 |
|
Ig Nobels Celebrate Weird
Science | |
Albert Einstein gets all the attention, but the great mind that
would-be inventors ultimately compare themselves to is Otto Rohwedder - at
least if they think they've invented the
greatest thing since sliced bread.
Up until 1928, the idea of selling pre-sliced bread was preposterous. After all, the bread
would quickly grow stale. Then Rohwedder came along.
After 13 years of tinkering, the inventor from Iowa introduced a
10-foot-long contraption that
sliced and stuffed loaves of bread into wax paper wrapping. The world
changed.
By 1933, 80 percent of the bread sold in the United States was
pre-sliced, leaving hungry Americans standing before their toasters
wondering, "What was the greatest thing before sliced bread?"
Last week, Interstate Bakeries, the makers of Wonder Bread, filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Call it Rohwedder's revenge. He sold the
patent for his bread-slicing machine shortly before Wonder Bread became a
uniquely American sensation.
I'm reminded of Rohwedder as Harvard University prepares to announce
the 2004 Ig Nobel Award winners - handed out since 1991 for research that
"cannot or should not be reproduced."
Last year's winners included the scientists who performed "An Analysis
of the Forces Required to Drag Sheep over Various Surfaces" and the
authors of the report "Politicians' Uniquely Simple Personalities."
The ceremony, which will be held this Thursday, has become an Ivy
League tradition, with Nobel Prize winners on hand to salute the winners.
And even though the Ig Nobel is not exactly a prestigious award, winners
travel from all over the world to collect their trophies.
"We're not insulted," said Jonathan Wyatt, a Scottish researcher at the
University of Glasgow who was honored with two other colleagues a few
years ago for a report titled "The Collapse of Toilets in Glasgow."
"Between us, we've published more than 70 research papers," he said.
"This is the only one that's given us any publicity at all."
If nothing else, the Ig Nobels demonstrates a form of courage, and you
need courage if you intend to be an innovator.
(Agencies) |
艾伯特·愛因斯坦是萬眾矚目的科學(xué)家，但是幾乎所有想要成為發(fā)明家的人都要與大師奧托·羅韋德爾比一下——起碼當(dāng)他們認(rèn)為自己發(fā)明了“有史以來最好的東西”時(shí)是這樣的。
1928年以前，出售切片面包的想法聽起來很荒謬，畢竟，這樣的面包很快就會(huì)變味。就在這個(gè)時(shí)候，羅韋德爾出現(xiàn)了。
經(jīng)過了13年的修修補(bǔ)補(bǔ)，這位來自愛荷華州的發(fā)明家終于制成了一種10英尺長的精巧裝置。這種裝置能夠?qū)⒊蓷l的面包切成片并裝進(jìn)蠟紙包裝袋里。世界從此發(fā)生了改變。
到了1933年，美國市場上出售的面包80％都是切片面包，惹得饑腸轆轆的美國人站在烤面包機(jī)前直納悶：“切片面包出現(xiàn)之前最偉大的事情是什么？”
上周，“奇跡面包”的制造商州際面包公司根據(jù)破產(chǎn)法第十一章提出了破產(chǎn)保護(hù)申請。就當(dāng)這是羅韋德爾的“報(bào)應(yīng)”吧。就在“奇跡面包”在美國引起獨(dú)一無二的轟動(dòng)之前不久，他賣掉了切面包機(jī)的專利。
我之所以想起羅韋德爾，是因?yàn)楣鸫髮W(xué)正準(zhǔn)備宣布2004年“搞笑諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)”的得主。這個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)從1991年起開始頒發(fā)，獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)對象是那些“不能也不應(yīng)再現(xiàn)”的研究。
去年的獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)甙ā胺治鰧⒁活^羊拉過不同平面時(shí)所需力量”的一批科學(xué)家，還有報(bào)告《政治家獨(dú)特的簡單人格》的（三位）作者。
將于本周四舉行的頒獎(jiǎng)儀式已經(jīng)成為常青藤聯(lián)盟的一項(xiàng)傳統(tǒng)，屆時(shí)諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)得主將到場向獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)咧戮�。盡管“搞笑諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)”并非一項(xiàng)聲望很高的大獎(jiǎng)，但是獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)哌�是會(huì)從世界各地趕來領(lǐng)取他們的獎(jiǎng)品。
“我們并沒有受到侮辱。”英國格拉斯哥大學(xué)的蘇格蘭科學(xué)家喬納森·懷亞特說。幾年前他和兩位同事共同獲得了“搞笑諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)”，獲獎(jiǎng)報(bào)告叫做《論格拉斯哥坐式馬桶的塌陷問題》。
他說：“我們合作研究發(fā)表的論文已有70多篇，而這是唯一一篇讓我們出了點(diǎn)名的�！�
哪怕沒有別的貢獻(xiàn)，“搞笑諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)”也弘揚(yáng)了一種勇敢的行為。如果你想成為一名創(chuàng)造者，你需要的就是勇氣。
（中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)站譯） |
Updated: 2004-11-17 10:28