak as an authority on that subject, because I'm an extreme case. I didn't take algebra until my freshman year at the University of Alabama. They didn't teach it before then.
Što duže čekate da postanete bar polu-pismeni to će biti teže da savladate jezik matematike, kako je i sa svakim govornim jezikom, ali se moze naučiti bez obzira na godine. Govorim kao autoritet po tom pitanju, jer sam i sȃm ekstreman slučaj. Nisam pohađao algebru sve dok nisam posao brucoš na Univerzitetu Alabame. Nije se učila do tada.
I finally got around to calculus as a 32-year-old tenured professor at Harvard, where I sat uncomfortably in classes with undergraduate students, little more than half my age. A couple of them were students in a course I was giving on evolutionary biology. I swallowed my pride, and I learned calculus.
Kada sam konačno počeo da pohađam računanje kao 32-godišnji profesor na Harvardu, nelagodno sam sedeo sa učenicima na osnovnim studijama, od kojih sam bio skoro duplo stariji. Neki od tih studenata su pohađali predavanja iz evolutivne biologije koje sam u tom trenutku držao. Progutao sam ponos, i naučio računanje.
I found out that in science and all its applications, what is crucial is not that technical ability, but it is imagination in all of its applications. The ability to form concepts with images of entities and processes pictured by intuition. I found out that advances in science rarely come upstream from an ability to stand at a blackboard and conjure images from unfolding mathematical propositions and equations. They are instead the products of downstream imagination leading to hard work, during which mathematical reasoning may or may not prove to be relevant. Ideas emerge when a part of the real or imagined world is studied for its own sake.
Otkrio sam da u nauci i svim njenim primenjenim oblicima od presudnog značaja nije tehnička osposobljenost, već maštovitost u svim svojim primenama. Sposobnost stvaranja pojmova u glavi sačinjenih od delova i procesa koji su intuitivno prikazani. Otkrio sam da naučna otkrića retko nastaju kontraintuitivno stajanjem ispred školske table i kroz prisećanje odvijajućih matematičkih formula i jednačina. Naprotiv, napredak je posledica intuicije i mašte praćena marljivim radom tokom koga matematički način razmišjanja može ali i ne mora da bude od važnosti. Ideje se rađaju proučavanjem stvarnog ili zamišljenog sveta zarad njega samog.
Of foremost importance is a thorough, well-organized knowledge of all that is known of the relevant entities and processes that might be involved in that domain you propose to enter. When something new is discovered, it's logical then that one of the follow-up steps is to find the mathematical and statistical methods to move its analysis forward. If that step proves too difficult for the person or team that made the discovery, a mathematician can then be added by them as a collaborator.
Od najveće važnosti je temeljno, dobro organizovano znanje o svim poznatim objektima i procesima koji mogu biti povezani sa tim problemom u koji ulazite. Kada se otrije nešto novo sledeći logičan korak bi bio pronalaženje matematičkih i statističkih metoda, koje će potpomoći analizu. Ako se ovaj korak pokaže kao suviše težak za osobu ili tim koji su došli do otkrića, oni mogu tada angažovati matematičara u tim kao saradnika.
Consider the following principle, which I will modestly call Wilson's Principle Number One: It is far easier for scientists including medical researchers, to require needed collaboration in mathematics and statistics than it is for mathematicians and statisticians to find scientists able to make use of their equations. It is important in choosing the direction to take in science to find the subject at your level of competence that interests you deeply, and focus on that.
Uzmite u obzir sledeći princip, koji ću skromno nazvati Prvi Vilsonov princip: Neuporedivo je lakše naučnicima među njima i medicinskim istraživačima, da zatraže pomoć drugih u matematici i statistici nego što je matematičarima i statističarima da naučnike priuče upotrebi jednačina. Ovo je bitno u odabiru pravca u nauci u okviru koga se nalazi tema na vašem nivou spreme koja vas istinski interesuje i na koju ćete se fokusirati.
Keep in mind, then, Wilson's Second Principle: For every scientist, whether researcher, technician, teacher, manager or businessman, working at any level of mathematical competence, there exists a discipline in science or medicine for which that level is enough to achieve excellence.
