Frasi di Jonas Edward Salk

Jonas Edward Salk è stato un medico e scienziato statunitense, batteriologo e virologo, realizzatore del primo vaccino antipoliomielite.

Fino al 1955, anno dell'introduzione del suo vaccino, la poliomielite era considerata il problema più spaventoso in materia di salute pubblica negli Stati Uniti del dopoguerra. Le epidemie annuali erano sempre più devastanti: quella del 1952 fu la peggiore nella storia della nazione. Dei quasi 58.000 casi riportati quell'anno, 3.145 persone morirono e 21.269 restarono paralizzate in modo lieve o invalidante. La maggior parte delle vittime erano bambini. Gli scienziati si affannavano a trovare un modo per prevenire o curare la malattia. Il Presidente degli Stati Uniti Franklin Delano Roosevelt ne era forse la vittima più conosciuta al mondo e fondò l'organizzazione che avrebbe finanziato la realizzazione del vaccino.

Nel 1947 Salk accettò un incarico alla Scuola di Medicina dell'Università di Pittsburgh e l'anno dopo intraprese un progetto finanziato dalla National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis per determinare il numero di tipi diversi del virus della poliomielite. Salk vide in tale obiettivo anche un'opportunità di dedicarsi allo sviluppo di un vaccino contro la polio e, insieme al qualificato team di ricerca da lui scelto per affiancarlo, si dedicò al progetto per i sette anni successivi. Il banco di prova predisposto per testare il vaccino di Salk fu, come riportato dallo storico William O'Neill, "il più elaborato programma del genere nella storia, che coinvolse 20.000 medici e ufficiali della salute pubblica, 64.000 impiegati scolastici e 220.000 volontari". Oltre 1.800.000 bambini in età scolare presero parte all'esperimento. Quando la notizia del successo del vaccino fu resa pubblica, il 12 aprile 1955, Salk fu salutato come "l'uomo dei miracoli", e la giornata "divenne quasi un giorno di festa nazionale". Il suo unico obiettivo era stato sviluppare un vaccino sicuro ed efficace il più rapidamente possibile, senza nessun interesse al profitto personale. Quando in una intervista televisiva gli fu chiesto chi possedesse il brevetto del vaccino, lui rispose: "La gente, suppongo. Non c'è brevetto. Si può brevettare il sole?"

Nel 1960 fondò il Salk Institute for Biological Studies a La Jolla, in California, che è tuttora un centro di ricerca medica e scientifica. Continuò inoltre a condurre ricerche e a pubblicare libri: Man Unfolding , The Survival of the Wisest , World Population and Human Values: A New Reality , e Anatomy of Reality: Merging of Intuition and Reason . Salk trascorse gli ultimi anni della sua vita ricercando un vaccino contro l'HIV. Wikipedia  

✵ 28. Ottobre 1914 – 23. Giugno 1995
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Jonas Edward Salk: 47   frasi 0   Mi piace

Jonas Edward Salk: Frasi in inglese

“I see the triumph of good over evil as a manifestation of the error-correcting process of evolution.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: I judge things from an evolutionary perspective — "How does this serve and contribute to the process of our own evolution?" — rather than think of good and evil in moral terms. I see the triumph of good over evil as a manifestation of the error-correcting process of evolution.

“The art of science is as important as so-called technical science. You need both. It's this combination that must be recognized and acknowledged and valued.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: Reason alone will not serve. Intuition alone can be improved by reason, but reason alone without intuition can easily lead the wrong way. They both are necessary. The way I like to put it is that when I have an intuition about something, I send it over to the reason department. Then after I've checked it out in the reason department, I send it back to the intuition department to make sure that it's still all right. That's how my mind works, and that's how I work. That's why I think that there is both an art and a science to what we do. The art of science is as important as so-called technical science. You need both. It's this combination that must be recognized and acknowledged and valued.

“I look upon ourselves as partners in all of this, and that each of us contributes and does what he can do best.”

The Open Mind interview (1985)
Contesto: I look upon ourselves as partners in all of this, and that each of us contributes and does what he can do best. And so I see not a top rung and a bottom rung — I see all this horizontally — and I see this as part of a matrix. And I see every human being as having a purpose, a destiny, if you like. And what my hope is that we can find some way to fulfill the biological potential, if you like — the destiny that exists in each of us — and find ways and means to provide such opportunities for everyone. Now at the moment the world is suffering from large numbers of people who have no purpose in life — for whom there is no opportunity — and that's sad.

“Now, some people might look at something and let it go by, because they don't recognize the pattern and the significance. It's the sensitivity to pattern recognition that seems to me to be of great importance. It's a matter of being able to find meaning, whether it's positive or negative, in whatever you encounter.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: Now, some people might look at something and let it go by, because they don't recognize the pattern and the significance. It's the sensitivity to pattern recognition that seems to me to be of great importance. It's a matter of being able to find meaning, whether it's positive or negative, in whatever you encounter. It's like a journey. It's like finding the paths that will allow you to go forward, or that path that has a block that tells you to start over again or do something else.

