As an example of a mind set that Dr. Bacon had recognized, ‘engineering economics”, really nothing more than
bringing algabraic formulas to life in an engineering mode, again was a breeze. My A was the only one I ever
received without real effort. Why? No memory required, for the origin of the given principles, routinely
memorized by the business major, was in my full view.
So, this is a good time to back up in search of first principles. My own experience when taking the Hydraulics
final is poignantly illustrative. Dr. Hedburg was probably the most disciplined and demanding, almost humorless,
of my mentors. Hydraulics and mastery of the Bernoulli’s equations was just as demanding. Somehow, though, a
little heredity must have come into play, I found myself completely at home with “flow”. In this case it was
water, but it might just as well have been air, as with aeronautical engineering.
Finals! I received my ten questions, and then looked around at the 100 or so classmates, wondering what
their reactions were. I was shocked by my inability to recognize anything familiar. Around me every one
was writing, his slide rule hot with activity. I couldn’t even begin, so complicated were the questions.
I felt panic coming on. “Dr. Hedburg, may I get out of here and go up to the fraternity house and work there? “
“Of course. Get going”.He knew as did I that an open book in an engineering exam is of no use, for a
memorized fact will get you nowhere in engineering.
Up to the House, a cup of chocolate, a little time and, as we all do, I discovered the easiest question
first and somehow finished all 10. I returned to the classroom. I believed I had flunked the course and
there would go my engineering hopes.
A few days later, I retrieved my bluebook to find an A on it. I went to Dr. Hedburg and said ”Are you sure
that a corrector hasn’t made a big error?”. He said “No, in fact you got the highest grade in the course”.
Astounded, I asked “Please tell me how for I didn’t believe I knew what I was doing”.
“You derived all of the equations”.
Oh, how I wish I had kept that blue book, just to look at it it in later years, understanding less and
less of what I wrote but understanding more and more of its message as my own life of DISCOVERY opened up.
What the message was I believe is just this. That it wasn’t that I couldn’t memorize and had no ability
to mentally photograph. That was in itself true. But it was, quite simply, that my algebraic logically
driven mind required a recognition of the process in its entirety from origin to solution to be understood
and retained. And in that case, memorization played no part because by identifying the problem on each
occasion, the solution would always pop up.
So, my repeated bad dreams of forgetting my lines in the local play were based on false premises.
It took so many years for me to recognize that this not a limitation but is a necessity to DISCOVERY.
So, as I now reflect on my medical life, I recognize the Discoverer that I now know myself to be
And how come? It requires at the least, as in my case, a tinkerer’s mind and an
algebraic train of thought. The lawyer, as well as the usual medical student, is well served by
the trigonometric mind that is satisfied by being able to recall massive numbers of unrelated
facts, useful at that moment. Most physicians thus are immensely benefited by modern technology,
for as their knowledge of diagnosis and treatment is supported by a computerized list that they
can refer too and make checks on, medicine takes on the aura of the cashier in the grocery store
who no longer has to add and subtract as an electronic counter in the hand does everything.
So, what do I see as the hallmarks of the algebraic mind, so early discovered in a school
with its mathematics programs still intact? I pursued this definition of the algebraic
thought process in dictionaries and broader sources, and there seems little doubt that it
is simply a logical and rational thought process.
Occasionally, it exists in happy combination with photographic ability as seen in towering
intellects of such as Edward Tellar who was able to keep both talents integrated. His photo
ability bolstered the algebraic ability to the point of making great contributions.
Next page: Gifts from Inheritance, page 3
Introduction
Gifts from Inheritance
Gifts from Inheritance, page 2
Gifts from Inheritance, page 3
The Open Mind
The Transition..? Metamorphosis.
The Process of Getting There
1947....Discovery #1....A Beginning
Discovery #2 (1947): Thrombophlebitis and Pulmonary Embolism Prevention