Post on 17-Jan-2016
Language
Language - in all its forms - is the key to unlocking all aspects of our World from the cultural creations of mankind to the mysteries and beauty of our Universe.
Language
At a Faraday discussion meeting in Birmingham in 1954 on “The study of fast reactions”, the German scientist Manfred Eigen asked the Oxford don Ronnie Bell how the English language would describe reactions which were ‘faster than fast’.
Ronnie Bell replied “Damn fast reactions Manfred and if they get faster than that, the English language will not fail you, you can call them damn fast
reactions indeed!”.
Part of a nation’s intrinsic culture is encapsulated in its language and how it is used
Japanese Kanji
Chinese characters
Japanese Kanji
Chinese characters
Mizaru
Japanese Kanji
Chinese characters
Mizaru
Kikazaru
Japanese Kanji
Chinese characters
Mizaru
Kikazaru
Iwazaru
Japanese Kanji
Chinese characters
Mizaru
Kikazaru
Iwazaru
zaru translates both as Negation and also Monkey
Japanese Kanji
Chinese characters
Mizaru No see
Japanese Kanji
Chinese characters
Mizaru No see
Kikazaru No speak
Japanese Kanji
Chinese characters
Mizaru No see
Kikazaru No speak
Iwazaru No hear
Hear no Evil See no evil Speak no evil
The famous monkeys over the door to the First Shogun’s mausoleum in Nikko
So we need to understand Chinese characters to appreciate fully Chinese and Japanese culture
In Chinese
In Chinese
InJapanese
Kro-To
Margaret’s Calligraphy
Margaret in Katakana
Kro-to in Kanji Chinese Characters
Margaret’s Calligraphy
Final proficiency in English
non-English speaking immigrants to USA
280
240
5 10 20 30
Age of arrival
200
After the age of 3-7 many never become fluent
dxdy
= a
Medical Notes
Senior Nurses discussed problems stemming from nurses’ inability to
do simple maths
… they put decimal points in the wrong place so patients might receive 10 times more or times less medication than intended
We must understand Chinese characters to appreciate Chinese and Japanese culture
Harry Kroto 2004
My tattoo is of DNA….
It doesn’t ignore the basic beauty
of the double helix.
-Matthew MacDougall,
medical student
Rosalind Franklyn’s X Ray photograph of DNA Described as one of the most beautiful images in
the whole of science… and arguably the most important of all time as at a stroke it revealed how
living organisms evolved
Scientists do not use mathematics and formulae etc to make our lives difficult – we
use it because it is the only language to truly understand the Universe
Final proficiency in English
non-English speaking immigrants to USA
280
240
Native 5 10 20 30 Age of arrival
200
It is too late after the age
of 3-7
Ultimate proficiency in English of non-English speaking Immigrants to the USA related to age of arrival
3-7 years old
over 17-22
By language I do not mean just our spoken language but also mathematics, formulae in science, musical sounds, colour in art and patterns and rhythms poetry.
Without these various languages, elegant patterns of all kinds remain hidden and we remain ignorant and never realise our full potential as creative human beings.
By our Universe I mean not only Nature and the Physical world - the stars in the sky, life, fundamental particles - but also all manifestations of our Universe including, in particular, our amazing brains.
Medical Notes
Senior Nurses discussed problems stemming from nurses’ inability to
do simple maths
… they put decimal points in the wrong place so patients might receive 10 times more or times less medication than intended
Medical Notes
Senior Nurses discussed problems stemming from nurses’ inability to do simple maths
… they put decimal points in the wrong place so patients might receive 10 times more or
times less medication than intended
Others said that (some) could not work out dose-to-bodyweight ratios which were
particularly important for giving drugs to children
More Medical Notes
A colleague, while in hospital, overheard one nurse ask another
how many milliliters there were in a microliter
Lesson
Some things cannot be translated
We have to learn the language