“I have the impression that the new generation of young people, are coming up on the scene with a sense "ancestorhood", and with more wisdom than was evident before.”

The Open Mind interview (1985)
Contesto: I have the impression that the new generation of young people, are coming up on the scene with a sense "ancestorhood", and with more wisdom than was evident before. I think this comes about as a matter of necessity — Almost as if there is something in us that is innate, something inherent in us, that is destined for a longer term, rather than a shorter term future.

“I think of evolution as an error-making and error-correcting process, and we are constantly learning from experience.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: The idea of being constructive, creative, positive, in trying to bring out the best in one's own self and the best in others follows from what I've just been saying. Again, I repeat my belief in us, in ourselves, as the product of the process of evolution, and part of the process itself. I think of evolution as an error-making and error-correcting process, and we are constantly learning from experience. It's the need to dedicate one's self in that way, to one's own self, and to choose an activity or life that is of value not only to yourself but to others as well.

“I speak about universal evolution and teleological evolution, because I think the process of evolution reflects the wisdom of nature.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: I speak about universal evolution and teleological evolution, because I think the process of evolution reflects the wisdom of nature. I see the need for wisdom to become operative. We need to try to put all of these things together in what I call an evolutionary philosophy of our time.

“My life is pretty well at peace, and the profession is more of an avocation. It's a calling, if you like, rather than a job. I do what I feel impelled to do, as an artist would.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: My life is pretty well at peace, and the profession is more of an avocation. It's a calling, if you like, rather than a job. I do what I feel impelled to do, as an artist would. Scientists function in the same way. I see all these as creative activities, as all part of the process of discovery. Perhaps that's one of the characteristics of what I call the evolvers, any subset of the population who keep things moving in a positive, creative, constructive way, revealing the truth and beauty that exists in life and in nature.

“I have come to associate a kind of success that we are referring to, to individuals who have a combination of attributes that are often associated with creativity. In a way they are mutants, they are different from others. And they follow their own drummer.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: I have come to associate a kind of success that we are referring to, to individuals who have a combination of attributes that are often associated with creativity. In a way they are mutants, they are different from others. And they follow their own drummer. We know what that means. And are we all like that? We are not like that. If you are, then it would be well to recognize that there were others before you. And, people like that are not very happy or content, until they are allowed to express, or they can express what's in them to express. It's that driving force that I think is like the process of evolution working on us, and in us, and with us, and through us. That's how we continue on, and will improve our lot in life, solve the problems that arise. Partly out of necessity, partly out of this drive to improve.

“When things get bad enough, then something happens to correct the course.”

The Open Mind interview (1985)
Contesto: When things get bad enough, then something happens to correct the course. And it's for that reason that I speak about evolution as an error-making and an error-correcting process. And if we can be ever so much better — ever so much slightly better — at error correcting than at error making, then we'll make it.

“Reason alone will not serve. Intuition alone can be improved by reason, but reason alone without intuition can easily lead the wrong way. They both are necessary.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: Reason alone will not serve. Intuition alone can be improved by reason, but reason alone without intuition can easily lead the wrong way. They both are necessary. The way I like to put it is that when I have an intuition about something, I send it over to the reason department. Then after I've checked it out in the reason department, I send it back to the intuition department to make sure that it's still all right. That's how my mind works, and that's how I work. That's why I think that there is both an art and a science to what we do. The art of science is as important as so-called technical science. You need both. It's this combination that must be recognized and acknowledged and valued.

“Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”

CBS Television interview, on See It Now (12 April 1955); quoted in Shots in the Dark : The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine (2001) by Jon Cohen
Contesto: Edward R. Murrow: Who owns the patent on this vaccine?
Jonas Salk: Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?

“What you see in living systems, and in genetic systems, is that the genes are already there, having arisen in the course of time, and when they are needed they become activated. If they had to be invented, the time would be too late.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: What you see in living systems, and in genetic systems, is that the genes are already there, having arisen in the course of time, and when they are needed they become activated. If they had to be invented, the time would be too late. By the same token, I think that the people who are needed to help guide the future already exist. They simply need to recognize this in themselves, react to the opportunities that prevail, and also be valued and be encouraged. It's that very large, and as yet amorphous, rung that is of interest to me. I hope to articulate this, and see to what extent it makes sense to others as well.

“That's how we continue on, and will improve our lot in life, solve the problems that arise. Partly out of necessity, partly out of this drive to improve.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: I have come to associate a kind of success that we are referring to, to individuals who have a combination of attributes that are often associated with creativity. In a way they are mutants, they are different from others. And they follow their own drummer. We know what that means. And are we all like that? We are not like that. If you are, then it would be well to recognize that there were others before you. And, people like that are not very happy or content, until they are allowed to express, or they can express what's in them to express. It's that driving force that I think is like the process of evolution working on us, and in us, and with us, and through us. That's how we continue on, and will improve our lot in life, solve the problems that arise. Partly out of necessity, partly out of this drive to improve.

“What is … important is that we — number one: Learn to live with each other. Number two: try to bring out the best in each other.”

The Open Mind interview (1985)
Contesto: What is … important is that we — number one: Learn to live with each other. Number two: try to bring out the best in each other. The best from the best, and the best from those who, perhaps, might not have the same endowment. And so this bespeaks an entirely different philosophy — a different way of life — a different kind of relationship — where the object is not to put down the other, but to raise up the other.

“I am interested both in nature, and in the human side of nature, and how the two can be brought together, and effectively used.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: Why do I see things differently from the way other people see them? Why do I pursue the questions that I pursue, even if others regard them as, as they say, "controversial?" Which merely means that they have a difference of opinion. They see things differently. I am interested both in nature, and in the human side of nature, and how the two can be brought together, and effectively used.

“I am interested in a phase that I think we are entering. I call it "teleological evolution," evolution with a purpose.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: I am interested in a phase that I think we are entering. I call it "teleological evolution," evolution with a purpose. The idea of evolution by design, designing the future, anticipating the future. I think of the need for more wisdom in the world, to deal with the knowledge that we have. At one time we had wisdom, but little knowledge. Now we have a great deal of knowledge, but do we have enough wisdom to deal with that knowledge?

“Nothing happens quite by chance. It's a question of accretion of information and experience”

As quoted in Breakthrough : The Saga of Jonas Salk (1966) by Richard Carter
Contesto: Nothing happens quite by chance. It's a question of accretion of information and experience … it's just chance that I happened to be here at this particular time when there was available and at my disposal the great experience of all the investigators who plodded along for a number of years.

“The idea of being constructive, creative, positive, in trying to bring out the best in one's own self and the best in others follows from what I've just been saying.”

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Contesto: The idea of being constructive, creative, positive, in trying to bring out the best in one's own self and the best in others follows from what I've just been saying. Again, I repeat my belief in us, in ourselves, as the product of the process of evolution, and part of the process itself. I think of evolution as an error-making and error-correcting process, and we are constantly learning from experience. It's the need to dedicate one's self in that way, to one's own self, and to choose an activity or life that is of value not only to yourself but to others as well.

“Now at the moment the world is suffering from large numbers of people who have no purpose in life — for whom there is no opportunity — and that's sad.”

The Open Mind interview (1985)
Contesto: I look upon ourselves as partners in all of this, and that each of us contributes and does what he can do best. And so I see not a top rung and a bottom rung — I see all this horizontally — and I see this as part of a matrix. And I see every human being as having a purpose, a destiny, if you like. And what my hope is that we can find some way to fulfill the biological potential, if you like — the destiny that exists in each of us — and find ways and means to provide such opportunities for everyone. Now at the moment the world is suffering from large numbers of people who have no purpose in life — for whom there is no opportunity — and that's sad.

“I feel that the greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more.”

On receiving Congressional Medal for Distinguished Civilian Achievement (23 April 1956); several variations of this personal motto are often quoted, including:
The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.
As quoted in 50 American Heroes Every Kid Should Meet! (2001) by Dennis Denenberg and Lorraine Roscoe, p. 99
I feel that the greatest reward for success is the opportunity to do more.

“Neither wisdom nor good will is now dominant. Hope lies in dreams, in imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.”

Address on receiving the Nehru Award (10 January 1977), published in Virginia Woolf Quarterly (1977), Vol. 3, p. 11; also quoted in The Signs of Language Revisited : An Anthology to Honor Ursula Bellugi and Edward Klima (2000) edited by Karen Emmorey and Harlan L. Lane, p. 330; the last sentence is Inscribed in metallic lettering at the entrance of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.

“Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.”

As quoted in Learning from the Future : Competitive Foresight Scenarios (1998) by Liam Fahey and Robert M. Randall, p. 332. Also as quoted in Edward Cornish, Responsibility for the Future, The Futurist (May/June 1994), p. 60.

“Why did Mozart compose music?”

Response when asked why he chose to do medical research rather than be a practicing physician, as quoted in The Polio Man : The Story of Dr. Jonas Salk (1961) by John Rowland, p. 23

“I have dreams, and I have nightmares. I overcame the nightmares because of my dreams.”

As quoted in Wisdom for the Soul: Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing https://books.google.com/books?id=-T3QhPjIxhIC&lpg=PP1&dq=%22I%20have%20dreams%2C%20and%20I%20have%20nightmares.%20I%20overcame%20the%20nightmares%20because%20of%20my%20dreams.%22&pg=PA254#v=onepage (2006) by Larry Chang (page 254)

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