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| Maxwell's Four Equations |
1961
1/1/0 This is an Up Side Down (upside-down) Year. Don’t worry, nobody surrendered or any ship sunk. Why? If you turn 1961 upside down, you still get 1961. In 20th century, this is the only year with this special attribute.
Remark:
In one English composition, I mentioned 1961 is an upside-down year without further explanation. The instructor didn’t understand & gave me a low mark. It taught me a lesson: Don’t assume anything. When in doubt, explain.
1/2/1 訪吾友江賢二兄, He subscribed 筆匯 magazine, Read ”趙無極的自白”, an interesting article.
Remark:
江賢二 likes music & art. He went to Paris later. I never heard from him since. I have heard that he becomes a 抽象派畫家 & has hold art exhibitions in Taipei frequently. 江兄是我小學和初中的同學. He once drew a portrait of Tchaikovsky, 微妙微肖, 真是精彩和傳神. I hang it on the wall in my room for about two years. Until one day he visited my place & saw the drawing, he liked it so much that he wanted it back.
1/4/3 第一次當家教. 王澤霖 always refers to this as 誤人子弟.
Remark:
Tutoring actually is a good experience for us. If you were a member of 台大電机系, you had no problem to get some tutoring job. I used to tutor various types of boy & girl. Most of them were in the senior class & desired to enhance their skills in taking exam. I enjoyed teaching them. Usually it was easier to handle boys. You know exactly what they need & what they are thinking. But the girls, it is a different matter. They usually don’t tell you how much they know or understand. You have to probe & find out some effective way to help them. Once in a while, you met some girls that you could hardly focus your teaching. Some of them were very good looking & some of them were very mature. 吾友 賴光善 asked me to tutor a girl. She really impressed me as she belonged to the former catagory. Sometime I read some biographies of composers. I understand how they felt when they acted as a pianist to tutor girls. As you know romances flourish frequently & the events spin to another level. The worst case of the tutoring is to teach a group of girls (typically 5 or 6). Usually they gang together to make fun out of you & you don’t have a clue until it is too late.
1/7/6 I hang around 舊書攤, encountered a book “海外軒渠錄”. It sounded interesting. It turned out to be Gulliver’s Travels (小人國遊記) by Jonathan Swift.
1/20/5 Kennedy’s inauguration day in Washington DC
1/28/6 Went to movie, 遠東戲院. Ballet, performing by Margot Fonteyn.
Remark:
I have no record of its English title. The movie consists of three episodes: Swan Lake, Fire Bird & Ondine.
2/14/2 Visited 沈運申 to see his stereo set. Found that his set was better than mine.
Remark:
沈運申 likes music. He once played a piece of music with his stereo set & tested me. I couldn’t answer at that time. It turned out to be Brahms Violin Concerto. My familiarity of the “Three Big D” is Beethoven, Tchaikovsky & Brahms in that order. Apparently, 沈兄 was ahead of me at that time.
2/24/5 Registration of 2nd semester
2/27/1 2nd semester officially started.
3/1/3 Discussed 郊遊 matter after the class of 投影几何.
3/5/0 陽明山郊遊, wait 3 hours at the station? I can’t believe we spent such a long time in the bus station.
3/8/3 上次郊遊剩下兩件獎品. By taking lots, 何瑜笙 got two of them. 陳慶瀘 argued that because of the Woman’s Day, she & 沈安邦 should get the gifts.
Remark:
There is no record as to who actually got the 獎品. Perhaps 何瑜笙 can give us the answer.
3/14/2 Had some talks with 陳星華 in 國文課. 她是化工系同學. She sounded smart & fun, a nice girl.
4/6/4 “What is Mathematics” by Courant, Pirate edition appeared. This is a very good book. One section proves that 幾何三大作圖難題 can’t be constructed by straight edge & compass only.
