Saturday, November 10, 2007

nov 3rd, one day tour in munich - part 1

We start our trip in here.
The HauptBahnhof(Hbf-train station) of Augsburg. It is built in 19th century and one of the oldest Hbf in Germany.
We buy a Bayern ticket for 27 euros and take the RE(regional express) to munich.
the time table
after about 40 minutes trip, we arrived munich hbf.
the ICE (inter-city express) is the fast transportation tool in europe and it connects the main cities. but its cost is much higher.
when we get out of the munich hbf, we saw these two lovely young ladies. so i took a pic for them. 8-)
the outlook of munich hbf.

川菜是怎样变辣的

此文“非法地”从网易转载:

当今的四川人的口味,其实与李白苏轼相去甚远。如果没有明清时期传入的辣椒,川菜还能称为川菜吗?

川菜号称有超过两千年的历史源流。但很难说现在我们吃到的川菜,与那时的川菜有多大渊源。一个铁证就是,最多在四百多年前,川菜中还没辣椒――没有辣椒,怎么能称为“川菜”呢?

古代川菜的断裂

老川菜和新川菜的断裂点在17世纪。

明王朝在十七世纪度过了内忧外患的最后四十多年。在明末农民战争中,四川是战争持续到最后的一个省,也是经济民生被破坏最为严重的一个省。张献忠部在四川建立了地方政权,在发现自己不再可能统治中国以后,他在四川实行了焦土政策。张献忠以及其他军队骇人听闻的烧杀破坏让成都平原几乎变成荒野。人口学家的研究显示,战乱使四川人口从高峰期的数百万,减少至60-80万人,而四川的中心地区成都平原,老四川人已经是“百不余一”了。

杀戳,灭绝了人口,也切断了文化乃至习性的传承。以成都为中心的川菜文化在这一过程中遭到灭顶之灾。

川菜据称起源于古代的巴国和蜀国,自秦朝至三国时期,成都逐渐成为四川地区的政治、经济、文化中心,使川菜得到较大发展。四川人自古以来便有“尚滋味”的传统,加之川中物产丰富,鸟兽禽鱼为川菜提供了丰富的原料,而大量使用的蜀姜、川花椒等调料,早在汉代就作为川人“好辛香”的特征驰名海内。

早在一千多年前,西晋文学家左思所著《蜀都赋》中便有“金垒中坐,肴隔四陈,觞以清酊,鲜以紫鳞”的描述。唐宋时期,川菜更为脍炙人口。诗人陆游曾有“玉食峨眉木耳,金齑丙穴鱼”的诗句赞美川菜。

但在灭绝性的屠杀之后,谁还有可能传承那些精细复杂的菜谱呢。成都平原的屠杀之后,只在张献忠大军较少进入的川南宜宾、自贡等地,部分地保留了古代川人喜食糯米的习气。

川菜为何独麻

川人自古“好辛香”,喜欢辛辣味的食物,但古来“好辛香”的并不仅仅是川人。

花椒、姜和茱萸,是中国最传统的三大辛味调料,其中花椒是最常用的辛香调料。根据近年来对古代食谱的研究发现,在辣椒进入中国之前长达2000余年的历史中,五分之一左右的食品都要使用花椒。花椒曾经在中国长江流域上中下游、黄河流域中下游都有大量种植,在花椒食用达到鼎盛时期的唐代,菜谱中使用花椒的食物比例占到37%。

花椒曾在辛味调料中占据毫无疑问的统治地位,其食用范围基本上遍布全国,在中国饮食中的重要性即使是今天的辣椒也无法与之相比。

但从明末以来,辛味调料在饮食中的出现频率开始持续走低,很多菜不再以花椒作为原料,这固然部分由于这一时期开始普及的胡椒的冲击,但很多传统的食品辛辣地区口味也开始变得清淡。

尽管个人的口味喜好常常变动不居,但总体看来,一个地区或者一个国家的人们却不会无缘无故地创造或者离弃一种饮食传统。花椒的衰落其实与中国人明清以来肉食结构的改变有重大关联。

辛味调料的两大功能,一是压住食物中的腥膻,二是祛“寒湿”。在清代以前,中国的人地比率一般在每人五亩以上,由于人口基数较小,大量以森林和草地为主要植被的山地没有得到开垦,为散养型的畜牧业提供着广阔的生存空间,牛羊肉在中国人的肉食结构中占有较大比重,牛羊肉的腥膻味是各地广泛使用辛味调料的一个重要原因。

然而,明朝引入的土豆、玉米、番薯等高产旱地作物,引发了持续的人口增长和山地开发,大量草坡和林地成为耕地,牛羊牧业因此萎缩,家庭养猪和家禽肉类在饮食中比重大大增加,猪肉成为主要的肉食,而它显然不那么需要辛味调料来压住腥膻。

于是在清代的禽兽类菜肴中,花椒入谱比例从明代的59%降至23%。随着肉食结构的这一变化,很多地区已经退出辛味版图,转而追求清淡温和的口味。

到清末的时候,花椒入谱已经仅占18.9%,而且基本上都被挤压在四川盆地一带,花椒只被爱好辛辣的四川人所偏爱。川菜天下“独麻”的地位,就是在这一时期形成的。

在今天,满满一大桌没有辣椒的川菜几乎是不可想象的,但事实上,从古代川菜的失传到辣椒在四川大行其道,中间还有一百多年的时间。

溯江而上的辣味

早在十六世纪下半叶,那些活跃在马尼拉进行丝绸贸易的中国商人,在带回大量白银的同时也带回了辣椒,在1591成书的《遵生八笺》中,称之为“番椒”,这可能因为辣椒是从海外传来,又与当时流行的胡椒一样有辣味而适作调料。

浙江的辣椒传入,有可能只是辣椒进入中国的几条路线之一,其他可能的路线还包括沿丝绸之路传西北地区,荷兰殖民者传到台湾等等。和浙江出现辣椒差不多同样的时候,东北地区也似乎在十七世纪初从一江之隔的朝鲜得到了辣椒,这可能是后来华北地区及至今东北的朝鲜族人吃辣椒的一个源头,但这些猜想都难以得到史料的最后证实。

辣椒注定不可能拥有花椒曾经的地位。辣椒虽然最早传入浙江,但浙江的北方近邻江苏省却直到嘉庆七年(1802)才在《太仓州志》中出现关于辣椒的记载,江苏大部分地区种植辣椒都是在民国以后的事情,南边的广东倒是从乾隆年间开始一直对辣椒有些记载,但广东人素来口味清淡,直到民国时期辣椒种植也不是很普遍。据调查,民国二十年广东省各县中只有紫金、平远两县蔬菜中有辣椒。

不过,尽管南北的传播受阻,长江中上游地区对辛辣味的爱好却锲而不舍,这使得辣椒在中国的传播得以沿长江上溯西进,并在湖南形成了一个次级中心,江西、贵州、湖北和四川的辣椒,应该都是湖南人传入的,这些地区也构成了中国口味最烈的吃辣区域,故有四川人不怕辣,贵州人辣不怕,湖南人怕不辣之说。

湖南人认为,吃辣与湖南人的性格有着特殊的关系,吃辣椒促进血液循环,除了可以被祛寒除湿,还具有一定的兴奋作用。但长期吃辣是不是会影响一个人性格的养成,现在还不得而知。处在食辣核心地带的湖南,近代以来出了不少砍头不过风吹帽式的革命人物,毛泽东认为吃辣椒使人们性格冲动,脾气火爆,“不吃辣子不革命”。不过,尽管成都人也吃辣却温良恭俭让,东北人不吃辣却往往脾气冲动,这说明,这种 “辣椒的性格印象”或者是食辣人群的一种自我暗示。

