Beginnings of the Supreme Pedagogy

The Beginnings of Astrobiology

With the present surge of interest in astrobiology and its emergence as a new scientific discipline in its own right, the role of a celebrated pioneer is all too often forgotten. There can be little doubt that the late Sir Fred Hoyle played a key part in relating astronomical phenomena to questions of life. One of his first contributions in this area was his introduction of the so-called anthro...

On the Pedagogy of literary translation

The beginnings of an endocrinologist.

During my graduate studies I never had courses in endocrinology and pharmacology. Expressions such as “dose-response, ” “desensitization,” “agonist/antagonist,” in fact, all expressions relating to physiology were alien to my ears. I was a biochemist bred to believe in the reductionist philosophy of science, still much in vogue today. Grind, extract, purify, and reconstruct were the keys words ...

The Beginnings of Indwstrialization

It may seem curious to speak of industrialization as beginning around 1500. Industrialization is often regarded as synonymous with the rise of mechanized manufacturing in centralized facrories, and this did nor occur even in England unti l 1760-80, and in Germany not unti l 1830-50. But machines and factories were only late landmarks albeit important ones in a much longer process of industrial ...

The Beginnings of TECO

I came up with the name TECO in 1962 while sitting in Ye Hong Guey, my favorite restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown during my undergraduate years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I had been working on a little program to help me write other programs, a common activity in the day when a computer (the Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-1) would be delivered with almost no software. My pr...