The beauty of science makes one weepy

I saw this photo (Milky Way over the Wood Island cottage) in the website of our friend, Steve.  It comes with the following comment.

“Sometimes the beauty and scale of the Cosmos just makes me choke up and get weepy ... (this feeling is accentuated by an appreciation of the physics behind it all ... which is a different kind of beauty)”

This reminds me of an article (The making of a scientist) by Richard Feynman, collected in the book of Classic Feynman.  The following three italic paragraphs are the excerpts.

I have a friend who’s an artist, and he sometimes takes a view which I don’t agree with.  He’ll hold up a flower and say, “look how beautiful it is,” and I’ll agree.  But then he’ll say, “I, as an artist, can see how beautiful a flower is.  But you, as a scientist, take it all apart and it becomes dull.”  I think he’s kind of nutty.

First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people—and to me, too, I believe.  Although I might not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is, I can appreciate the beauty of a flower.  But at the same time, I see much more in the flower than he sees.  I can imagine the cells inside, which also have a beauty.  There’s beauty not just at the dimension of one centimeter; there’s also beauty at a smaller dimension.

There are the complicated actions of the cells, and other processes.  The fact that the colors in the flower have evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting; that means insects can see the colors.  That adds a question: does the aesthetic sense we have also exist in lower forms of life? There are all kinds of interesting questions that come from a knowledge of science, which only adds to the excitement and mystery and awe of a flower.  It only adds.  I don’t understand how it subtracts.

And Feynman did even touch the issue of fragrance, which, I am sure, also evolves over the age.  There is an article (Why do flowers have scent?) on the 4/18/2005 issue of Scientific American.  Like colors of flowers, the distinct scent of certain flowers attracts their pollinators and the nectar and/or pollen is their rewards.

Steve had a good fortune to be able to sit in Feynman’s classroom when he was giving that famous “Feynman’s Lectures on Physics” in early 1960s.  Like teacher; like student!

Lincoln watching and hearing "I have a dream" speech

I spotted this photo at Google News a few days ago; it is exactly what I perceived of how Lincoln watched and heard Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a Dream” speech when I wrote a short letter-to-the editor (to Observer-Reporter) three years ago.

Holding Hands (牽手)

詩珊 (daughter of my cousin, 陳英毅) and 宣辰 (a chief physician in physical medicine & rehabilitation at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Lin Kou, Taipei) recently got married. This photo was taken by 陳英明  (also my cousin, brother of 英毅)

No wonder Taiwanese call the spouse “牽手” (holding hands). 

牽手(詞曲：李子恆 部分摘錄) (2015/03/08 陳英明先生攝)

    也許牽了手的手　前程不一定好走
　也許有了伴的路　今生還要更忙碌
　所以牽了手的手　來生還要一起走...
　所以有了伴的路　沒有歲月可回頭

陳 英明: 所謂"幸福"，就是這種自然，永遠的手牽著手，表情洋溢著純真自然的感覺，真棒！宣辰&詩珊，阿伯真為你們感到高興。同時也謝謝你們，因為有你們這對佳偶，阿伯也分享到了甜蜜與幸福.

 

Quincy Market in the reflecting pool

Janice showed me this photo of Quincy Market in Boston she saw it online; the icy snow on the ground creates a beautiful reflecting pool.  Having an icy and snowy Boston, who needs to go to Venice?

My grandmother listening to the phonograph

My cousin, 英毅, posted this photo of our grandmother in Facebook.  She was listening to the phonograph so absorbing that she was oblivious to her picture being taken.  It was said she was listening to 梁山伯與祝英台 (A Chinese folklore, a love story).  She was then in her late 70s.

I attended middle/high school in Chia Yi.  I vividly recall that whenever I was home to Po-Tzu, I would ask my mom where 阿嬤 (grandmother) was as she rotated living with her several sons in Po-Tzu; my first order of business would be going to see my 阿嬤 wherever she was.

White lotus (白蓮)

(I “stole” this from the Facebook page of my cousin, 陳英毅.  The writings are also his; this image of white lotus is well complemented by the beautiful poem.  I’ll leave it as it is; any attempt to translate can only mar it.)

唐朝 陸龜蒙 有詩曰：
白蓮
素花多蒙別豔欺，此花真合在瑤池。
無情有恨何人覺？月曉風清欲墮時

陳英毅 它描寫白蓮(荷)含著怨恨在人們不知不覺中凋謝，暗喻潔身自好的人，在黑暗的封建社會裡，總是受到冷落和排擠，只能默默無聞地被埋沒。這也表現了封建時代知識分子的孤芳自賞、懷才不遇的心理(網路資料)

The red lotus is a painting of my younger brother.  This will call for another poem.

畫得很傳神！

This is a color pencil drawing/painting by my younger brother; he posted in Facebook saying May 6^th (lunar calendar April 8^th) is the birthday of 釋迦牟尼佛 or Buddha (佛陀).  Welcoming everyone to Kao-Ming Abbey (高明寺—or Abbey of Enlightenment, which was built single-handedly by my grandfather) for the celebration.

