Newsletter No. 523

07 # 5 2 3 | 1 9 . 0 9 . 2 0 1 8 百無一用是真知 In Defence of Late Harvest 不負韶華 Carpe Diem 字 裏 科 技 / T ech T alks 藝 士 匹 靈 / ARTS pirin 約翰．霍普金斯大學物理學教授、首任美國物理學會會長亨利·A·羅蘭（1848 – 1901）說 過：「科學必先存在，始有科學的應用。」 羅蘭說這話時是1882年，新亞書院院長、前副校長（研究）及前理學院院長 黃乃正 教授認 為套用到現在也相當適合，因為大學所生產的知識未必「有用」，學術知識很多時都不可直 接或即時應用到我們的生活裏。 羅蘭續說：「假如我們不讓科學進步而只留意科學的應用，我們很快就會……只滿足於科學 的應用，卻從來不追尋其中構成純科學的原理。」 黃教授也認為我們不應一窩蜂追求科學發現的實際應用及商業開發，而應該讓其自然匯聚 出一個成熟的知識體系。他指出，基因序列原本是一個分析化學的問題，現在卻造就了基因 技術的蓬勃發展。而快思邏輯本是處理零與一、真與偽之間的模糊性，現在每個廚房都幾 乎有一部快思邏輯電飯鍋。 羅蘭以古中國的科技為例：「中國人了解火藥的應用已經跨越若干世紀，假如他們用正確的 方法去探索其爆炸的原理，他們就會在應用火藥的同時發展了化學學科，甚至物理學科。」 除了基因序列，黃教授認為當代其中一個最重要的突破是 高錕 教授的光纖研究。高教授正 是以「正確的方法」一心探索光纖的「原理」，他沒有申請專利窒礙其進步，從而開啓了現 代通訊科學。 ‘To have the application of a science, the science itself must exist,’ said Henry A. Rowland (1848–1901) of Johns Hopkins University and the first president of the American Physical Society. Prof. Henry Wong , Head of New Asia College, former Pro-Vice-Chancellor/Vice-President for Research, and former Dean of Science, thinks what Rowland said in 1882 still rings true today. The university was and is a place to generate knowledge, which may or may not necessarily be useful immediately. Neither its impact nor benefit is necessarily direct or tangible. Rowland also said, ‘Should we stop its progress, and attend only to its applications, we should soon…have been satisfied with the applications of science, and have never sought for reasons in what they have done. The reasons constitute pure science.’ Like Rowland, Professor Wong cautions against the headlong rush towards application and commercialization of scientific discoveries which may hold back the progress of science and its full development into a mature field of knowledge. He points out that genome sequencing, which has opened up a new field of genomic technology culminating in the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technique, was originally an analytical chemistry problem. Fuzzy logic was a branch of logic which deals with the ambiguities between 1 and 0, or true and false. One of its quotidian applications now sits steaming in most kitchens. Rowland cited ancient China as an example. He said, ‘They have known the application of gunpowder for centuries; and yet the reasons for its peculiar action, if sought in the proper manner, would have developed the science of chemistry, and even of physics, with all their numerous applications.’ In addition to genome sequencing, Professor Wong regards the pioneering work of Prof. Charles K. Kao in optical fibre as one of the landmark breakthroughs of the modern age. And Professor Kao worked in the ‘reasons’ first and sought them ‘in the proper manner’. He did not stop its progress by patenting it, thus paving the way for the development of the science of modern telecommunications. T.C. 中大四十周年校慶舞台劇《中大人家》，布景精緻，無論是百萬大道或崇基禮拜堂都十分 逼真，至今歷歷在目。時光荏苒，中大踏入五十五周年，於八月底在香港文化中心舉行《摯 愛》舞台劇慈善首演，筆者有幸再赴中大的文化盛宴。 《摯愛》由歷史系校友、財經小說作家 梁鳳儀 博士編劇，講述關於「南氏」和「英氏」兩大 家族的恩怨情仇。南全碧和英書航年輕時在崇基校園互相傾慕，全碧畢業後潛心學商，其 間英家設局令南家家破人亡。幾經磨練，全碧在金融界獨當一面，後來施計令書航在亞洲 金融風暴觸礁，但全碧卻在危急關頭為書航留下一線生機。 故事背景橫跨七十年代的經濟騰飛、八十年代的前途談判、九十年代的金融風暴及千禧年 代的沙士危機。要處理此宏觀脈絡不易，生物系校友 李衛民 巧妙設計出簡約的舞台，適時 運用燈光效果令節奏明快，並在大屏幕投射香港及中大的歷史照片，影像流動有條不紊， 讓觀眾瞬間穿越紛陳的世事。 監製 陳健彬 指出，去年着手籌備《摯愛》舞台劇之時，演員遴選消息一出，即有近一百四十 名校友角逐二十個角色。演員大多沒有演藝經驗，梁博士也是首次演自己筆下的女主角，但 他們當日的演技卻毫不遜色，可見背後下了不少功夫。 歲月怱怱，如何不負韶華？過百中大人同心做好台前幕後的工作，宛如香港人多年來迎難而 上的拼勁，中大精神也是如此。 The exquisite stage design, entailing the University Mall and the Chapel, of CUHK’s 40th anniversary drama Of Phoenix Lineage still lingers in my mind. Time flies. CUHK has entered into its 55th anniversary, and a charity drama My Love was premiered at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in late August. I was pleased to have attended the cultural bonanza again. Dr. Leung Fung-yee , Anita , our history alumna and a financial fiction writer, is the playwright of My Love , about the tragic love story between members of two feuding families, the Nans and the Yings. Nan Quanbi and Ying Shuhang fall in love when they are Chung Chi College students. Quanbi goes into business studies after graduation, during which time the Nan family breaks up as they fall into the Yings’ trap. As time goes by, Quanbi has become a top financial expert. She liquidates Shuhang’s fortune in the Asian Financial Crisis for revenge, but leaves him a last straw. The story spans across Hong Kong’s economic take-off in the 70s, the negotiations of the territory’s future in the 80s, the financial crisis in the 90s and its darkest days through SARS. Biology alumnus Priman Lee manages to capture the zeitgeist of the times with a simplistic stage design. He precisely crafts the story pacing with his lighting effects. The smooth flow of historic photos of Hong Kong and CUHK projected on the large screen also helps the audience traverse time and space. The producer Chan Kin-bun mentioned that almost 140 alumni competed for the 20 roles after the casting news of My Love was released. They were all amateurs (even Dr. Leung had not played her own characters before). Much to their credit, their onstage performance could be compared to the professionals. How to live life to the fullest? More than a hundred CUHK members have given their best on and off the scenes. It represents the resilience of Hongkongers sailing through the difficulties over the years, as it does the CUHK spirit. J. Lau