Lesson Eight

The Merely Very Good

Born on Dec 31,1929. Widely known for the clarity of his writing

for the lay reader on the major issues of modern physics.

A professor of physics at the Stevens Institute of Technology since 1967 and was a staff writer for the New Yorker until 1993.

The author: Jeremy Bernstein

An adjunct professor at Rockefeller University ;

A vice president of the board of trustees of the Aspen Center for Physics.

Jeremy Bernstein

Dawning of the Raj:

The Life and Trials of

Warren Hastings (2000)

Works

An Introduction to Cosmology (1998) Albert Einstein and the Frontiers of

Physics (1997) Hitler's Uranium Club: The Secret Recordings at Farm Hall

(1996)A Theory for Everything (1996)Cranks, Quarks, and the Cosmos: Writings on Science (1993)

Quantum Profiles (1991)

Works

In the Himalayas

The Tenth Dimension: An Informal History of High-Energy Physics (1989) Kinetic Theory in the Expanding Universe (1988)

The Life It Brings: One Physicist's Beginnings (1987)

Three Degrees Above Zero: Bell Labs in the Information Age (1984)

Science Observed: Essays Out of My Mind (1982)

The Analytical Engine: Computers--Past, Present, and Future (1981) Hans Bethe, Prophet of Energy (1980) Experiencing Science (1978)

Science and the Human Imagination: Albert Einstein: Papers and Discussions (1978) Einstein (1973)

The Wildest Dreams of Kew: A Profile of Nepal (1970)

Ascent: the Invention of Mountain Climbing & Its Practice (1965)

Works

J. Robert Oppenheimer(1904--1967)

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer grew up in a sumptuous Manhattan apartment.

In 1922 Oppenheimer enrolled at Harvard. In 1926 he studied with Max Born at the Univ

ersity of Gottingen in Germany, from which he received his doctoral degree in March 1927.

In 1939 he fell in love with Katharine “Kitty” Puening Harrison, they married in November 1940 and had two children.

J. Robert Oppenheimer In 1941, Oppenheimer became officially

involved in the atomic bomb project. In 1942, he was appointed Director of

what was to became the Los Alamos Laboratory, which would design and construct the atomic bomb.

Oppenheimer was also an advisor to the Target Committee, which recommended Japanese targets for the atomic bombs.

W. H. Auden(1907---1973)

English poet. At Oxford his precocity as a poet was imme

diately apparent, and he formed lifelong friendship with two fellow writers, Stephen Spender and Christopher Isherwood.

His collection of poems, published in 1930, established him as the leading voice of a new generation.

Stephen Spender(1909--1995)

English poet and critic.

Christopher Isherwood(1906--1986)

Anglo-American novelist and playwright, best known for his stories about Berlin in the early 1930s.

Werner Heisenberg(1901--1976)

German theoretical and nuclear physicist. 1932 年诺贝尔物理学奖授予德国莱比锡 (Leipzig) 大学的海森伯 , 以表彰他创立了量子力学，尤其是他的应用导致了发现氢的同素异形体

Paul A. M. Dirac(1902--1984)

Professor Dirac’s pioneer work in the quantum mechanics on the atom won him the Nobel Prize in 1933.

Erwin Schrodinger (1887--1961)

Austrian physicist. 1933 年诺贝尔物理学奖授予德国柏林大学的奥地利物理学家薛定谔和英国剑桥大学的狄拉克 , 以表彰他们发现了原子理论的新式。

Isidor Rabi(1898--1988)

Professor of physics and Nobel Prize winner for Physics in 1944. 1944 年诺贝尔物理学奖授予美国纽约州纽约市哥伦比亚大学的拉比 , 以表彰他用共振方法纪录原子核磁特性。拉比的最大功绩是发展了斯特恩的分子束法，并用之于磁共振。分子束磁共振在研究原子和原子核特性方面有独特的功能，后来形成了一系列的物理学分支

Max Born(1882--1970)

German nuclear physicist, who published a paper in 1942 in which the term Quantum Mechanics was used for the first time . Winner of Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954.

T. D. Lee(1926--now)

( 李政道 )

American-Chinese physics who won the 1957 Nobel Prize together with Frank Yang( 杨振宁 ).