My cousin, 陳郁惠, made a comment, “畫得很傳神！”, to which I said,

阿惠, “畫得很傳神”, nothing better than using “傳神” to describe a drawing/painting of “浴佛”.  I really like it.

A sea of flowers

紅場廣場佈置色彩艷麗的花海.  A splendid sea of flowers in the Red Square (a photo from my cousin, Dr. 陳英毅)

Dining room at the Peterhof Palace 巧扮貴婦 夏宮餐廳

(This photo of the dining room at Peterhof  is from the Facebook page of my cousin, 陳英毅, an accomplished photographer, yet an ophthalmologist by training), the following is my comment.

 

Was this lady serving you (or waiting on you) during your memorable dinner at Peterhof Palace?  I like this photo very much that I have ‘stolen’ and put it in the “Image” category of my blog.  The plain white background of the marble statue is in stark contrast to the brilliant, dazzling, vibrant and vivacious lady; even the warrior of the Peter the Great enjoys looking at her; he is mesmerized, speechless and motionless.

Images in Clinical Medicine: Volvulus in National Cheng-Kung University (台南國立成功大學醫學院), Tainan, Taiwan

There is an “Image in Clinical Medicine” on each issue of New England Journal of Medicine (N.E.J.M.) It didn’t escape my notice that there were two images of volvulus within the past few years and both came from the same hospital: National Cheng-Kung University (台南國立成功大學醫學院), Tainan, Taiwan.

I took the liberty to put these images in my blog to convey my heartfelt congratulations.  These four doctors deserve much recognition as it is not easy to get the image published in the prestigious and venerable N.E.J.M., which is celebrating its 200^th anniversary this year. (MGH had its bicentennial celebration last year).

Volvulus is the torsion (twisting) of a segment of intestine, which often leads to bowel obstruction or even gangrene because of circulatory compromise in severe case.  The most common sites are sigmoid or cecum, as reported by Ping-Hsien Chen, M.D. and Chiao-Hsiung Chuang, M.D.  It can also happen in the small intestine as reported by Ming-Yuan Hong, M.D. and Chih-Hsien Chi, M.D.

The Images published also come with a short case report and description of the images.  These doctors did it splendidly; the followings are their images and descriptions.

The above CT image shows a distended sigmoid colon that was looped in an inverted U (Panel A, arrows).  The coronal view reveals dilated loops of colon with a central whirl sign (Panel B, arrow), [which is characteristic of the volvulus.  This was caused by the dilated sigmoid colon around its mesocolon (the peritoneal fold that attaches to the sigmoid)].

The above abdominal computed tomography with intravenous contrast material revealed twisting of mesenteric pedicles (arrows), with the superior mesenteric artery encircled by the superior mesenteric vein in a 360-degree clockwise rotation. This radiologic finding is known as the “whirl sign,” which occurs when bowel loops rotate around a fixed point of obstruction, suggesting intestinal volvulus.    

The Red Shoes: 引人無限遐思

My niece, WenChen posted this photo in her Facebook page, invoking many interesting comments.  One said, “那雙紅鞋引人無限遐思”; one said, “真有意思,每個人看到的都不一樣”.  I said “Mark Twain once said a literary classic is “a book which people praise and don’t read”; if this is the cover of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Red Shoes, I bet the readership will increase.”  I shared (borrowed) it in an attempt to attract the traffic to my blog.

Emily Dickinson’s and 陳英毅’s flowers: literary work

Emily Dickinson’s garden was her refuge, sanctuary, and the inspiration for her poetry.  Her flowers were metaphors of her own self or religious emblems.  Seeing her tulips and hyacinths came back every spring, signifying the Christian mystery of death and resurrection.  We read “Did you ever know that a flower, once withered & freshened again, became an immortal flower,--that is, that it rises again?  I think resurrections here [in her garden] are sweeter, it may be, than the longer and lasting one.” in a letter she wrote at the age of 21.

I came across a post in Facebook by my cousin, 陳英毅 (an ophthalmologist and a well known photographer of professional caliber) whose work with a title of “re-birth or new birth” (新生)—see photo below—is currently on display (May 1 to May 31) at the Cultural Center in Taichung, Taiwan.

The photo shows a delicate white flower growing from a crack of the rough and rusty metal door.  The hard, jagged, vulgar metal, representing the bygone past, is in stark contrast to the ethereal beauty of the flower, delicate and refined yet with a robust and vigorous future.

The way 英毅 takes his picture is the same way Emily wrote her poems; both are art/literary work.

A picture, nay, a photo is worth a thousand words: Lincoln’s law office in Springfield, Illinois in 1858

My cousin, 英毅, commented about the beginning of the photography in my post and that inspires me to write this one for my blog, labeling “photo”. (you may argue with 英毅about anything, but certainly not photography; when he talks about photography, you listen.)

