that instinctively said, 'THIS is rare'!
And, equally fascinating? Was my
gut telling me this candidate will
become The ADESTE Laureate
2010!
Over the course of each year, we are
reminded through the Nominees of
The ADESTE Gold Medal just how
many wonderful people are doing
amazing things from corner to corner
in this chaotic world. We, too, are
reminded that the most important
aspect, the heart of ADESTE is
to discover Unsung Heroes who
"outperform" in a globe of billions.
So many Nominees are submitted
within our five categories of
Humanities, Social Justice,
Technology, Arts and Medicine
and this year became a point of
intensification for ADESTE - the
reason being: the world is in chaos.
Many, many variables came into play.
Yet, for the first time in ADESTE's
history, the 21 World Voting
Members of ADESTE unanimously
chose the Nominee who, more
than at any time in the past, was
a candidate from a category that
is particularly timely: the field of
medicine. An inventive genius
whose creative gift would push the
surgical field of medicine into dreams
of reality that youth, as little kids,
would sit and dream of.
And
the Laureate indeed, became
Joseph Teran - that 33-year-old
who rose above phenomenal plights,
seeing the future before it arrived!
Joseph is a University of California at
Los Angeles mathematician devoted
to making virtual surgery a reality.
A surgeon accidently kills a patient,
undoes the error and starts over
again. Can mathematics make such
science fiction a reality? There's no
question about it says Joseph, surgical
simulation is coming. It's a cheaper
alternative to cadavers and a safer
alternative to patients: the global
advantages? Saving lives!
Imagine!
You are a surgeon
practicing on your digital double - a
virtual you - before performing the
actual surgery on you!
JO LEE: Joseph, here we are, you
having risen beyond the multitudes
of nominations worldwide, a tough
feat! And as strong as my convictions
were that you would be the Gold
Medal Laureate, one never takes for
granted how our 21 World Voting
Members of ADESTE will cast
their vote. By gosh, as Business
2.0 would have said "it's all in that
gut-reaction". My immediate vote?
YOU. What a pleasure!
JOSEPH
TERAN: Thank you
very much, Jo Lee, and the Voting
Members of ADESTE. I am
honored to have been chosen.
JL:
Your passion for mathematics
is fascinatingly described. Can you
explain "I appreciate mathematical
elegance"? I never would have
thought of math as being elegant.
Would this have anything to do
with the idea of visual orientation
(design) vs. linear thought and the
consequences of the predominance of
one over the other?
JT: Mathematics is elegant in its
efficiency in my opinion. The most
complex behaviors can arise from
seemingly simplistic mathematical
descriptions.
JL: So what do you mean when you
say, "I enjoy the necessary analysis
in determining the mathematically
correct behavior". Correct behavior?
A finance mind would definitely find
that 1+1=2. In my business, it could
=7. However, would careful analysis
in your mind rise into another
sphere?
JT: I suppose this would be true of
any discipline lending itself naturally
to mathematical description:
although, obviously this is not always
an easy or natural thing to do, Jo Lee.
JL: Joseph, can you then tell me how
math will tell you how the world is?
JT:
Physics can be used to
accurately predict many everyday
phenomena. The language of physics
is mathematics.