Imajte na umu, dalje, Drugi Vilsonov princip: Za svakog naučnika, bilo da je istraživač, tehničar, učitelj, menadžer ili biznismen, bez obzira na nivo znanja u matematici, postoji jedna disciplina u nauci ili medicini za koju je taj nivo znanja dovoljan za uspeh.
Now I'm going to offer quickly several more principles that will be useful in organizing your education and career, or if you're teaching, how you might enhance your own teaching and counseling of young scientists. In selecting a subject in which to conduct original research, or to develop world-class expertise, take a part of the chosen discipline that is sparsely inhabited. Judge opportunity by how few other students and researchers are on hand.
Sada ću da ponudim još nekoliko principa koji vam mogu biti korisni u organizaciji sopstvenog obrazovanja i karijere ili ako ste predavač, u poboljšanju svojih predavanja i savetovanja mladih naučnika. Kada birate temu gde ćete vršiti originalna istraživanja ili razviti svetski nivo stručnosti, izaberite disciplinu koje je slabo istražena. Procenite šansu po tome koliko li malo drugih studenata i istraživača učestvuje.
This is not to de-emphasize the essential requirement of broad training, or the value of apprenticing yourself in ongoing research to programs of high quality. It is important also to acquire older mentors within these successful programs, and to make friends and colleagues of your age for mutual support. But through it all, look for a way to break out, to find a field and subject not yet popular.
Ovo ne umanjuje izraziti značaj opšte obuke ili vrednosti učenja u okviru već postojećih visokokvalitetnih istraživačkih programa. Takođe je od važnosti imati starije mentore u okviru ovih uspešnih programa, kao i sklapanje prijateljstava sa kolegama vaših godina zarad međusobne podrške. Ali u svemu tome, nađite način na se otkačite, da nađete polje i temu koja još uvek nije popularna.
We have seen this demonstrated already in the talks preceding mine. There is the quickest way advances are likely to occur, as measured in discoveries per investigator per year. You may have heard the military dictum for the gathering of armies: March to the sound of the guns. In science, the exact opposite is the case: March away from the sound of the guns.
Videli smo demostraciju ovoga u predhodnim govorima. Upravo tu se najčešće dešavaju pomaci mereni brojem otkrića po istraživaču u toku jedne godine. Možda ste čuli za vojničku izreku o okupljanju armija: marširajte ka pucnjavi. U nauci važi obrnuto: marširajte suprotno od pucnjave.
So Wilson's Principle Number Three: March away from the sound of the guns. Observe from a distance, but do not join the fray. Make a fray of your own. Once you have settled on a specialty, and the profession you can love, and you've secured opportunity, your potential to succeed will be greatly enhanced if you study it enough to become an expert.
Dakle, Treći Vilsonov princip: Marširajte suprotno od pucnjave. Posmatrajte sa distance, ali se ne uključujte u okršaj. Izgradite sopstveni okršaj. Kada nađete specijalnost, i profesiju koju biste voleli i kada ste osigurali priliku, vaše šanse za uspeh će biti značajno uvećane ukoliko budete proučavali materiju toliko da postanete ekspert.
There are thousands of professionally delimited subjects sprinkled through physics and chemistry to biology and medicine. And on then into the social sciences, where it is possible in short time to acquire the status of an authority. When the subject is still very thinly populated, you can with diligence and hard work become the world authority.
Postoje hiljade profesionalno razdvojenih tema koje su raspršene od fizike i hemije pa do biologije i medicine. Zatim i u društvenim naukama, i svugde je moguće u kratkom vremenskom periodu steći status autoriteta. Kada je neka tema slabo izučavana, možete kroz marljivost i težak rad postati vodeći svetski stručnjak.
The world needs this kind of expertise, and it rewards the kind of people willing to acquire it. The existing information and what you self-discover may at first seem skimpy and difficult to connect to other bodies of knowledge. Well, if that's the case, good. Why hard instead of easy?