Eugene Wigner(1902--1995)

Professor of physics and winner of the Nobel Prize for physic in 1963. 以表彰他对原子核和基本粒子理论，特别是通过基本对称原理的发现和应用所作出的贡献

Quantum mechanics

Quantum theory, especially the quantum theory of the structure and behavior of atoms and molecules 量子力学．

Background information

Sanskrit: the classical old Indic literary language, still used in the rituals of the Northern Buddhist Church.

Talmud: the collection of writing constituting the Jewish civil and religious law.

Hebrew: the ancient Semitic language of the Israelites in which most of the Old Testament was written, the official language of Israel.

Pre-class questions:

1 How do you understand the title of the lesson? 2 Which rhetorical speech is repeatedly used in this less

on to achieve the fixed effects? 3 How many sections can you divide the lesson into? 4 Tell the students what difficulties they will face in unde

rstanding the lesson. 5 How are Oppenheimer, Dirac and Auden first brought

up in the article? 6 How are the author, Oppenheimer, Dirac, Spender, Au

den related to each other? 7 How does the author manage to bring the different an

ecdotes and personal relationship together? What method does he use to achieve coherence of the piece?

Detailed study of the text

Para. 1 Questions: 1. When the author was invited to lecture at a wr

iters' conference early in 1981, what was his first inclination? Why? 2. Why is it that present and past tenses are us

ed in the same sentence? 3. How did the author decide where the locatio

n is? How did he express the idea?

4. Why was the author invited to speak on the subject?

5. What did he have to say on this subject?

6. Why does the author begin the essay with such an incident?

Paras. 2--3 What is the role of the first sentence in Pa

ragraph 2? (I) It is a transitional sentence. (2) to come to mind: to be remembered

Born's recollections ... were not sympathetic. (1) recollection : the act of calling back to mind;

a thing recollected sympathetic, showing favor or approval posthumous: published after the author's d

eath (2) What was Prof. Born's view of Oppenheimer? He did not have very favorable assessment

of Oppenheimer.

What are the similarities and differences of Dirac and Oppenheimer as shown in Paragraph 3?

Both were young, in their twenties. Both were physicists, working on quantum m

echanics. But when Oppenheimer was showing his tale

nt in doing calculation better in the quantum theory, Dirac had invented the theory. Dirac was already famous.

Dirac concentrated on physics while Oppenheimer also wrote poetry.

Para. 4 What is the function of this paragraph? It brings the readers back to the decisio

n of going to the conference and introduces Spender and Auden, thus presenting to the readers the two pairs of contrast: Dirac and Oppenheimer and Auden and Spender.

Pitted against.., that finally carried the day. (1) to pit: to set in competition (against) (2) to carry the day: to win; overcome the

opposition of others, e, g. They found that my views, with which they mostly disagreed, often carried the day.

(3) There were two reasons for my going to the conference set against the reasons for my not going and they became decisive in my final decision.

I became fascinated by Spender's obsession with Auden.

(1) to fascinate: to hold the attention of by being very interesting or delightfully captivate

(2) obsession : preoccupation with an idea, desire, emotion that cannot be got rid of by reasoning

Auden must have been to Spender... They focused like laser beams.

(1) In this part the author brings up two important points: one is the idea of "great" and "merely very good"; the other is the reason for the difference: focused attention versus an unfocused approach.

(2) establishment : in England, a complex consisting of the church, the royal family and the plutocracy , regarded as holding the chief measure of power and influence

eccentric: odd; unconventional to insulate: to detach from the rest; to isolate perennial: constantly recurring

Paras. 6 -- 7 ....reminding one of those skulls which were sp

ecially elongated by the Egyptians. (1) to elongate: to make or become longer; str

etch. (2) An ancient Egyptian tradition is mentioned

here. His expression.., ascetic He looks intense as well as self-denying, which had a kind of wary on guard; watchful l

uminescence . Siamese cats make a similar impression.

Oppenheimer appears.., own life. (1) context: the whole situation, backgro

und, or environment relevant to a particular event, personality, creation, etc.

