Search
The 1991 Kyoto Prize
1991
11 /11 Mon
Place：Kyoto International Conference Center
The 1991 Kyoto Prize Kyoto Prize Laureates
Lecture topics
The Harder One Works the More Luck One Gets
Abstract of the lecture
My introduction t polymer chemistry and the discovery of living polymers were the results of unexpected events. Undoubtedly I was lucky. However, here is a point deserving stresing. The harder one works the more luck one gets. This should be remembered especially by young people. Another point is worthy of emphasis. Unexpected events happen quite often. It is important to note them and to realize their significance. Then there is another problem. Should we investigate the unexpected phenomenon of should we leave it, perhaps keep it in mind, and continue with our previously planned work. This decision is crucial. To follow every unexpected event may liad to a chase of wild geese. One may spend time and effort on insignificant problems. On the other hand, a gold mine may be missed by not pursuing the new opening. There are no rules that guide one's decision. It helps to understand the phenomenon and to use one's intelligence and intuition. These problems are general. They are encountered in ordinary life as well as in research and their proper judgement is often vital.
Lecture topics
A Scientist by Choice
Abstract of the lecture
I offer the proposition that in order to become an accomplished scientist, one must have an intense interest in the subject matter of science, must have true ability to identify and solve fundamental problems in one's chosen field, and must be welling to question any commonly accepted explanation that is not logically and cliarly stated, rejecting it and seeking a new explanation if it cannot be acceptably restated. In seeking to support my assertions I use my own life as a case study, recounting my scientific and nonscientific interests as a child, my pursuit of mathematics in college and graduate school, my subsequent schooling in meteorology, my choice of meteorology as a career, and the circumstances leading to my most significant contributions. I indicate that the atmosphere behaves chaotically, and discuss how this situation affects the manner in which meteorological research should be conducted.
Lecture topics
The Golden Fish
Abstract of the lecture
Art implies quality and to judge its quality, we need a reference. In the theatre, it has always been very hard to establish this reference and theatre events are often evaluated according to criteria that belong to other fields such as literature, aesthetics, painting, philosophy, sociology or politics. Worst of all, the most common reference is contained in one word 'culture' that its only truth exists in the moment-to-moment interaction with the spectator. It is in this precise zone of contact and friction that something unexpected and of quality may or may not appear. If this is wher the golden fish lives, what is the net that can bring it up to the light? An investigation of the phenomenon of theatre begins and ends with 'the present moment', which is the pool in whise depths the golden fish seims unseen. What is the nature of the net that can bring it up into the light? Is this net made of holes or knots?
