Descripción
32 pp. Original wrappers. Very Good. First Edition. SIGNED BY MAX DELBRÜCK (on p. 5, see photo). The subtitle is "Caltech's 1978 commencement speaker muses on the direction in which the Institute intended--and ought--to continue its greatest thrust". This is Max Delbrück's commencement address delivered on June 9, 1978. Quoting from p. 6 of Delbrück's address: "At this point it may be appropriate to insert an aside on my identity. When President Christy, some months ago, approached me as to whether I would do this job, I asked him, 'Why me? Who suggested it?' 'Well,' he said, 'your name was suggested by a committee and I liked the suggestion. The committee added that the students had once again suggested Woody Allen.' 'Well,' I said, 'that is a splendid idea. He would give a much better speech than any of us--why don't you try him first?' So he said, 'Who is Woody Allen?' 'Oh,' I said, 'he is a marvelous comedian. He just got a prize for a movie ["Annie Hall"], which he wrote, directed, and played in, about his unsuccessful marriage.' 'Well,' he said, 'I am successfully married, so that's why nobody told me to go, but if you say he is so good, I'll let the students have a try at him, if you don't mind.' 'By all means,' I said. So what happened? Well, it's up to you to decide. Is it Max Delbrück, as advertised, talking to you, or is it Woody Allen, impersonating a Senior Academic Citizen, scurrilously named Max Delbrück, or is it Max Delbrück, scurrilously pretending to be Woody Allen impersonating Max Delbrück? Having been trained in critical thinking for so long at Caltech I am sure you will enjoy pondering these alternatives while I, whoever I may be, go on with my talk." I have included photos of p. 3 and p. 9. Page 3: "Why are These Trustees Laughing? Because they are listening to a commencement speech by one of these two men (see page 5). Woody Allen, Comedian. Max Delbrück, comedian--also Board of Trustees, Professor of Biology, Emeritus, and Nobel Laureate". Page 9: "As Max Delbrück concludes his 1978 Caltech commencement address, his colleagues surprise him by displaying a scholarly tribute from the Latin and the heart. In two words--Maximus est--he is 'the greatest'." About this commencement address: "More than half a century later, however, it had become obvious that the scientific culture had in no way eliminated the strength and the intensity of human religious needs or religious fervor. Max stressed this when in June 1978 he delivered the commencement address at Caltech, entitled 'The Arrow of Time'. He noted a radical change from the trust in science characteristic of his student days. While he agreed that science constitutes the greatest intellectual advancement of the twentieth century, science is --in Max's view--intrinsically incapable of coping with the recurrent questions of 'death, love, moral decisions, greed, anger, aggression.' These are, however, the factors that determine man's values. They constitute the greatest forces 'that shape man's destiny' " (Fischer and Lipson, Thinking about Science: Max Delbrück and the Origins of Molecular Biology, pp. 278-279). About Delbrück's lectures in general, quoting from the Guide to the Papers of Max Delbrück, 1918-1997 in the archive of Max Delbrück at Caltech: "The lectures are noteworthy for their philosophical nature. Delbrück placed great importance on exploring the relationships between science and other aspects of life. He was an excellent writer, entertaining and thought provoking. The lectures were intended for a variety of audiences and occasions, from graduating seniors at commencement ('The Arrow of Time--Beginning and End' [offered here]) to Nobel Laureates at Convocation ('Mind From Matter?')." The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1969 was awarded jointly to Max Delbrück, Alfred D. Hershey and Salvador E. Luria "for their discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses.".
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