Many of the talks I go to are absolutely wretched. Between the crackpots, the over-technical wonks, the english-challenged theoreticians, and the overly-excited interdisciplinarians, it begins to get wearing after awhile. But last week, we had a talk that really got me excited. This speaker has what is, in my mind, the ideal life.
Harry Kroto, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry from 1996 gave a stunning talk for the department. He's the guy who discovered C60, and star-synthesis of unusual organics. The talk was very colloquial, comprising a little about organic chemistry, renewable resources, the future of education and humankind, the importance of humor, and even a small bit about the evils of Scientology. He points out that calculus is basically the single most interesting thing one can know (I'm hard-pressed to argue), and what a shame it is that almost nobody knows it. He laments what he sees as the death of wit and humor in America. He points out that the foci of our attention are vapid nincompoops, rather than the intellectuals who make all of our comfort and long life possible.
He also made a strong effort to direct people to his attempt to stem the tide of anti-intellectualism, pseudoscience, and innumeracy, which takes the form of a website of the Vega Science Trust. On that site you can view amazing lectures and interview footage with some of the best humans ever born, including 4 lectures by Richard Feynman himself. The videos are, unfortunately, in real-media format.
But think of it: his life is going around and giving amazingly intelligent and funny talks to intelligent and receptive people, still maintaining a faculty position at FSU, and knowing some of the greatest minds of our time. He's accomplished, forward-thinking, and, hopefully, effecting a better future for humanity. I hope that I can be even half of what Harry Kroto is before I die.