贵州是一个至今仍常常被忽略的辛辣重区,辣椒从江浙传至贵州,中间间隔好几个省,贵州却极可能是中国最先普遍食用辣椒的地区。因为贵州缺盐,古来如此,康熙时田霁的《黔书》中说,“当其(盐)匮也,代之以狗椒(辣椒)。椒之性辛,辛以代咸,只诳夫舌耳,非正味也。”康熙时的《思州府志》,在药品类中也有记载“海椒,俗名辣火,土苗用以代盐。”“海椒”这一对辣椒的别称来自湖南,这似乎显示了贵州辣椒的来路,但将其归在药品之中,也显示了辣椒在之前的主要用途不是作为调味品。

到乾隆时期,贵州吃辣椒已成风尚,此时邻近贵州的周边地区也开始普遍食用辣椒,湘西地区吃辣也有了正式记载,乾隆时的《辰州府志》称此时“辰人呼为辣子,用以代胡椒,取之者多青红皆并其壳,切以和食品”,不过,湘东和湘南普遍食用辣椒的记载却要等到嘉庆以后才会出现。

重塑川菜

后来四川人虽然以吃辣出名,但他们接触辣椒却要晚得多。直到乾隆14年(1749)在成都郊区大邑县的县志中,第一次出现了有关辣椒的记载:“荤菜类:秦椒,又名海椒。”这比湖南迟半个世纪以上,但四川的吃辣习俗却几乎与湖南同时普及。四川人保持传统的嗜麻习惯的同时,又把辣味加入了饮食。番椒在四川地区称海椒的最多,辣椒和辣子次之,而辣子其实也是湖南人发明的称呼,这似乎证明了四川辣椒的主要来路与清初的人口迁徙有关。到嘉庆年间,在四川金堂、华阳、温江、崇宁、射洪、洪雅、成都、江安、南溪、郫县、夹江、犍为等县志及汉州、资州州志中都有了辣椒记载,辣椒的广泛分布证明它在川人的饮食习惯中地位日重。

光绪以后,除在民间广泛食用外,经典川菜菜谱中也有了大量食用辣椒的记载。

在清代末年傅崇矩《成都通览》中,辣椒已经成为川菜中主要佐料,回锅肉也在这里第一次写上了菜谱。辣椒从此时就成为川菜最主要的材料和最鲜明的印记,“川菜”被重新创造了。

今天四川人引以为自豪的川菜,都仅仅是在这三百余年来的智慧结晶。今天的川菜按照传统流派划分,有上河邦(成都、绵阳地区为中心)、下河邦(重庆、万县地区为中心)、小河帮(自贡、宜宾)、资川帮(以资中为代表的沱江流域各个县份,包括威远、仁寿、井研、富顺)等分法,但无论怎么划分,都离不开对辣和麻的运用,虽然亦极尽巧妙和多变,但与东晋而下,千年来美名盛传的川菜,也许只有其“中庸,精细”的指导思想上的雷同了。

辣椒版图

辣椒的势力范围终于基本划定。最迟19世纪初,中国的大多数省份的文献都对它的出现有所描述。它在康熙年间由浙江传入到中西南地区的湖南和贵州,从朝鲜传入的辣椒也从东北传到华北地区的河北;雍正年间又增加了西部地区的陕西,华北地区扩大到了山东;乾隆年间华东地区扩大到安徽、福建、台湾,湖南周边地区扩展到广西、广东、四川、江西、湖北,西部扩展到甘肃;嘉庆年间华东区又扩大到江苏;道光年间华北地区扩大到山西、河南、内蒙古南部。

历200余年时间,辣椒遍布了中国。此时华东、华中、华南、西南(除云南)、华北、东北、西北辣椒栽培区域都已连成一片。

相比起种植地区的迅速扩张,食辣地区则显得稳定得多。西南大学教授蓝勇教授按“辣度”划分了中国的辣椒地图:以四川、湖南、湖北、云南、贵州、陕南为主的长江中上游重辣区;以北京、山东为核心,东及朝鲜半岛,西至新疆的北方微辣区;和江苏至广东,基本不吃辣椒的东南沿海淡味区。这其实与将近200年前的吃辣版图也并无太大变化。

蓝勇教授认为,在无需辛辣香料祛除腥膻的情况下,必须是日照少,冬季寒冷,气候潮湿,才会因为祛寒湿方面的需求而养成吃辛辣香料的习惯。此阴、冷、湿为食辣三要件,缺一不可,而长江中上游的食辣地区,往往太阳辐射较少,而且山多雾大,冬季冷湿,是当然的重辣区,而北方微辣区冬季虽冷却日照强烈,大部分内陆较为干燥,因此辛辣取向较重辣区弱得多,至于东南沿海地区,虽然湿度大但冬季温暖,且日照较为强烈,因此没有食辣需求。

浙西千岛湖一带或许可以为这种判断提供一个佐证,千岛湖多山,雾大,冬季阴冷,气候潮湿,此地颇为嗜辣,俨然沿海淡味区的一个异数。

气候因素类似于地质学中决定基本地貌形态的内力作用,它雕刻了辣食还是淡食的基本疆界,而辣文化的优秀产品,水煮鱼,毛肚火锅,剁椒鱼头等等,则类似于流水堆积,风化侵蚀等外力作用,让吃辣的疆界越来越边缘模糊。一道新式的川菜或湘菜,或许比一个漫长的雨季更令人亲近辣椒。

未必四川人不吃淡,未必浙江人不吃辣,当一个四川人知道在口味上自己不仅与李白苏轼相隔甚远,甚至难以亲近杨升庵或者秦良玉,再想想其实已经与杜桑・卢维杜尔和阿兹特克人在口味上暗通款曲,就觉得在吃饭的问题上,怎么能相信文化决定论,毕竟商业社会的世界是平的。

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

two articles about engineering and one chinese passage about graduate studies

ADI's Lew Counts: IC process shapes industry, society

In an industry that has a reputation for high turnover, there's a surprising amount of personal longevity, especially at analog vendors. A case in point is Lew Counts, vice president of analog technology at Analog Devices Inc., who is retiring today (Oct. 31) after 38 years at the company. Counts recently spoke to EE Times about the changes he sees in process technology, products, foundries and people, and their implications for the industry.

In his view, it's all about IC process technology, where you uncover potential rather than discover new laws of physics. You need to use what you have to its utmost, but you also need to do more in order to go forward. "The fundamental point of Moore's law is to create more value and expand horizons," he noted. "View technology as something you can drive forward and change. Electronics has moved from the shrine to the mainstream. Arcane stuff has become commonplace."

At a deeper level, he said, "electronics is the projection of the human psyche; it's about ego. Our field has become a means of expression, with so much value in tiny chips. Content is in product, with the high degree of value now encapsulated for all.

"The real strength of the industry is process, and everyone else gets a free ride. It affects everything, not just density and feature size. If you don't have a proprietary version of a process, it won't be fully effective. A process encapsulates all the learning that precedes it. It is the collective wisdom of the organization." Big chips are not a point event, Counts believes, but are "the accumulation of so much work that has preceded them, and in so many disciplines."