Svetu je potrebna ova vrsta stručnosti i nagrađuju se ljudi koji su voljni da je dosegnu. Postojeće informacije i ono što sami otkrijete mogu na početku delovati škrto i nepovezano sa drugim saznanjima. Ako je to slučaj, odlično. Ali zašto teško umesto lakog?
The answer deserves to be stated as Principle Number Four. In the attempt to make scientific discoveries, every problem is an opportunity, and the more difficult the problem, the greater will be the importance of its solution.
Odgovor zaslužuje da bude označen kao Četvrti princip. U procesu naučnog otkrića svaki problem je šansa, i što je teži problem to je od veće važnosti njegovo rešenje.
Now this brings me to a basic categorization in the way scientific discoveries are made. Scientists, pure mathematicians among them, follow one or the other of two pathways: First through early discoveries, a problem is identified and a solution is sought. The problem may be relatively small; for example, where exactly in a cruise ship does the norovirus begin to spread? Or larger, what's the role of dark matter in the expansion of the universe? As the answer is sought, other phenomena are typically discovered and other questions are asked.
To me dovodi do osnovne podele na načine preko kojih se dolazi do naučnih otkrića. Naučnici, među njima i čisti matematičari, prate jedan od dva puta: kod prvog se ranim otkrićima identifikuje problem, i traži se rešenje. Problem može biti relativno mali; na primer, odakle tačno na brodu počinje širienje norovirusa ? Ili pak veći: koja je uloga crne materije u širenju univerzuma? Dok traje potraga za odgovorom, često se sreću drugi fenomeni i postavljaju se nova pitanja.
This first of the two strategies is like a hunter, exploring a forest in search of a particular quarry, who finds other quarries along the way. The second strategy of research is to study a subject broadly searching for unknown phenomena or patterns of known phenomena like a hunter in what we call "the naturalist's trance," the researcher of mind is open to anything interesting, any quarry worth taking. The search is not for the solution of the problem, but for problems themselves worth solving.
Ova prva od dve strategije je kao lovac, koji istražuje šumu u potrazi za određenim plenom, ali usput nailazi i na drugu lovinu. Druga strategija istraživanja je široko izučavanje teme, gde se vrši potraga za nepoznatim fenomenima i obrascima poznatih fenomena poput lovca koji se nalazi u ,,prirodnjačkom transu" kada je um istraživača otvoren ka bilo čemu interesantnom, ka bilo kakvom plenu vrednog lova. Ne vrši se potraga za rešenjem problema već za samim problemima vrednim rešavanja.
The two strategies of research, original research, can be stated as follows, in the final principle I'm going to offer you: For every problem in a given discipline of science, there exists a species or entity or phenomenon ideal for its solution. And conversely, for every species or other entity or phenomenon, there exist important problems for the solution of which, those particular objects of research are ideally suited. Find out what they are. You'll find your own way to discover, to learn, to teach.
Ove dve strategije izučavanja, originalnog izučavanja, mogu biti objašnjene na sledeći način, u poslednjem principu koji nudim: za svaki problem u datoj naučnoj disciplini, postoji stvar, entitet ili fenomen koji je idealan za njegovo rešenje. Nasuprot tome, svakoj stvari, entitetu ili fenomenu odgovaraju bitni problemi čijem rešenju spomenuti objekti savršeno odgovaraju. Otkrijte šta su. Naći ćete način da otkrijete, da naučite, da učite druge.
The decades ahead will see dramatic advances in disease prevention, general health, the quality of life. All of humanity depends on the knowledge and practice of the medicine and the science behind it you will master. You have chosen a calling that will come in steps to give you satisfaction, at its conclusion, of a life well lived. And I thank you for having me here tonight.
U narednim decenijama će se videti dramatičan napredak u sprečavanju bolesti, sveopštem zdravlju, kvalitetu života. Celokupno čovečanstvo zavisi od znanja i primene medicine i nauke kojom ste zagospodarili. Izabrali ste poziv koje će vam postepeno pružiti zadovoljstvo na kraju dobro proživljenog života. Hvala vam što ste me primili večeras.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
Oh, thank you. Thank you very much. I salute you.
Oh, hvala vam. Hvala vam puno. Pozdravljam vas.