祝賀竹中百年校慶

李遠哲院長(高中第八屆)

各位親愛的學弟們好：

我是李遠哲。今年是新竹高中百年校慶的大好日子，很榮幸可以跟各位分享我的生命故事。

我出生在日治時代的台灣，上小學時剛好是第二次世界大戰末期。有次一顆炸彈就落在家門外五十公尺處，父親為了安全考量，全家搬到山上。那時開始學習做農事和手工藝，幫媽媽照顧弟妹，扛起做哥哥的責任。二戰結束後返校上課，但我是典型的「好動份子」，因家境清貧，小孩子們只能用木棒和小皮球來打棒球，乒乓球則是在附近的孔廟裡打，常被罵是頑皮的小孩。我曾參加第一屆新竹縣棒球比賽，那時打了全壘打就有雞蛋吃；我也加入乒乓球校隊，六年級參加全省比賽替新竹縣得到冠軍，因為接受嚴格的訓練，常覺得「球拍就像是我身體的一部分，我的血液會流到球拍中，再流回來。」

我在1949年考入新竹中學初中部（相當於現在的國中），因為成績優異，保送直升高中部，所以我在竹中讀了六年書。當時辛志平校長堅持五育並重、自由學風的教育理念，竹中人可說是文武全才。在竹中的我，什麼都好奇，什麼都想學，讀書專注認真，課外活動全心投入，不曾感覺有升學壓力。我喜歡網球、棒球、排球和乒乓球，鉛球也丟得很遠，算是運動健將。我也加入合唱團和管樂隊，在班上也當學藝股長，主導班上同學參加壁報比賽。因為畫畫還不錯，生物老師也指派我畫生物解剖圖，在課堂上使用。

高中的我，其實不是老師眼中「乖乖牌」的學生，當時的我心直口快，看到不公平的現象，就會提出異議，也喜歡用不同於老師的觀點思考問題。高一時考幾何證明題，因為用自己的方法解題，被老師打了零分。後來老師請我在班上同學面前在黑板上再證明一次，結果無誤，老師就在我零分的考卷前加上一個10，變成100分。

高中是思考未來生涯出路的重要階段，我在高一時曾因為健康出了問題在家修養了一個月，這個月對人生、世界與未來做了深刻的探討。改變我以後的生活。當時的我認為除了要活得快樂，更要為人群做出貢獻。一直以來我熱衷實驗，立志成為一位科學家。這份夢想使我更加謙卑，放下個人英雄主義思維，考上台大後，我除了希望能成為優秀的科學家外，還更希望能找到許多志同道合的夥伴，努力合作改造社會。

1986年，赫許巴哈教授、波拉尼教授和我得到諾貝爾化學獎。我與赫許巴哈教授是因為發展「交叉分子束技術」，可廣泛用來研究氣體分子的反應動態。我想和竹中學弟們共勉，個人努力固然重要，我曾在四面無窗的實驗室中，日以繼夜地奮鬥過；然而，成功的獎項背後，有太多曾經幫助過我們的貴人。他們可能是父母、是師長、是夫人或是你身旁的同學們。我始終相信，懂得分享不接受現實、謙卑向學且越挫越勇的人，才真正值得他人尊敬。

從二十世紀到二十一世紀，世界動盪劇變，台灣作為其中一份子也從未停下腳步。每一個時代有每一個時代的問題，不同年代的人有不同的成長故事。我出國後先在加州大學、哈佛大學完成博士學位和博士後研究，再應聘到芝加哥大學擔任教職。芝加哥大學的校訓是：「讓知識累積再累積，以豐富人類的生活。」台灣早期人才外流，有如腦力外流（brain drain），現在則需要更多人回來形成一種人才循環（brain circulation）。長久以來，世界往往以「國家為主體」來相互競爭，但我希望未來能以「地球群體」的共同願景來努力。希望台灣能發展出既深且廣的知識力量，以應付全球化的多元挑戰。

最近五十年來，由於地球上人口暴增，人均消耗的增加，人類正在急速地改變我們的生態環境。我們正在改變我們大氣的成份，隨著二氧化碳與其他溫室氣體濃度的增加，地球表面進來的能量，比放出的能量變得更多，地表溫度也漸漸的暖化。溫度的上升，僅表示地表儲存的能量增加。但我們也該隨著溫度的上升，

大氣層帶給我們的極端氣候，如大颱風、洪水、森林大火等等，已經開始嚴重威脅著人類社會。防堵危機，我們已沒有多少時間了。如果十年之內，我們沒辦法把溫室氣體的排放量減半 （至少40%），人類在地球上的生存將會有嚴重的問題。

面對未來，各位學弟有什麼期許嗎？「在科學研究領域裡，容易妥協放棄的人，一定不會是個優秀的科學家。」學海無涯，學校只是一個小小的起點。在這座美麗的生命花園裡，期許各位同學勇於探索嘗試，有朝一日破繭成蝶，在夢想的天空翩翩飛舞。美好的未來等著你們去闖蕩，但美好的未來是要志同道合的人一起合作打造出來的，讓我們繼續努力為人類社會在地球上的存在能夠長長久久。我們要走出一條跟以前不一樣的路。

National Hsinchu Senior High School’s 100th Anniversary Greeting

◎、Dr. Yuan Tseh Lee

Dearest National Hsinchu Senior High School fellow brothers,

I am Yuan Tseh Lee. This year is National Hsinchu Senior High School’s 100th year anniversary. I am thankful for the opportunity to share my life story with you all.

