"In a post race interview Roux was quoted as saying, "When he passed me, I had the impression that it was a motorcycle at my side. It was beautiful to see."
It was beautiful to see? Can you imagine that you have been riding as hard as you can, drawing on every fiber of your mind's and body's strength, will, and determination to power yourself up a long climb? Can you imagine that you are a Frenchman within sight of claiming victory of one of the most demanding stages of your country's most famous athletic events when some kid from Texas passes you like you're standing still? It was beautiful to see. That's how Laurent Roux described it. That's one of the images I cannot get out of my mind. These athletes ride for glory, and for fame, and because cycling is how they support very comfortable lifestyles--but they could not achieve the sheer monumentalism of what they do unless there was something more. They ride for the sheer beauty of the sport. And then I remembered. That's why many of us chose science. Because we were struck by its beauty.
Each of us has our story of what hooked us. For me, it was the elegant, spare functionality of the Kreb's Cycle. I had no choice-- unfashionable as it was, I had to study metabolic pathways. Even though I am now far removed from such work, I find I can still lose myself when I come across one of those metabolic pathway charts"
I really like this sentiment. The link was sent out in a conversation about communicating the benefits of federal funding for basic research, and there were a bunch of interesting comments. Relatedly, I also wanted to share what one person wrote:
"go to a zoo, or an aquarium, or the botanic garden – and I find people just fascinated with the rich complexity of life – and how much and how little we know. I think the way we talked about the Human Genome Project (the book of life decoded and now science will cure every disease!) or the hype of the decade of the Brain, or other attempts to jazz the “public” does not do science justice... we have make some decision that supporting science is a national priority and then we connect it with national security and economic themes – and in truth what we often are really talking about at that point is a amalgam of research, development, technology, and market creation. Sometimes maybe we should just do things because we are humans – and exploring and learning and wondering is an integral part of who we are – all of us. "
**remember to email Susan Fitzpatrick!
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