Analog companies have to do a lot of that work themselves, since analog poses a distinct set of trade-offs, noted Counts. For a long time, the analog mind-set was to reject departures from the status quo. "But you can find a way to move industry forward by process, by squeezing a lot out of each generation. Moore's vision was right, but new processes were needed to lower cost and power per function. New processes are a direct result of knowing that process technology must be driven."

The industry, he said, "had a naive belief that cramming more in, and scaling, would lead to something significant. We have a durable model of growth and advancement, but we were not so sure of this 30 years ago. We now provide 128 channel data acquisition for ultrasound in a chip, improve image quality, [enable it to] be faster and be lower power." That example, he added, demonstrates one big change: " 'And' is the new critical word. You have to provide Benefit A and Benefit B."

Stepping back for a broader view, Counts said that the biggest surprise is to see "the whole point of connectivity and networking of individuals as a social phenomenon." Another trend is the "convergence of network science, silicon processes and sophisticated design through an interdisciplinary approach and a climate for entrepreneurs."

The biggest change, he said, has been "the universality of electronics, and sophisticated electronic products. The model has been powerful at generating unexpected things, because you can connect so many people."

What about the talent needed to make this happen? "There have never been lots of analog designers; there never have been a lot of people on the technical side," Counts noted. "But—and this is critical—a few people can do the work of many." While higher education in the United States is envy of the world, with a system of private and public colleges that has been very successful, "electronics is worldwide, and the industry has challenges to find enough of the right talent. By pulling in this talent, a small percentage of the population can create so much value."

As for the debate on whether analog vendors will embrace fab lite or even fabless models, as their digital counterparts have done, "the fabless model has opened up opportunities for many innovative startups, and that's a good thing," Counts said. At the same time, "proprietary processes such as CMOS on SOI [silicon on insulator] are still needed for high-end applications. Foundries have to broaden their process offerings, such as to 50 V, since electronics will be everywhere."

Adding to the challenge, capital markets "are short-term oriented, but our industry has a longer time constant. The road map is a plan of the future, and it takes a long time to implement. Investment models can be precarious, in terms of payback."

What about the future of analog in an increasingly digital world? The "need to interface to the real world mandates analog," Counts said. "Analog circuits are still cheaper for some applications. Look at [the work under way to use] CAT5 [Category 5 cable] and analog to distribute video, compared with HDMI."

Looking ahead, Counts noted, "We have moved to having system experts, in addition to circuit and IC experts." Conventional, "ideal" op amp thinking, he said, is of no use in tackling some problems, when the real issue is error management. "You need to get information into digital form with no errors. You need to understand intermodulation distortion, SNR [signal/noise ratio] and similar parameters to do analog IC design and meet channel requirements. In basestations, for example, dynamic range is the key factor."

In the shorter term, Counts believes "we'll have a profusion of inexpensive electro-optic links in the next five years, using an optical link between clamshell halves [of a cell phone], and with chip-to-chip optical communications coming" as well.

Looking further ahead, "the convergence of biotech and electronics will prove to be very fruitful, with interdisciplinary efforts. Engineers are going to have to get closer to the fundamentals of physics and biology."


State of the Engineer: What would I be, if not an engineer?

I am an engineer. Period. I have always loved the adventure and challenge of creative problem solving, of finding a way to make something work and persuading others to let me do it. If I were not an engineer, I suppose I would be an architect. Then again, maybe I would be an attorney, or a psychiatrist, an entrepreneur, a novelist, a performer.

Being an engineer at heart, I find that most other careers provide only portions of what I love about engineering. The truth is, I would probably find most other careers too limited in variety and challenge.

What attracts me to architecture is how it blends inspiration with utility. I once engineered a remote control for whole-house automation. It provided the utility of control of all in-house systems while being intuitive enough for a guest to be able to use. It had to fit into your hand, look perfectly in place next to the good china and inspire oohs and ahs from visitors.

Being an attorney provides the opportunity for competitive persuasion. Facts and evidence are great, but how well they are researched, understood and presented makes all the difference in the world to the outcome. Engineering is full of competing ideas, trade-offs and pathways to end solutions. They must be researched, strategically weighed out and agreed upon. The pathway from idea to end product is greatly shaped by engineers' abilities to understand the requirements and persuade themselves and others of the best possible solutions.

Psychiatrists help people understand that what you get out of life is largely due to what you put in. They have to deal with stress, insanity, emergencies and finding balance. They help people cope with life, deal with change, find strength, overcome weakness. Engineers have to deal with the laws of physics: You can't get more out of a system than you put into it. They have to balance target requirements with reality, time and effort. Engineers constantly deal with change: feature creep, performance failures, resources, international design efforts and technologies, and more. New designs have to strengthen output power, range, throughput, user interface and functionality while overcoming weaknesses in power consumption, size and noise susceptibility.

Entrepreneurs deal with creating strategy, organizing resources and generating plans of action to form new businesses. Entrepreneurs are evangelists for ideas and their potential to yield a return on investment. They form ideas into viable, compelling business plans. I've been an entrepreneur. I founded a company, raised millions of dollars, created a product, presented it to the market, sold it to customers and moved on to other adventures. Every engineer requires the wherewithal for strategic planning--a course of action for project completion. Engineering requires getting buy-in for budget, tools, talent, resources and schedule. Ideas have to be sold to those who need to contribute to making them reality.

Novelists are communication artists. They use words to create understanding in their readers' minds. Books solidify ideas so that people can envision and follow a story. Writers create definition and personality for characters and depict how they interact. Books create a reproducible standard that can be interpreted and delivered in many languages. I have written thousands of pages of architectural specifications, product feature requirements, design reviews, theories of operation, research findings, project plans and technical specifications. For groups to work together effectively, they must be on the same page when it comes to project specifications, component specs, interface specs, performance requirements and intended operation. It is not good enough to write documents that you can understand; it is neces-sary to write documents that others will not misunderstand.

Performers are artists who make complicated actions look simple. A good and entertaining performance requires preparation, timing, coordination, the right materials, a lot of skill and a little luck.

Engineering is like a good song and dance. It requires a lot of coordination--and a lot of failure in practice before the final presentation. The quality of the final product is directly related to the combined talent of the company. Engineering also requires good frequency control, noise reduction and contingency plans, and often improvises when things don't go as planned.

I remember as a youth pulling apart an old phonograph and a small transistor radio to create a stereo sound system. I remember taking over installation of the electrical wiring in our house when my father was having difficulty with a four-way switch. I remember my first electronics kit and putting together all the projects. I remember plugging my first multimeter into a 120-volt outlet and making sparks because I had used the wrong inputs.

I guess I have always been destined to be an engineer. And in a way, choosing to be an engineer has enabled me to be much, much more.

Why would I choose to be any one other thing, when being an engineer has enabled me to be so many?

Paul Vincent is mixed-signal ASIC team manager at Cirque Corp. (Salt Lake City).

Engineers forecast 'opportunity'
We asked engineers to answer questions about a wide range of technologies, from Bluetooth to WiMax and everything in between. In the course of this inquiry, we learned not just what engineers are working on now, but which technologies they regard as the most promising for the future. One insight is that the number of engineers working in a promising field does not usually match the potential in that field. For example, almost 60 percent of our respondents deemed nanotechnology a ''promising'' area. But fewer than 20 percent of those respondents said they are either working in nanotechnology or expect to do so in the immediate future.
For the sake of this exercise, we have designated the discrepancy between current activity in a technology and expected future activity in that technology as the ''opportunity gap.'' The opportunity gap in nanotechnology comes out to a whopping 39.7 percent. Bearing in mind that the comparison is more interesting than scientific-casting engineers as technology handicappers—we calculated the opportunity gaps for all of the technologies tracked in the survey.