(2) relevance ： close logical relationship with and importance to the matter under consideration

Oppenheimer has been "tried" for disloyalty to this country and that his clearance had been

taken away. (l) clearance 可靠或称职的官方证明 : official,

especially governmental, authorization 授权书 allowing a person to examine classified documents, participate in confidential projects, etc.

(2) Why is "tried" in quotes? Oppenheimer had not been tried by a court

but was called before a three-member Security Board set up by the Atomic Energy Commission to hear accusations against him and to defend himself. The hearing lasted for four weeks.

(3) Did the hearings prove that Oppenheimer was disloyal to the country? What was the final conclusion?

No, even the Security Board had to admit in its final report that it had not found any act of disloyalty committed by Dr. Oppenheimer.

The final decision of the Atomic Energy Commission was to deny security clearance. In

other words, he could no longer have access to classified materials.

(4) What is the real reason for the "trial"? The real reason is Dr. Oppenheimer oppos

ed the development of hydrogen bomb by the United States. The “trial‘ took place in 1954, the time of McCarthyism.

Paras. 8--9 Questions: (1) Had any one met him personally? (2) Did that mean there was no news about h

im? (3) Why didn't Dirac really have collaborator? (4) How did he teach his class at Cambridge?

(5) Why did he teach in that way?

In walked Dirac. Inversion: for emphasis.

Paras. 10 --11 Questions:1. What is the role of the first senten

ce in Paragraph 107? 2. What was Dirac's remark when he was passi

ng the Lincoln Tunnel once with T. D. Lee? 3. Is this a good suggestion? 4. Does the author really think the wearing of it

will make one feel instantly better?

5. What is a club tie? 6. Why does the author mention a club

tie? 7. What made the author feel out of sorts

?

to cobble: to put together clumsily or crudely

to interrupt: to make a break in the continuity of

turnoff: a place where one turns off; esp. a road or ramp leading off a highway 岔道

Paras. 12-- 13 60 ... one probably should not ... life raft. (1) to read into: to attribute (a particular mea

ning) to; to project excessive significance into something

(2) maybe one should not attach too much importance to appearance

(3) How did those attending the poetry workshop look like?

They looked very eager to learn to write poetry as if without poetry they could not survive.

...pretty tired of being an avatar 化身 .., especially that of Auden...

(1) What was he tired of? He was tired of being a person in whom people w

ould find traces or influences of his more famous friends: Auden, C. D. Lewis and others. In other words, he no longer wanted to be seen as one always under the influence of others. He wanted to be recognized in his own right.

(2) to outlive: to live longer than (out, as a prefix, meaning better, greater or more than~

e.g. outrun, outboast, outperform, outshout under their shadow: under their influence or domi

nation

Contrast: While Oppenheimer was interrupting

Born’ s seminars, announcing that He could do calculations better in the quantum theory, Dirac, only two years older, had invented the subject.

-- The contrast implied is calculation applying the theory as against invention of the theory.

He said nothing during my lecture and left as it was over, along with the minuscule audience that I had traveled five hours by car to address.

--- The contrast implied is the minuscule audience as against five hours of travelling.

One probably should not read too much into appearances, but these people– mostly women– looked to me as if they were clinging to poetry as if it were some sort of life raft.

-- to regard poetry as life raft.

He had on a club tie of some sort.

-- A club tie is a tie with the insignia

or symbol of the club on it. Many American universities also have university ties. A club usually is an exclusive institution, rendering service is only to its members.

Some years later I learned that this was part of a small collection he had inherited from his father to which he had never added.

-- The sentence implies that Oppenheimer’ s taste in painting was only for show.

The 1981 conference and the author’s indecision

(flashback to 1925—1927) earlier life of Oppenheimer and his relations with Dirac

(back to 1981) (Para4 the first sentence)

author’s decision( that is, he would take part in the conference): Spender and Auden

(flashback) Spender and Oppenheimer (1956 Para4 the last sentence)

(1958,Para8 the first sentence) Oppenheimer, Dirac and the author

(back to 1981, Para10 the first sentence)

Meeting with Spender

(bring the scene to 1996,Para17 the first sentence) concluding remarks

Summary & Assignments

1. Summary of each section to make the students aware of the thoug

hts and ideas offered by the author and make the students know what we should learn from the lesson.

2.Assignments: