…And Why Their Parents Don’t
In my previous post, I described scenarios in which young people are leaving the countries of their birth. Now is the time to contrast the older generation. During my stay in the United States, I was carefully watching the life of my parents in Poland. We sent letters as often as we could. In the […]
Why Young People are Leaving the Country of Their Parents
Italy: The Nation That crushes Its Young. (NYT, Oct 30, 2013) Italy Breaks Your Heart. (NYT, Oct 26, 2013) These two recent articles published in the New York Times captured my attention. They both comment on the exodus of Italian young people, particularly males, and their travel to France, England and for more lucky ones […]
Three Heroes Who Overthrew the Communism in Europe
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! Ronald Reagan (1987) This is how most people in this country see the fall of communism in Europe and the person who made it happened. Let me tell you another side of this story. In 1945, after victory over Hitler’s Germany and with the full approval of our allies, […]
A Path to Become a Surgeon, cont.
It is sometimes asserted, that a surgical operation is or should be a work of art… fit to rank with those of the painter or a sculptor. .That proposition does not admit to discussion. It is a product of the intellectual innocence which I think we surgeons may fairly claim to possess, and which is […]
A Path to Become a Surgeon
It is necessary that a surgeon should have a temperate and moderate disposition. That he should have well-formed hands, long slender fingers, a strong body, not inclined to tremble and with all his members trained to the capable fulfillment of the wishes of his mind. He should be of deep intelligence and of a simple, […]
The Age of Highest Achievements
It is fair to say, that coming to my age, most of the people look back and contemplate what was the highest achievement of their life, what was they being most proud of. Was it a professional career? Family live? Athletic accomplishments? Maybe a significant discovery? Or social connections? And was it a one-time event […]
So, Is Surgery an Art or a Science?
The practice of medicine is a thinker’s art, the practice of surgery is a plumber’s. Martin H. Fischer, obviously a medical doctor This was a picture I grew up with in my Medical School. I saw medical specialists as a group of intellectuals discussing patient’s problems in the doctor’s lounge, and surgeons talking in the […]
Polish mathematicians on the forefront of fight with Germany
The universe is made up from stories, not atoms. Muriel Rukeyser Europe in the 1930s saw general tensions growing as a result of WW I and German unhappiness with the Treaty of Versailles. The Germans were arming themselves and obviously getting ready to change the balance of power. Secrecy of military communications was of utmost […]
Abraham Lincoln and Tsar Alexander ; Twin Brothers of Different Mothers
All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come Victor Hugo While reading “Anna Karenina” I came across a very interesting subject being discussed: the problem of serfdom. Konstantin Levin, 32 years old landowner, wants to increase productivity on his farmland. Sees how peasants are not motivated […]