You may not know it that photo is one of the many reasons why I read Lincoln much more I do Washington, Jefferson, or Adams.  Having been able to see him in many photos makes me feel he was a man I know, not just a historical figure. After finishing his Lincoln (2,400 pages, 1,200,000 words), Carl Sandburg said, “That son-of-a-gun Lincoln grows on me.”  Writing about assassination of Lincoln, he felt he was parting with Lincoln, he wrote, “When Lincoln died, for a time light went out for me, the tears came.”  I am no Carl Sandburg, but I am beginning to have that kind of sentiment toward Lincoln.

The photo (from Sandburg’s Lincoln: The Prairie Years Volume II) is Springfield, Illinois in 1858.  Lincoln and Herndon’s law office was the building (second floor) with an “X” mark above it.  This was Lincoln’s second law office that he moved in in 1852.  This photo gives you a better idea of what Lincoln saw in his days; much better than my description; a photo is worth a thousand words.

After Lincoln’s death, Herndon interviewed hundreds of people who knew Lincoln personally.  Mary Lincoln agreed to meet Herndon for an interview on her visit to Springfield (she was then living in Chicago), she wrote a letter to him on 9/4/1866 (Lincoln died on 4/15/1865), “to visit the tomb—which contains my all in life—my husband.”  When she died on July 16, 1882, her wedding ring, which was inscribed with “A.L. to Mary, Nov. 4, 1842.  Love is eternal” was buried with her.

Lincoln bought this plain gold wedding ring for his bride in the “Chatterton’s Dealer in Watches, Jewelry” store (you can see the painted sign on the wall in the photo)—a few building away from his law office.

A photo is better than a thousand words; but a few words may also make a photo come alive.  英毅 is also very good in his photo series.

The Sun also Rises

I stole this unearthly The Sun also Rises photo from Linda Elliott Mosier's Facebook page.  She must be somewhere on Earth, but this is an unearthly picture, I am puzzled.

The majestic President Saleh Mosque at Sanna, Yemen

These photos were taken by my cousin, Dr. 陳英毅, on his trip to Yemen at the end of December, 2010.  His professional photographic skill well conveyed the religious spirit and beauty of the majestic President Saleh Mosque (day and night views and interior) at its capital, Sanna.

Unfortunately the Department of State issued a warning to the U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Yemen due to terrorist activities.

How to keep your serene composure

Every so often you’ll find memorable photos that come with fine writing in my cousin’s (陳英毅) photo albums.  I’ll steal (with translation) to grace the pages of my blog; they’ll be labeled as “image”.

自從遁入空門後，師父經常耳提面命的就是：要能靜、要能定，不可因外界的紛擾而心浮氣躁。俺也謹記在心，努力修行，須臾不敢或忘。不料今在團體打坐時，這小子竟在俺頭上、臉上四處遊走、嬉戲，俺實在快受不了了‧‧‧‧‧‧

(translation)

Since I entered the monastery my master reminded me again and again that I have to maintain my serene composure regardless what situation I am in.  Never a moment did I forget the practice.  In the group meditation session today; little did I know that this little guy was having fun roaming all over my shaving head and face.  Oh my God! I cannot take it anymore . . .

蔡哲仁 後面菩薩：「師兄！忍著點！」

果真 好傳神喔！剎那即永恆歸捕捉者之功 

林秋玉 哈哈哈!原來怒目金剛也是因為有抓耙子才會猙獰地! 

風景如畫

I would steal photo from my cousin, 陳英毅, an ophthalmologist and an accomplished photographer, to grace the pages in my blog.

The language of forever love and Holden Caulfield’s language

This is one good reason that friends should meet at Facebook; from a majestic photo that comes with beautiful language posted by my cousin (陳英毅), then everybody “chips in” and suddenly we’re talking about undying love expressed in different language and surprisingly in a very similar fashion.

“天長地久 , 左上角一對男女似已見證了地老天荒的恆久誓約” (captioned by 陳英毅)

It can be loosely translated to:

“The Grand Canyon we see has been around for ages, and the couple in the upper left corner is proclaiming their eternal love.”

“天長地久” is forever lasting, “地老天荒” is more difficult to translate; it is often used when a couple proclaiming their forever love. “地老” is when the Earth grows old, whereas “天荒” is when the sky/heaven becomes barren/desolate; it’ll take forever to happen.

Then 陳英毅 posted Johnny Mathis’ “The Twelfth of Never” and its lyric (provided by 翠珍) which is a touching love song saying the world can end, but not our love.

Peggy said she memorizing a beautiful French poem of the same theme (no wonder Harry is brushing up his French).  She also said “now you have some lovely words for Katy”.

But, we’re in a stage of “此時無聲勝有聲” (there is no need to say anything at all).

Since I am studying the language of Holden Caulfield (the protagonist/narrator of The Catcher in the Rye).  I am imaging he is my Facebook friend and he would write,

“You guys are talking about 地老天荒 and undying love and all, and all that crap; I cannot stand it.  This photo is pretty as hell, the goddam Garnd Canyon and all, I have to admit it.  But, Grand. If there’s one word I hate, it’s grand.  It’s phony.  I wish you just call it Arizona Canyon or something.  I wish the couple in the picture are old Sally Hayes [Holden’s off and on girl friend] and me or old Jane Gallagher and me; she knocked me out, if you want to know the truth.”