Language

Language - in all its forms - is the key to unlocking all aspects of our World from the cultural creations of mankind to the mysteries and beauty of our Universe.

Language

At a Faraday discussion meeting in Birmingham in 1954 on “The study of fast reactions”, the German scientist Manfred Eigen asked the Oxford don Ronnie Bell how the English language would describe reactions which were ‘faster than fast’.

Ronnie Bell replied “Damn fast reactions Manfred and if they get faster than that, the English language will not fail you, you can call them damn fast

reactions indeed!”.

Part of a nation’s intrinsic culture is encapsulated in its language and how it is used

Japanese Kanji

Chinese characters

Japanese Kanji

Chinese characters

Mizaru

Japanese Kanji

Chinese characters

Mizaru

Kikazaru

Japanese Kanji

Chinese characters

Mizaru

Kikazaru

Iwazaru

Japanese Kanji

Chinese characters

Mizaru

Kikazaru

Iwazaru

zaru translates both as Negation and also Monkey

Japanese Kanji

Chinese characters

Mizaru No see

Japanese Kanji

Chinese characters

Mizaru No see

Kikazaru No speak

Japanese Kanji

Chinese characters

Mizaru No see

Kikazaru No speak

Iwazaru No hear

Hear no Evil See no evil Speak no evil

The famous monkeys over the door to the First Shogun’s mausoleum in Nikko

So we need to understand Chinese characters to appreciate fully Chinese and Japanese culture

In Chinese

In Chinese

InJapanese

Kro-To

Margaret’s Calligraphy

Margaret in Katakana

Kro-to in Kanji Chinese Characters

Margaret’s Calligraphy

Final proficiency in English

non-English speaking immigrants to USA

280

240

5 10 20 30

Age of arrival

200

After the age of 3-7 many never become fluent

dxdy

= a

Medical Notes

Senior Nurses discussed problems stemming from nurses’ inability to

do simple maths

… they put decimal points in the wrong place so patients might receive 10 times more or times less medication than intended

We must understand Chinese characters to appreciate Chinese and Japanese culture

Harry Kroto 2004

My tattoo is of DNA….

It doesn’t ignore the basic beauty

of the double helix.

-Matthew MacDougall,

medical student

Rosalind Franklyn’s X Ray photograph of DNA Described as one of the most beautiful images in

the whole of science… and arguably the most important of all time as at a stroke it revealed how

living organisms evolved

Scientists do not use mathematics and formulae etc to make our lives difficult – we

use it because it is the only language to truly understand the Universe

Final proficiency in English

non-English speaking immigrants to USA

280

240

Native 5 10 20 30 Age of arrival

200

It is too late after the age

of 3-7

Ultimate proficiency in English of non-English speaking Immigrants to the USA related to age of arrival

3-7 years old

over 17-22

By language I do not mean just our spoken language but also mathematics, formulae in science, musical sounds, colour in art and patterns and rhythms poetry.

Without these various languages, elegant patterns of all kinds remain hidden and we remain ignorant and never realise our full potential as creative human beings.

By our Universe I mean not only Nature and the Physical world - the stars in the sky, life, fundamental particles - but also all manifestations of our Universe including, in particular, our amazing brains.

Medical Notes

Senior Nurses discussed problems stemming from nurses’ inability to

do simple maths

… they put decimal points in the wrong place so patients might receive 10 times more or times less medication than intended

Medical Notes

Senior Nurses discussed problems stemming from nurses’ inability to do simple maths

… they put decimal points in the wrong place so patients might receive 10 times more or

times less medication than intended

Others said that (some) could not work out dose-to-bodyweight ratios which were

particularly important for giving drugs to children

More Medical Notes

A colleague, while in hospital, overheard one nurse ask another

how many milliliters there were in a microliter

Lesson

Some things cannot be translated

We have to learn the language