如果让我重做一次研究生


这是王泛森院士写的一篇文章,我觉得对即将读研的同学很有意义,到了研究生阶段,不能再用本科生的思维方式去学习,更应该具备学术研究素质,学会创新,学会主动学习,学会怎样与老师一起进入研究领域,又是人生中的一个新课题。

一、研究生与大学生的区别

首先跟大家说明一下研究生和大学生的区别。大学生基本上是来接受学问、接受知识的,然而不管是对于硕士时期或是博士时 期的研究而言,都应该准备要开始制造新的知识,我们在美国得到博士学位时都会领到看不懂的毕业证书,在一个偶然的机会下,我问了一位懂拉丁文的人,上面的 内容为何?他告诉我:“里头写的是恭喜你对人类的知识有所创新,因此授予你这个学位。”在中国原本并没有博硕士的学历,但是在西方他们原来的用意是,恭贺 你已经对人类普遍的知识有所创新,这个创新或大或小,都是对于普遍的知识有所贡献。这个创新不会因为你做本土与否而有所不同,所以第一个我们必须要很用 心、很深刻的思考,大学生和研究生是不同的。


(一)选择自己的问题取向,学会创新


你 一旦是研究生,你就已经进入另一个阶段,不只是要完全乐在其中,更要从而接受各种有趣的知识,进入制造知识的阶段,也就是说你的论文应该有所创新。由接受 知识到创造知识,是身为一个研究生最大的特色,不仅如此,还要认识到自己不再是个容器,等着老师把某些东西倒在茶杯里,而是要开始逐步发展和开发自己。做 为研究生不再是对于各种新奇的课照单全收,而是要重视问题取向的安排,就是在硕士或博士的阶段里面,所有的精力、所有修课以及读的书里面都应该要有一个关 注的焦点,而不能像大学那般漫无目标。大学生时代是因为你要尽量开创自己接受任何东西,但是到了硕士生和博士生,有一个最终的目的,就是要完成论文,那篇 论文是你个人所有武功的总集合,所以这时候必须要有个问题取向的学习。


(二)尝试跨领域研究,主动学习


提 出一个重要的问题,跨越一个重要的领域,将决定你未来的成败。我也在台大和清华教了十几年的课,我常常跟学生讲,选对一个领域和选对一个问题是成败的关 键,而你自己本身必须是带着问题来探究无限的学问世界,因为你不再像大学时代一样泛滥无所归。所以这段时间内,必须选定一个有兴趣与关注的主题为出发点, 来探究这些知识,产生有机的循环。由于你是自发性的对这个问题产生好奇和兴趣,所以你的态度和大学部的学生是截然不同的,你慢慢从被动的接受者变成是一个 主动的探索者,并学会悠游在这学术的领域。


我 举一个例子,我们的中央研究院院长李远哲先生,得了诺贝尔奖。他曾经在中研院的周报写过几篇文章,在他的言论集里面,或许各位也可以看到,他反复提到他的 故事。他是因为读了一个叫做马亨教授的教科书而去美国柏克莱大学念书,去了以后才发现,这个老师只给他一张支票,跟他说你要花钱你尽量用,但是从来不教他 任何东西。可是隔壁那个教授,老师教很多,而且每天学生都是跟着老师学习。他有一次就跟那个老师抱怨:“那你为什么不教我点东西呢?”那个老师就说:“如 果我知道结果,那我要你来这边念书做什么?我就是因为不知道,所以要我们共同探索一个问题、一个未知的领域。”他说其实这两种教法都有用处,但是他自己从 这个什么都不教他,永远碰到他只问他“有没有什么新发现”的老师身上,得到很大的成长。所以这两方面都各自蕴含深层的道理,没有所谓的好坏,但是最好的方 式就是将这两个方式结合起来。我为什么讲这个故事呢?就是强调在这个阶段,学习是一种“self-help”,并且是在老师的引导下学习“self-help”,而不能再像大学时代般,都是纯粹用听的,这个阶段的学习要基于对研究问题的好奇和兴趣,要带着一颗热忱的心来探索这个领域。


然而研究生另外一个重要的阶段就是 Learn how to learn , 不只是学习而已,而是学习如何学习,不再是要去买一件很漂亮的衣服,而是要学习拿起那一根针,学会绣出一件漂亮的衣服,慢慢学习把目标放在一个标准上,而 这一个标准就是你将来要完成硕士或博士论文。如果你到西方一流的大学去读书,你会觉得我这一篇论文可能要和全世界做同一个问题的人相比较。我想即使在非一 流大学也应该要有这样的心情,你的标准不能单单只是放在旁边几个人而已,而应该是要放在领域的普遍人里面。你这篇文章要有新的东西,才算达到的标准,也才 符合到我们刚刚讲到那张拉丁文的博士证书上面所讲的,有所贡献与创新。

  二、一个老师怎么训练研究生


身 为老师你要怎么训练研究生。我认为人文科学和社会科学的训练,哪怕是自然科学的训练,到研究生阶段应该更像师徒制,所以来自个人和老师、个人和同侪间密切 的互动和学习是非常重要的,跟大学部坐在那边单纯听课,听完就走人是不一样的,相较之下你的生活应该要和你所追求的知识与解答相结合,并且你往后的生活应 该或多或少都和这个探索有相关。


(一)善用与老师的伙伴关系,不断 Research


我常说英文 research 这个字非常有意义, search 是寻找,而 research 是再寻找,所以每个人都要 research , 不断的一遍一遍再寻找,并进而使你的生活和学习成为一体。中国近代兵学大师蒋百里在他的兵学书中曾说:“生活条件要跟战斗条件一致,近代欧洲凡生活与战斗 条件一致者强,凡生活与战斗条件不一致者弱。”我就是藉由这个来说明研究生的生活,你的生活条件与你的战斗条件要一致,你的生活是跟着老师与同学共同成长 的,当中你所听到的每一句话,都可能带给你无限的启发。


回想当时我在美国念书的研究生生活,只要随便在楼梯口碰到任何一个人,他都有办法帮忙解答你语言上的困难,不管是英文、拉丁文、德文、希腊文 …… 所以能帮助解决问题的不单只是你的老师,还包括所有同学以及学习团体。你的学习是跟生活合在一起的。当我看到有学生呈现被动或是懈怠的时候,我就会用毛泽东的“革命不是请客吃饭!”来跟他讲:“作研究生不是请客吃饭。”

(二)藉由大量阅读和老师提点,进入研究领域


怎 样进入一个领域最好,我个人觉得只有两条路,其中一条就是让他不停地念书、不停地报告,这是进入一个陌生的领域最快,又最方便的方法,到最后不知不觉学生 就会知道这个领域有些什么,我们在不停念书的时候常常可能会沉溺在细节里不能自拔,进而失去全景,导致见树不见林,或是被那几句英文困住,而忘记全局在讲 什么。藉由学生的报告,老师可以讲述或是厘清其中的精华内容,经由老师几句提点,就会慢慢打通任督二脉,逐渐发展一种自发学习的能力,同时也知道碰到问题 可以看哪些东西。就像是我在美国念书的时候,我修过一些我完全没有背景知识的国家历史,所以我就不停地念书、不停督促自己吸收,而老师也只是不停地开书 目,运用这样的方式慢慢训练,有一天我不再研究它时,我发现自己仍然有自我生产及蓄发的能力,因为我知道这个学问大概是什么样的轮廓,碰到问题也有能力可 以去查询相关的资料。所以努力让自己的学习产生自发的延展性是很重要的。