4/10/1 化學系高材生 洪照玉, 報各參加中國小姐 競選
Remark: I have never met Miss 洪. I did see her photo in the yearbook. She looks nice & normal. With good cosmetics & right package, she can be a good contender. Later I also found that 葉秀卿 of 外文系也報名參加. I know her pretty well. Miss 葉 had a good look & nice personality that made her a good candidate. No wonder she got in the list of top ten contenders. I have no record as to who was the Miss China of 1961. Anyway, I admire both of them for their bravery just to show their body & elegant personality. I know the look of Miss 葉 off stage. But I was stunned at her look on stage. With a right package, you can transform a girl to a completely different woman. I remember one or two years later, 方瑀女士(植物病虫害系)也報名參加中國小姐 競選. 她倒是後來居上,成功登上中國小姐寶座,為台大爭光. Miss 方和我們同屆, 在中國近代史課, 他和我們同時上張基瑞的課. 可惜班上人實在太多,沒有机會好好研究她. 光是電机系加僑生就有七十多人, 再加上植病系 可說盛況空前. 可惜沒聽說有電机系高材生去 date 她. 也許她把我們這些男生當成動植物病虫害來研究. 後來他嫁給連戰先生,一帆風順. 後來聽說連戰有打夫人的習慣. 寫到此不禁替方女士捏一把冷汗.
4/20/4 Went to movie “玉碎塞班島”
4/23/0 Went to 新生戲院 to watch “雄才怪傑”, English title: “Inherit the Wind”. It is a debate between the Evolution & the Bible.
Remark: This movie recounted the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. Edward Larson got Pulitzer’s prize (1998) with his book “Summer for the Gods”. Chinese translation: “眾神的審判”, 知書房出版社, 2002. If you like the movie, you will like this book.
5/3/3 Chemistry class, pop quiz. Murphy’s Law: I was absent.
Remark:
Pop quiz is equivalent to Calling Roll. Most students hate this. 葉炳遠 was never very popular perhaps due to his pop quiz. He walked while giving his lectures. That is a smart way to save time: exercise while working. He once said “蒲籣克常數很好記, 6 6 24…”. I had no clue about his logic. It dawned on me later that he forgot the details of the multiplication table. He thought 6 x 6 is 24 instead of 36.
5/8/1 Got NT$500, salary from the tutor.
5/13/6 Went to movie “琴琵怨" 市井小民,薪水階級的悲哀. It portrayed a couple struggling in making ends meet in the daily life.
5/14/0 台大學校運動會
5/20/6 張基瑞 said ref to Encyclopedia Britannica is a must for a serious student.
5/23/2 Soccer match, 電机系大敗經濟系. I watched the match. No record of the score.
5/24/3 電机系五子棋大賽 started
Remark:
五子棋起源於古代中国，发展於日本，风靡于欧洲. 先下的一方比較有利, So there are some rules that restrict the winning chance of the one who starts first. In Japan, it is called 五子连珠棋. There are more players with high caliber in Japan than those in China. I have no record as to who finally won the matches in our class.
5/29/1 Bought a LP record: Brahms Symphony #4.
Remark:
This one is listed in the top ten greatest symphonies in classical music.
6/9/5 王澤霖 got 三民主義 prize. He scored 90 points on the test.
Remark:
The prize was NT$1,000. I asked 王兄 about the secret in dealing with 三民主義. He said “無他,全靠吹牛也”. Once 葉秀卿 told me, in 北一女, 全靠名牌老師 盛載陽之講義. 建中名牌教師如過江之鯽,然獨缺三民主義大師. 王兄從建中出來有比成績乃一奇蹟也.
6/14/3 All the equipment of Chemistry lab were gone, the locks were cut. I felt so bad that I couldn’t do anything but go to movie, watch “夕陽西下”(Sundowner)
Remark:
I was very interested in Chemistry since junior high. I listed Chemistry right next to EE in 大專聯考. I thought I could use some of the tubes, beakers etc to setup a little lab in my home. So it was a big disappointment for me. We all underestimated what those senior crooks could do to us. The movie 夕陽西下 is a story about a couple roaming around the field in Australia. Finally the wife yearned to settle down when she saved enough money. To her dismay, she found her husband gambled all her money & lost. It sure mirrors the case that we lost all our lab equipment after we paid, used & saved them in the locked drawers.
