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COMPASS
MAGAZINE, April 2002
Dr.
Eric Cornell, 2001 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics
Interviewed by Taiwan Fun
Translated by Sharon Yang
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Dr.
Eric Cornell, senior scientist at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, garnered world
attention recently when he won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics,
together with two collaborators, for the achievement of Bose-Einstein
condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early
fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates. While
the science may be beyond the comprehension of many, the University
of Colorado physics professors have attracted widespread attention
in Taichung, given the fact that Cornell taught English in the
city for about six months in 1982. In an exclusive interview,
he took the time to share some memories and thoughts about his
Taiwan experience with COMPASS Editor-in-Chief Douglas Habecker. |
Q: Congratulations on winning the Nobel Prize. Here,
in Taiwan and Taichung in particular, there was some pride that
someone who once lived here had made such an achievement. What brought
you to Taiwan and Taichung?
A: Back in those days, there was
an organization out of Stanford University called Volunteers in
Asia that set up teaching jobs in different places. I was an undergraduate
at Stanford between my sophomore and junior years, taking a year
off. College was rushing by and I felt I was rushing headlong into
choices that were easy to make. I had had an interest in Chinese
language, having taken a year in college, and in [Chinese] literature
and politics. I was intrigued by that whole part of the world....I
lived on Shihfu Road, half a block down from the Taichung Park from
June to December, 1982. The YMCA set me up with conversational English
classes, which were not very hard for me to teach. I also studied
Chinese with a tutor at Tunghai University.
Q: What was your overall impression of Taichung
and Taiwan as a whole during your time here? Are there any specific
memories of Taichung that stand out to you?
A: I think it was a wonderful time
in my life. I was doing something very different from the rest of
my life. I was living an independent life....At the end of six months,
I was ready to move on and did some traveling in China but I really
enjoyed the time I was here. I remember going on YMCA-organized
hiking trips as an honorary counselor with the kids. I don't think
Taichung is like this any more but there was explosive development
that had left gaps, leaving blocks of rice paddies in the middle
of the city. I found it very charming; that made a vivid impression.
It was a novel experience to be a teacher in a residually Confucian
society which meant I was more respected....There were very few
foreigners in Taichung in 1982, other than a few other teachers
I knew.
Q: How did your Chinese language studies go?
A: I had taken a year of Chinese
in college and I was good at languages. By the time I left, I had
no problem getting around. My big problem was with characters. I
got to a first-grade reading level and could read bo-po-mo-fo comic
books. I found that it was also easy to forget once I left it. I
can still order in Chinese restaurants and there are a lot of Chinese
students and scholars in physics. I occasionally try to impress
them and they are always telling me how good my Chinese is, just
like they did in Taiwan, which I know isn't true.
Q: As unconnected as the two experiences may seem
to be, did your time in Asia have any impact on your more recent
accomplishments in science?
A: In a very indirect way, being
in a foreign country at a relatively young age led to my self-confidence
and independence to cut new ground in science and go with my instincts.
You must be willing to cut new ground in science or you won't go
anywhere.
Q: Along these lines, what personal attitude or
approach helped you win the Nobel Prize?
A: The key in physics is having
imagination or, rather, a disciplined imagination grounded in what's
really out there. There are people who are very creative but physics
goes in accordance to a strict set of rules. There are people who
are also rule-bound and cannot think creatively. So it's a balance
between the two.
Q: Since your teaching days in Taichung,
thousands of English teachers have come to work in Taiwan. There
are those who make fun of teachers as people trying to find themselves
or people without real jobs. What is your response?
A: That is often the case but I
don't think that that's a slur against them. Back then hardly anyone
made a career of it. I think travel is a wonderful thing and, even
more, going somewhere and living there, soaking it up and having
the experience of being an outsider. These experiences make you
a more empathetic person to foreigners, to outsiders, to people
who for any reason aren't fitting in.
Q: Do you have any final words for
the people of Taichung?
A: I'd like to say
hello and best wishes to my many, many students and to the staff
at the YMCA. I hope some of them remember me because I remember
them.....I would very much like to return and visit Taichung again.
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