Words of Wisdom — June 14, 2014

Van Gogh on Greatness

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh

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A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”

– Vincent Van Gogh

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Image with a split view: the left half shows a black-and-white image of Earth, the right half depicts a grayscale crowd scene. Text overlay: "More Humans Are Better," with the number "3" in the top right corner.

The Present

The overlooked virtues of a crowded world

In a world of rising cynicism, a celebration of our capacity to create, adapt, and thrive.

A worker in a hard hat and safety vest adjusts equipment in a facility alongside large red machinery labeled "Jefferson Lab." The scene fades into concentric circles, as if drawn by the powerful collider, leading to a bright light.

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Could we build a collider bigger than Earth?

The largest particle accelerator and collider ever built is the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Why not go much, much bigger?

A man holding a transparent rectangular object up to his eyes, reminiscent of the analytical gaze of Robert and Frank Oppenheimer.

The Past

The atomic bomb, exile and a test of brotherly bonds: Robert and Frank Oppenheimer

A rift in thinking about who should control powerful new technologies sent the brothers on diverging paths. For one, the story ended with a mission to bring science to the public.

An image of the future of US astronomy with a large telescope inside a building.

Starts With A Bang

The future of US astronomy just dimmed by half

Ground-based facilities enable the greatest scientific production in all of astronomy. The NSF needs to be ambitious, and it’s now or never.

An image of a yellow and purple wave with an unclear origin.

Starts With A Bang

The surprising origins of wave-particle duality

Everything acts like a wave while it propagates, but behaves like a particle whenever it interacts. The origins of this duality go way back.

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