6/19/1 Final Exam started. English & Chinese Modern History went smoothly.
6/23/5 Finished Physics final exam, went to play basketball, felt fantastic. Afternoon, went to see movie “Alamo”, 邊城英烈傳.
6/24/6 Kidney got problem. Went to see doctor who treated me quickly & effectively. I was lucky. Otherwise I might miss the final exam of 軍訓 in the afternoon.
Remark:
The doctor I met turned out to be 翁通逢. I told him that his name sounded familiar. I asked if there is any relation to 翁通楹. He said 翁通楹 is his elder brother. What a small world, I told him that his brother was a great professor & really impressed on his "TighToSido". He was so glad that he gave me 50% discount on the cost of registration & treatment. Here is the lesson: 禮多人不怪, 嘴巴甜一點, make this world a happy one. I should add one more remark here about 軍訓. Usually it was very boring. But we got one 教官 鄧永金. He was someone to listen. In two classes, he talked about the WWII, 滔滔不絕, 行雲流水, 一氣呵成. I am not kidding, he never repeated a word. The only defect was that he slipped his tongue several time by saying 雲南中將 instead of 南雲中將(Japanese commander in the flagship in Pearl Harbor attack). The only teacher can match his talent perhaps is 李守孔 or 孫靜山. Both of them were history teachers of 建中.
6/25/0 Saw Dr. Kuller off in a farewell dinner.
6/26/1 Saw movie “Waterloo”, 魂斷藍橋
6/27/2 Read “The Sea Around US”, 海的故事, 華國出版社
Remark:
This book was written by Rachael Carson, translated by 夏道平. I have never seen a translated book that can be so good or even better than the original text. Here is just one example:
Original text:
Where great whales come sailing by,
Sail and sail, with unshut eye.
Translation:
千尋海底誰天下？ 睥睨逍遙有大鯨。
7/2/0 Started tutoring 陳偉, son of 陳和錦.
Remark:
陳偉 is the only son of 陳和錦, a well-known tea merchant. While he is the only son, he has at least 5 sisters, all older. So he acted like a little king in that environment. All his sisters were very understanding & tried to accommodate him, even forgave him most of the time for his bad behavior. I found a way to tame him. But I regretted that I didn’t stop him in various occasions that he was yelling at his sisters.
7/31/1 青年朝聖團出國, 經慕尼黑, 一去不回. 某雜誌評語: 大學之道在慕尼黑,在嘲聖,在止於 USA.
Remark:
It was said that 主教于斌, sponsored, supported or financed the trip. 一些青年才俊及名媛 包括沈斐文(某屆中國小姐第三名 after 林靜宜 & 汪麗玲) 紛紛參加,一去不返.
The 2nd semester ended here & so we all had a good time in the first year of our college life. In general, I was happy as a freshman. I read a lot, made several good friends & started to see the world in a whole new way. Although Taida was not a unversity with rich resources, we all learned the basics as to how to become a good engineer as well as a good citizen.
Tom Watson is 59 & he competed in the British Golf Open Tournament. He played brilliantly until the last hole & last stroke when he missed a 8-feet putt. Instead, Stewart Cink played obscurely for three days. But he made a 12-foot birdie at the last 18th hole. In other words, the final putt or the last stroke defines & creates a champion. This is not the first time we have seen the top players succumb to the pressure or can’t finish the job in a graceful manner. Watson was able to hole a 60-feet putt but couldn’t do the same for a 8-feet one. It was almost painful to watch the finish & really felt sorry for Watson. He is a great champion. One or two more wins will not change his life much. However, if you want to fulfill your life & make something memorable, you have to play with seriousness & perseverance in a crucial moment. This needs physical & mental toughness. But the difference of outcome can be huge. If Watson made the last putt, he won the tournament & became the oldest champion in the golf history. If you look at the replay, he seemed not ready mentally & delivered a shoddy putt hastily. Perhaps it was too much emotion drainage (not lacking mental toughness) that betrayed him at the final moment.