(三)循序渐进地练习论文写作


到 了硕士或博士最重要的一件事,是完成一篇学位论文,而不管是硕士或博士论文,其规模都远比你从小学以来所受的教育、所要写的东西都还要长得多,虽然我不知 道教育方面的论文情况是如何,但是史学的论文都要写二、三十万字,不然就是十几二十万字。写这么大的一个篇幅,如何才能有条不紊、条理清楚,并把整体架构 组织得通畅可读?首先,必须要从一千字、五千字、一万字循序渐进的训练,先从少的慢慢写成多的,而且要在很短的时间内训练到可以从一万字写到十万字。这么 大规模的论文谁都写得出来,问题是写得好不好,因为这么大规模的写作,有这么许多的脚注,还要注意首尾相映,使论述一体成型,而不是散落一地的铜钱;是一 间大礼堂,而不是一间小小分割的阁楼。为了完成一个大的、完整的、有机的架构模型,必须要从小规模的篇幅慢慢练习,这是一个最有效的办法。


因 为受计算机的影响,我发现很多学生写文章能力都大幅下降。写论文时很重要的一点是,文笔一定要清楚,不要花俏、不必漂亮,“清楚”是最高指导原则,经过慢 慢练习会使你的文笔跟思考产生一致的连贯性。我常跟学生讲不必写的花俏,不必展现你散文的才能,因为这是学术论文,所以关键在于要写得非常清楚,如果有好 的文笔当然更棒,但那是可遇不可求的,文彩像个人的生命一样,英文叫 style style 本身就像个人一样带有一点点天生。因此最重要的还是把内容陈述清楚,从一万字到最后十万字的东西,都要架构井然、论述清楚、文笔清晰。


我在念书的时候,有一位欧洲史、英国史的大师 Lawrence Stone , 他目前已经过世了,曾经有一本书访问十位最了不起的史学家,我记得他在访问中说了一句非常吸引人注意的话,他说他英文文笔相当好,所以他一辈子没有被退过 稿。因此文笔清楚或是文笔好,对于将来文章可被接受的程度有举足轻重的地位。内容非常重要,有好的表达工具更是具有加分的作用,但是这里不是讲究漂亮的 style ,而是论述清楚。

  三、研究生如何训练自己


(一)尝试接受挑战,勇于克服


研 究生如何训练自己?就是每天、每周或每个月给自己一个挑战,要每隔一段时间就给自己一个挑战,挑战一个你做不到的东西,你不一定要求自己每次都能顺利克服 那个挑战,但是要努力去尝试。我在我求学的生涯中,碰到太多聪明但却一无所成的人,因为他们很容易困在自己的障碍里面,举例来说,我在普林斯顿大学碰到一 个很聪明的人,他就是没办法克服他给自己的挑战,他就总是东看西看,虽然我也有这个毛病,可是我会定期给我自己一个挑战,例如:我会告诉自己,在某一个期 限内,无论如何一定要把这三行字改掉,或是这个礼拜一定要把这篇草稿写完,虽然我仍然常常写不完,但是有这个挑战跟没这个挑战是不一样的,因为我挑战三次 总会完成一次,完成一次就够了,就足以表示克服了自己,如果觉得每一个礼拜的挑战,可行性太低,可以把时间延长为一个月的挑战,去挑战原来的你,不一定能 做到的事情。不过也要切记,硕士生是刚开始进入这一个领域的新手,如果一开始问题太小,或是问题大到不能控制,都会造成以后研究的困难。


(二)论文的写作是个训练过程,不能苛求完成精典之作


各 位要记得我以前的老师所说的一句话:“硕士跟博士是一个训练的过程,硕士跟博士不是写经典之作的过程。”我看过很多人,包括我的亲戚朋友们,他之所以没有 办法好好地完成硕士论文,或是博士论文,就是因为他把它当成在写经典之作的过程,虽然事实上,很多人一生最好的作品就是硕士论文或博士论文,因为之后的时 间很难再有三年或六年的时间,沉浸在一个主题里反复的耕耘,当你做教授的时候,像我今天被行政缠身,你不再有充裕的时间好好探究一个问题,尤其做教授还要 指导学生、上课,因此非常的忙碌,所以他一生最集中又精华的时间,当然就是他写博士、或是硕士论文的时候,而那一本成为他一生中最重要的著作也就一点都不 奇怪了。


不 一定要刻意强求,要有这是一个训练过程的信念,应该清楚知道从哪里开始,也要知道从哪里放手,不要无限的追下去。当然我不是否认这个过程的重要性,只是要 调整自己的心态,把论文的完成当成一个目标,不要成为是一种的心理障碍或是心理负担。这方面有太多的例子了,我在普林斯顿大学念书的时候,那边旧书摊有一 位非常博学多文的旧书店老板,我常常赞叹地对他说:“你为什么不要在大学做教授。”他说:“因为那篇博士论文没有写完。”原因在于他把那个博士论文当成要 写一本经典,那当然永远写不完。如果真能写成经典那是最好,就像美丽新境界那部电影的男主角 John Nash 一 样,一生最大的贡献就是博士那二十几页的论文,不过切记不要把那个当作是目标,因为那是自然而然形成的,应该要坚定的告诉自己,所要完成的是一份结构严 谨、论述清楚与言之有物的论文,不要一开始就期待它是经典之作。如果你期待它是经典之作,你可能会变成我所看到的那位旧书摊的老板,至于我为什么知道他有 那么多学问,是因为那时候我在找一本书,但它并没有在旧书店里面,不过他告诉我:“还有很多本都跟他不相上下。”后来我对那个领域稍稍懂了之后,证明确实 如他所建议的那般。一个旧书店的老板精熟每一本书,可是他就是永远无法完成,他梦幻般的学位论文,因为他不知道要在哪里放手,这一切都只成为空谈。

(三)论文的正式写作


1.
学习有所取舍


到 了写论文的时候,要能取也要能舍,因为现在信息爆炸,可以看的书太多,所以一定要建构一个属于自己的知识树,首先,要有一棵自己的知识树,才能在那棵树挂 相关的东西,但千万不要不断的挂不相关的东西,而且要慢慢的舍掉一些挂不上去的东西,再随着你的问题跟关心的领域,让这棵知识树有主干和枝叶。然而这棵知 识树要如何形成?第一步你必须对所关心的领域中,有用的书籍或是数据非常熟悉。


2.
形成你的知识树


我 昨天还请教林毓生院士,他今年已经七十几岁了,我告诉他我今天要来作演讲,就问他:“你如果讲这个题目你要怎么讲?”他说:“只有一点,就是那重要的五、 六本书要读好几遍。”因为林毓生先生是海耶克,还有几位近代思想大师在芝加哥大学的学生,他们受的训练中很重要的一部份是精读原典。这句话很有道理,虽然 你不可能只读那几本重要的书,但是那五、六本书将逐渐形成你知识树的主干,此后的东西要挂在上面,都可以参照这一个架构,然后把不相干的东西暂放一边。生 也有涯,知也无涯,你不可能读遍天下所有的好书,所以要学习取舍,了解自己无法看遍所有有兴趣的书,而且一但看遍所有有兴趣的书,很可能就会落得普林斯顿 街上的那位旧书店的老板一般,因为阅读太多不是自己所关心的领域的知识,它对于你来说只是一地的散钱。


