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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·爱因斯坦是万众瞩目的科学家，但是几乎所有想要成为发明家的人都要与大师奥托·罗韦德尔比一下——起码当他们认为自己发明了“有史以来最好的东西”时是这样的。
1928年以前，出售切片面包的想法听起来很荒谬，毕竟，这样的面包很快就会变味。就在这个时候，罗韦德尔出现了。
经过了13年的修修补补，这位来自爱荷华州的发明家终于制成了一种10英尺长的精巧装置。这种装置能够将成条的面包切成片并装进蜡纸包装袋里。世界从此发生了改变。
到了1933年，美国市场上出售的面包80％都是切片面包，惹得饥肠辘辘的美国人站在烤面包机前直纳闷：“切片面包出现之前最伟大的事情是什么？”
上周，“奇迹面包”的制造商州际面包公司根据破产法第十一章提出了破产保护申请。就当这是罗韦德尔的“报应”吧。就在“奇迹面包”在美国引起独一无二的轰动之前不久，他卖掉了切面包机的专利。
我之所以想起罗韦德尔，是因为哈佛大学正准备宣布2004年“搞笑诺贝尔奖”的得主。这个奖项从1991年起开始颁发，奖励对象是那些“不能也不应再现”的研究。
去年的获奖者包括“分析将一头羊拉过不同平面时所需力量”的一批科学家，还有报告《政治家独特的简单人格》的（三位）作者。
将于本周四举行的颁奖仪式已经成为常青藤联盟的一项传统，届时诺贝尔奖得主将到场向获奖者致敬。尽管“搞笑诺贝尔奖”并非一项声望很高的大奖，但是获奖者还是会从世界各地赶来领取他们的奖品。
“我们并没有受到侮辱。”英国格拉斯哥大学的苏格兰科学家乔纳森·怀亚特说。几年前他和两位同事共同获得了“搞笑诺贝尔奖”，获奖报告叫做《论格拉斯哥坐式马桶的塌陷问题》。
他说：“我们合作研究发表的论文已有70多篇，而这是唯一一篇让我们出了点名的。”
哪怕没有别的贡献，“搞笑诺贝尔奖”也弘扬了一种勇敢的行为。如果你想成为一名创造者，你需要的就是勇气。
（中国日报网站译） |
Updated: 2004-11-17 10:28