Language

1. 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.

2. 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’.

3. 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!”.

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

5. Japanese Kanji Chinese characters

6. Japanese Kanji Chinese characters Mizaru

7. Japanese Kanji Chinese characters Mizaru Kikazaru

8. Japanese Kanji Chinese characters Mizaru Kikazaru Iwazaru

9. Japanese Kanji Chinese characters Mizaru Kikazaru Iwazaru zaru translates both as Negation and also Monkey

10. Japanese Kanji Chinese characters MizaruNo see

11. Japanese Kanji Chinese characters MizaruNo see Kikazaru No speak

12. Japanese Kanji Chinese characters MizaruNo see Kikazaru No speak Iwazaru No hear

13. Hear no Evil See no evil Speak no evil The famous monkeys over the door to the First Shogun’s mausoleum in Nikko

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

15. In Chinese

16. In Chinese

18. In Japanese Kro-To

19. Margaret’s Calligraphy

20. Margaret in Katakana Kro-to in Kanji Chinese Characters

22. Margaret’s Calligraphy

23. 280 After the age of 3-7 many never become fluent 240 200 5 10 20 30 Age of arrival Final proficiency in English non-English speaking immigrants to USA

24. dx a = dy

25. Medical NotesSenior 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

27. We must understand Chinese characters to appreciate Chinese and Japanese culture

28. My tattoo is of DNA…. It doesn’t ignore the basic beauty of the double helix. -Matthew MacDougall, medical student Harry Kroto 2004

29. 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

30. 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

31. 280 It is too late after the age of 3-7 240 200 Native 5 10 20 30 Age of arrival Final proficiency in English non-English speaking immigrants to USA

32. 3-7 years old over 17-22 Ultimate proficiency in English of non-English speaking Immigrants to the USA related to age of arrival

33. 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.

34. 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.

35. Medical NotesSenior 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

36. Medical NotesSenior 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 intendedOthers said that (some) could not work out dose-to-bodyweight ratios which were particularly important for giving drugs to children

37. More Medical NotesA colleague, while in hospital, overheard one nurse ask another how many milliliters there were in a microliter

38. Lesson Some things cannot be translated We have to learn the language