3.
掌握工具


在这个阶段一定要掌握语文与合适的工具。要有一个外语可以非常流畅的阅读,要有另外一个语文至少可以看得懂文章的标题,能学更多当然更好,但是至少要有一个语文,不管是英文、日文、法文 ……, 一定要有一个语文能够非常流畅的阅读相关书籍,这是起码的前提。一旦这个工具没有了,你的视野就会因此大受限制,因为语文就如同是一扇天窗,没有这个天窗 你这房间就封闭住了。为什么你要看得懂标题?因为这样才不会有重要的文章而你不知道,如果你连标题都看不懂,你就不知道如何找人来帮你或是自己查相关的数 据。其它的工具,不管是统计或是其它的任何工具,你也一定要多掌握,因为你将来没有时间再把这样的工具学会。


4.
突破学科间的界线


应 该要把跨学科的学习当作是一件很重要的事,但是跨学科涉及到的东西必须要对你这棵知识树有帮助,要学会到别的领域稍微偷打几枪,到别的领域去摄取一些概 念,对于本身关心的问题产生另一种不同的启发,可是不要泛滥无所归。为什么要去偷打那几枪?近几十年来,人们发现不管是科学或人文,最有创新的部份是发生 在学科交会的地方。为什么会如此?因为我们现在的所有学科大部分都在西方十九世纪形成的,而中国再把它转借过来。十九世纪形成这些知识学科的划分的时候, 很多都带有那个时代的思想跟学术背景,比如说,中研院的李院长的专长就是物理化学,他之所以得诺贝尔奖就是他在物理和化学的交界处做工作。像诺贝尔经济 奖,这二十年来所颁的奖,如果在传统的经济学奖来看就是旁门走道,古典经济学岂会有这些东西,甚至心理学家也得诺贝尔经济奖,连 John Nash 这位数学家也得诺贝尔经济奖,为什么?因为他们都在学科的交界上,学科跟学科、平台跟平台的交界之处有所突破。在平台本身、在学科原本最核心的地方已经 search 太多次了,因此不一定能有很大的创新,所以为什么跨领域学习是一件很重要的事情。


常 常一篇硕士论文或博士论文最重要、最关键的,是那一个统摄性的重要概念,而通常你在本学科里面抓不到,是因为你已经泡在这个学科里面太久了,你已经拿着手 电筒在这个小仓库里面照来照去照太久了,而忘了还有别的东西可以更好解释你这些材料的现象,不过这些东西可遇而不可求。 John Nash 这 一位数学家为什么会得诺贝尔数学奖?为什么他在赛局理论的博士论文,会在数十年之后得诺贝尔经济奖?因为他在大学时代上经济学导论的课,所以他认为数学可 以用在经济方面来思考,而这个东西在一开始,他也没有想到会有这么大的用处。他是在数学和经济学的知识交界之处做突破。有时候在经济学这一个部分没有大关 系,在数学的这一个部分也没有大关系,不过两个加在一起,火花就会蹦出来。


5.
论文题目要有延展性


对 一个硕士生或博士生来说,如果选错了题目,就是失败,题目选对了,还有百分之七十胜利的机会。这个问题值得研一、博一的学生好好思考。你的第一年其实就是 要花在这上面,你要不断的跟老师商量寻找一个有意义、有延展性的问题,而且不要太难。我在国科会当过人文处长,当我离开的时候,每次就有七千件申请案,就 有一万四千个袋子,就要送给一万四千个教授审查。我当然不可能看那么多,可是我有个重要的任务,就是要看申诉。有些申诉者认为:“我的研究计划很好,我的 著作很好,所以我来申诉。”申诉通过的大概只有百分之十,那么我的责任就是在百分之九十未通过的案子正式判决前,再拿来看一看。有几个印象最深常常被拿出 来讨论的,就是这个题目不必再做了、这个题目本身没有发展性,所以使我更加确认选对一个有意义、有延展性、可控制、可以经营的题目是非常重要的。


我的学生常常选非常难的题目,我说你千万不要这样,因为没有人会仔细去看你研究的困难度,对于难的题目你要花更多的时间阅读史料,才能得到一点点东西;要挤很多东西,才能筛选出一点点内容,所以你最好选择一个难易适中的题目。


我 写过好几本书,我认为我对每一本书的花的心力都是一样,虽然我写任何东西我都不满意,但是在过程中我都绞尽脑汁希望把他写好。目前为止很多人认为我最好的 书,是我二十几岁刚到史语所那一年所写的那本书。我在那本书花的时间并不长,那本书的大部分的稿子,是我和许添明老师同时在当兵的军营里面写的,而且还是 用我以前旧的笔记写的。大陆这些年有许多出版社,反复要求出版我以前的书,尤其是这一本,我说:“不行。”因为我用的是我以前的读书笔记,我怕引文有错 字,因为在军队营区里面随时都要出操、随时就要集合,手边又没有书,怎么可能好好的去核对呢?而如果要我重新校正一遍,又因为引用太多书,实在没有力气校 正。


为 什么举这个例子呢?我后来想一想,那本书之所以比较好,可能是因为那个题目可延展性大,那个题目波澜起伏的可能性大。很多人都认为,我最好的书应该是剑桥 大学出的那一本,不过我认为我最好的书一定是用中文写的,因为这个语文我能掌握,英文我没办法掌握得出神入化。读、写任何语文一定要练习到你能带着三分随 意,那时候你才可以说对于这一个语文完全理解与精熟,如果你还无法达到三分的随意,就表示你还在摸索。
回 到我刚刚讲的,其实每一本书、每一篇论文我都很想把它写好。但是有些东西没办法写好,为什么?因为一开始选择的题目不够好。因此唯有选定题目以后,你的所 有训练跟努力才有价值。我在这里建议大家,选题的工作要尽早做,所选的题目所要处理的材料最好要集中,不要太分散,因为硕士生可能只有三年、博士生可能只 有五年,如果你的材料太不集中,读书或看数据可能就要花掉你大部分的时间,让你没有余力思考。而且这个题目要适合你的性向,如果你不会统计学或讨厌数字, 但却选了一个全都要靠统计的论文,那是不可能做得好。
6.
养成遵照学术格式的写作习惯
另 一个最基本的训练,就是平时不管你写一万字、三万字、五万字都要养成遵照学术规范的习惯,要让他自然天成,就是说你论文的脚注、格式,在一开始进入研究生 的阶段就要培养成为你生命中的一个部份,如果这个习惯没有养成,人家就会觉得这个论文不严谨,之后修改也要花很多时间,因为你的论文规模很大,可能几百 页,如果一开始弄错了,后来再重头改到尾,一定很耗时费力,因此要在一开始就养成习惯,因为我们是在写论文而不是在写散文,哪一个逗点应该在哪里、哪一个 书名号该在哪里、哪一个地方要用引号、哪一个要什么标点符号,都有一定的规定,用中文写还好,用英文有一大堆简称。在 1960 年代***知识还很封闭的时候,有一个人从美国回来就说:“美国有个不得了的情形,因为有一个人非常不得了。有人问他为什么不得了,他说:“因为这个人的作品到处被引用。他的名字就叫 ibid 。所谓 ibid 就是同前作者,这个字是从拉丁文发展出来的,拉丁文有一大堆简称,像 et. al. 就是两人共同编的。英文有一本 The Chicago Manual of Style 就是专门说明这一些写作规范。各位要尽早学会中英文的写作规范,慢慢练习,最后随性下笔,就能写出符合规范的文章。


7.
善用图书馆


图 书馆应该是研究生阶段最重要的地方,不必读每一本书,可是要知道有哪些书。我记得我做学生时,新进的书都会放在图书馆的墙上,而身为学生最重要的事情,就 是要把书名看一看。在某些程度上知道书皮就够了,但是这仍和打计算机是不一样的,你要实际上熟悉一下那本书,摸一下,看一眼目录。我知道现在从计算机就可 以查到书名,可是我还是非常珍惜这种定期去 browse 新到的书的感觉,或去看看相关领域的书 长成什么样子。中研院有一位院士是哈佛大学信息教授,他告诉我他在创造力最高峰的时候,每个礼拜都到他们信息系图书室里,翻阅重要的信息期刊。所以图书馆 应该是身为研究生的人们,最熟悉的地方。不过切记不重要的不要花时间去看,你们生活在信息泛滥的时代,跟我生长在信息贫乏的时代是不同的,所以生长在这一 个时代的你,要能有所取舍。我常常看我的学生引用一些三流的论文,却引得津津有味,我都替他感到难过,因为我强调要读有用、有价值的东西。


8.
留下时间,精致思考


还要记得给自己保留一些思考的时间。一篇论文能不能出神入化、能不能引人入胜,很重要的是在现象之上作概念性的思考,但我不是说一定要走理论的路线,而是提醒大家要在一般的层次再提升两三步, conceptualize 你所看到的东西。真切去了解,你所看到的东西是什么?整体意义是什么?整体的轮廓是什么?千万不要被枝节淹没,虽然枝节是你最重要的开始,但是你一天总也要留一些时间好好思考、慢慢沉淀。 conceptualize 是一种非常难教的东西,我记得我念书时,有位老师信誓旦旦说要开一门课,教学生如何 conceptualize ,可是从来都没开成,因为这非常难教。我要提醒的是,在被很多材料和枝节淹没的时候,要适时跳出来想一想,所看到的东西有哪些意义?这个意义有没有广泛连结到更大层面的知识价值。


傅斯年先生来到***以 后,同时担任中央研究院历史语言研究所的所长及台大的校长。台大有个傅钟每小时钟声有二十一响、敲二十一次。以前有一个人,写了一本书叫《钟声二十一 响》,当时很轰动。他当时对这二十一响解释是说:因为台大的学生都很好,所以二十一响是欢迎国家元首二十一响的礼炮。不久前我发现台大在每一个重要的古迹 下面竖一个铜牌,我仔细看看傅钟下的解释,才知道原来是因为傅斯年当台大校长的时候,曾经说过一句话:“人一天只有二十一个小时,另外三小时是要思考的。所以才叫二十一响。我觉得这句话大有道理,可是我觉得三小时可能太多,因为研究生是非常忙的,但至少每天要留个三十分钟、一小时思考,想一想你看到了什么?学习跳到比你所看到的东西更高一点的层次去思考。


9.
找到学习的楷模


我 刚到美国念书的时候,每次写报告头皮就重的不得了,因为我们的英文报告三、四十页,一个学期有四门课的话就有一百六十页,可是你连脚注都要从头学习。后来 我找到一个好办法,就是我每次要写的时候,把一篇我最喜欢的论文放在旁边,虽然他写的题目跟我写的都没关系,不过我每次都看他如何写,看看他的注脚、读几 行,然后我就开始写。就像最有名的男高音 Pavarotti 唱歌剧的时候都会捏着一条手帕,因为他说:“上舞台就像下地狱,太紧张了。他 为了克服紧张,他有习惯性的动作,就是捏着白手帕。我想当年那一篇论文抽印本就像是我的白手帕一样,能让我开始好好写这篇报告,我学习它里面如何思考、如 何构思、如何照顾全体、如何用英文作脚注。好好的把一位大师的作品读完,开始模仿和学习他,是入门最好的方法,逐步的,你也开始写出自己的东西。我也常常 鼓励我的学生,出国半年或是一年到国外看看。像现在国科会有各式各样的机会,可以增长眼界,可以知道现在的餐馆正在卖些什么菜,回来后自己要作菜也才知道 要如何着手。

四、用两条腿走路,练习培养自己的兴趣


最 后还有一点很重要的,就是我们的人生是两只脚,我们不是靠一只脚走路。做研究生的时代,固然应该把所有的心思都放在学业上,探索你所要探索的那些问题,可 是那只是你的一只脚,另外还有一只脚是要学习培养一、两种兴趣。很多人后来会发现他的右脚特别肥重(包括我自己在内),也就是因为忘了培养左脚。很多很有 名的大学者最后都陷入极度的精神困扰之中,就是因为他只是培养他的右脚,他忘了培养他的左脚,他忘了人生用两只脚走路,他少了一个小小的兴趣或嗜好,用来 好好的调解或是排遣自己。


去年夏天,香港《亚洲周刊》要访问我,我说:“我不想接受访问,我不是重要的人。可是后来他们还是把一个简单的对话刊出来了,里面我只记得讲了一段话:做一个研究生或一个学者,有两个感觉最重要 -- 责 任感与罪恶感。你一定要有很大的责任感,去写出好的东西,如果责任感还不够强,还要有一个罪恶感,你会觉得如果今天没有好好做几个小时的工作的话,会有很 大的罪恶感。除非是了不得的天才,不然即使爱因斯坦也是需要很努力的。很多很了不得的人,他只是把所有的努力集中在一百页里面,他花了一千小时和另外一个 人只花了十个小时,相对于来说,当然是那花一千个小时所写出来的文章较好。所以为什么说要赶快选定题目?因为如果太晚选定一个题目,只有一年的时间可以好 好耕耘那个题目,早点选定可以有二、三年耕耘那个题目,是三年做出的东西好,还是一年的东西好?如果我们的才智都一样的话,将三年的努力与思考都灌在上 面,当然比一年还要好。

五、营造卓越的大学,分享学术的氛围


现在很多人都在讨论,何谓卓越的大学?我认为一个好的大学,学校生活的一大部份,以及校园的许多活动,直接或间接都与学问有关,同学在咖啡厅里面谈论的,直接或间接也都会是学术相关的议题。教授们在餐厅里面吃饭,谈的是“有没有新的发现? 或是哪个人那天演讲到底讲了什么重要的想法?一定是沉浸在这种氛围中的大学,才有可能成为卓越大学。那种交换思想学识、那种互相教育的气氛不是花钱就有办 法获得的。我知道钱固然重要,但不是唯一的东西。一个卓越的大学、一个好的大学、一个好的学习环境,表示里面有一个共同关心的焦点,如果没有的话,这个学 校就不可能成为好的大学。

Monday, November 5, 2007

an article about EE engineers

Salary Survey: They're not rock stars, but EEs earn satisfaction

In the greater scheme of things and for the time being, engineers--especially in North America--have it pretty good, at least according to their replies to the EE Times Annual Salary & Opinion Survey.

Among the findings revealed by the almost 1,600 respondents to this year's questionnaire is that engineers in the United States have median earnings, including benefits, of $108,800, slightly higher than last year's median of $104,300. That compares with European respondents' median of just over $61,000. Japanese engineers reported median earnings of $65,400.

The U.S. engineer's life isn't without its worries. There are deep concerns about job security and the outsourcing of engineering work to lower-cost markets, mainly in Europe and South Asia. But American engineers, with annual compensation nearly 40 percent higher than their closest competitors, have reason to be satisfied. In fact, slightly more than two-thirds (67 percent) of respondents declared themselves content with both career and employer. Only 14 percent expressed the opposite sentiment.

One respondent, Paul Vincent of Cirque Corp., summed up the prevailing sentiment with exceptional eloquence: "I am an engineer. Period," he wrote. "I have always loved the adventure and challenge of creative problem solving, of finding a way to make something work and persuading others to let me do it. . . . Most other careers provide only portions of what I love about engineering."

Among European engineers, 56.8 percent of those answering the questionnaire said their jobs satisfied them, but dissatisfaction was also high, at 27 percent. In Japan, 84.6 percent of engineers responded that they are "satisfied" (26.0 percent) or "somewhat satisfied" (58.6 percent).

The survey samples this year were just under 1,600 in North America, just over 1,900 in Japan, and 164 in Europe.

Salaries up, but not by much

As indicated by the change in total compensation, salary increases across the board in the North American sample were concentrated in the area of 4 percent, which roughly matches the increase in the cost of living. A plurality of respondents, 48.7 percent, got raises between 2 percent and 4 percent. Overall, four of five engineers in both North America and Europe received increases of 6 percent or less. In Europe, more than 65 percent of engineers failed to top 4 percent. Among Japanese respondents, only 37.8 percent reported receiving any increase at all, and 20.2 percent actually sustained pay cuts.

The relative stagnation of salaries for the predominantly U.S. sample in North America reflects a widespread economic anxiety and signals possible trouble. For several years, many engineers in the survey have expressed worry about having to compete with lower-wage engineers overseas, and fear that foreign engineers both in the United States and elsewhere threaten their standard of living--even their livelihood.

The two biggest concerns for American engineers center on foreign competition. The impact of offshore outsourcing was cited as the major concern by 35.4 percent. Combine that with the 16.3 percent who acknowledged their unease about H-1B visa employment levels (special visas for foreign engineers working temporarily in the States), and more than half (51.7 percent) of the respondents are worried about foreign competition.

One engineer, Roger Landon, 61, of DRS Technologies, summarized his frustrations: "We are told we need more H1-B visas because the corporations can't find engineers. [Engineers] are there. CEOs don't want to pay the salaries."

Even more bluntly, Joe Lauinger, 34, an IC design engineer in government service, said, "I think foreign engineers will saturate America's engineer-dependent companies, create their own spin-off companies and connections, saturate the managerial positions . . . and eventually control the industry. Engineer-rich countries will be puppeteers of our industries."

Gender, vacation, stress

The survey also found that electronics engineering remains one of the most male-dominant professions in the world. This year's respondent pool in North America included only 90 women, or 5.7 percent of the total. In Europe, the share was even lower, at 3.1 percent, and in Japan the question was not even asked.

Women today in all types of engineering make up 14 percent of the total, with most in chemical engineering. In comparison, more than 17 percent of partners in law firms are women, and, according to The Boston Globe, more than half of all medical students and 42 percent of hospital interns are women. Among the handful of occupations that underperform engineering in the percentage of female practitioners is truck driving, at 5 percent.

As for vacation time, the survey revealed that a longstanding disparity persists between U.S. and European EEs. Among American poll respondents, 78.3 percent of engineers earned more than three weeks' vacation, but only 53.9 percent took all the time they had earned. In Europe, 95.1 percent of engineers got at least three weeks' vacation, and 78.4 percent used it all.

How well do engineers fare against other professionals?

For many respondents, stress is a subtext of engineers' limited time off. Respondent Shaun McMaster suggested burnout is an occupational hazard: "I simply don't see a lot of engineers in their 50s and 60s. Those I do see are looking for a way out. I still like engineering, but I'm 40 and am already anticipating an early exit from engineering to something less stressful."

Married, with children

One piece of good news is that engineers, compared with the general public, seem to live remarkably stable lives. They are better educated than the average. They tend to stay in the same job and with the same company (an average of seven years, our survey found). Most are married (81.2 percent), and their divorce rate is low (4.1 percent).

"Becoming an engineer and maintaining your technical edge requires lots of work, dedication and time," noted Matthew Burns, a field applications engineer at Avnet Inc. "After many years spent attaining an engineering education and career, it requires diligence and stability to maintain. Most of the engineers I know [apply] this same dedication, diligence and time to maintain stability in their daily lives."

In the same vein, respondent Kenneth Rousseau said, "Engineers seem like inherently conservative people in their personal lives, not particularly welcoming of change. Perhaps it has to do with our creating so much change on the professional side that we abhor change in our personal lives."

Forecasts and technologies

Peeking into the future, 28.3 percent of North American respondents predicted that the next best opportunity for engineers will be "green" or environmental science. At 35.1 percent, this consensus in Europe was substantially stronger.

One U.S. engineer, Michael Bandel, spoke passionately about the need for engineers to incorporate into their work not just a green awareness, but a more expansive vision for society as a whole, which he saw as having been "dumbed down" and far too swayed by superstition. "Engineers have a responsibility to understand and apply their scientific expertise. However, we all have a duty to understand basic civics, economics, history, art, biology, etc.," said Bandel. "This lifelong learning should culminate in ethical views and treatment of our environment, including all life contained therein."

For North Americans, the winner in the "most interesting technology" sweepstakes this year was embedded processors, at 52.2 percent. System-on-chip was close behind, at 46.9 percent. Topping 20 percent on the list were Linux, system-in-package, nanotechnologies and WiMax. In Europe, the big three were embedded processors, at 57.5 percent; system-on-chip, at 47.9 percent; and system-in-package, at 30.8 percent. RFID, 3G wireless and nanotechnologies were tied for fourth, at 28.1 percent.

Respondents also passed less than enthusiastic judgment on a range of relatively new technologies, among which--in both North America and Europe--streaming media (12.6 percent), XML and other scripting languages (11.4 percent), and 3-D packaging (9.8 percent) attracted the least interest.

Respondents agreed heavily with the suggestion that their companies are market-driven; 82.8 percent strongly or somewhat agree. And 83.4 percent feel free to talk back to the boss. Almost 85 percent are satisfied with their careers, but 46 percent said respect for engineers in their companies has dropped in the past five years. More than 57 percent said they feel that the society as a whole has lost respect for engineers.

One engineer, Kevin Cousineau, expressed this ambivalence. "I need to be ready when my American technical/engineering company gives up on America and moves my job overseas," he said. "I would do engineering for the next 30 years if I could. The creativity required to solve complex problems is quite exhilarating."

The bottom line? More than seven in 10 engineers, as measured by the survey, would still recommend engineering to their children.

As Vincent wrote in his essay: "Engineering is like a good song and dance. It requires a lot of coordination--and a lot of failure in practice before the final presentation. The quality of the final product is directly related to the combined talent of the company. It also requires good frequency control, noise reduction and contingency plans, and often improvises when things don't go as planned."

David Benjamin is a freelance writer based in New York.