I was born during the time when Taiwan was under Japanese occupation. When I started elementary school, it was towards the end of World War II. Once, a bomb landed 50 meters from our home door. For our safety, my father relocated our family to the mountains. There, I learned how to do agricultural work and handicrafts, as well as help my mom with caring for my siblings, carrying the weight of an older brother’s responsibility. Once World War II ended, I was able to go back to school, but I was the dubbed as the classic “hyperactive” child. Because my family was not rich, we kids used wooden sticks and a small rubber ball to play baseball. We played ping pong at the nearby Confucian temple, and we were often scolded for being naughty children. The first time I played in the Hsinchu township baseball competition, anyone who hit a homerun was able to eat a chicken egg. I also joined the school’s ping-pong team, and, in sixth grade, I was a member of the team that won the little league championship in Taiwan. We practiced hard. I often felt as if the ping pong paddle was like an extension of my body; my blood would flow into, through, and out of the paddle.

In 1949, I tested into National Hsinchu Senior High School’s junior high division (equivalent to today’s middle school). Due to my strong academic performance, I was automatically able to enter the high school division, so I spent a total of six years at National Hsinchu Senior High School. During this period, I was greatly influenced by our Principal Chih-ping Hsin, who championed the balance of five education virtues: moral, intellectual, physical, social, and artistic development. He supported freedom of thought; his vision was that the students of National Hsinchu Senior High School would be well-rounded and receive a holistic education. The National Hsinchu Senior High School version of me was curious about everything. I wanted to learn everything, I dove into reading, and I poured myself into extracurricular activities, not feeling tied down by academics. I liked playing tennis, baseball, volleyball, and ping-pong. I also was able to throw the shot put a good distance -- I guess you could have called me an athlete. I also participated in the chorus and symphonic band. In addition, in my class I was the head of the academic arts and organized a poster competition for my classmates. Because my drawings were fairly good, the biology teacher also had me draw an anatomy poster, which was used in class.

The high school version of me was not a goody two-shoes student. At the time, I was quite outspoken, and when I witnessed a situation that I thought was unjust, I was quick to point it out. I also liked to use perspectives different from my teachers to analyze problems. In 10th grade, I used my own method to solve a geometric proof and received a zero from my teacher. Later on, the teacher asked me to come to the front of the classroom and to solve the proof on the blackboard in front of my peers. In the end, there were no errors to my method so the teacher added a 10 in front of my zero, changing my grade from a zero to 100.

High school is a critical time to think about and launch your future. In 10th grade, due to a health issue, I spent a month at home for recovery. This month impacted my life and my view of the world, and, with time to think deeply, the period changed my future self. At that time, I thought that apart from my own happiness, it was more important to contribute to society. All the time, I was keen on research and determined to become an academic. This dream humbled me and helped me to put down my individual heroic thoughts. Once I was admitted into National Taiwan University, aside from hoping to become an excellent academic, what I wanted most was to find like-minded partners with whom I could work hard to change society.

In 1986, Professor Herschbach, Professor Polanyi, and I were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It was with Professor Herschbach that we further developed the “crossed molecular beam technique” so that it could be used to research the detailed observation of molecules during chemical reactions. (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yuan-T-Lee)

I would like to share some mutual encouragement with my National Hsinchu Senior High School fellow brothers. An individual’s hard work is very important; I worked in a windowless laboratory struggling from morning to night. However, behind every accomplishment or award, there are many people who have helped us along the way. They may be our parents, teachers, spouses or the classmates next to you. I truly believe that those who are worthy of our respect are those who understand what it means to share and who are not satisfied with the status quo, but humbly seek to learn and gain more courage.

From the 20th to 21st century, the world has changed dramatically, and Taiwan – as a part of the world – has not paused a beat either. Each generation has its own set of problems; different generations have different coming-of-age stories. When I first left Taiwan, I went to UC Berkeley to complete my Ph.D. and to Harvard University for my postdoctoral degree. Later, I taught at the University of Chicago. The University of Chicago’s motto is: “Let knowledge increase so that life may be enriched.” Early on, Taiwan experienced a “brain drain”, with many leaving the country, and now we need more people to return to create a “brain circulation”. For a long time, the world functioned with a “nation first” mentality in competing against one another. But I hope that in the future it can be the “world team” mentality so that countries can cooperate together. I hope that Taiwan can develop a depth and breadth of knowledge and power to help deal with the many global challenges we face.

In the past 50 years, especially with the global population boom and increased consumption per capita, humanity has quickly changed our living environment. Our lifestyles are changing the atmospheric elements. With the rise in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, more energy is entering into the earth than leaving, and thus the earth’s temperature is incrementally increasing. Scientifically, when the temperature rises, it means that more energy is stored at the surface. But we need to realize that the increase in temperature means that the atmosphere is impacting our livelihoods, bringing extreme weather, such as large typhoons, floods, forest fires and more. We are already starting to see the serious detrimental impacts to human society. We do not have much more time to fight this battle. If over the next decade we are not able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a half (or at least by 40%), then human life on this earth will be severely threatened.

My fellow school brothers, what dreams for the future do you hold? (In the science field, those that compromise or give up easily will definitely not be excellent researchers.) For lifelong learning, school is just a small starting point. In this beautiful garden of life, I hope that you will dare to explore and try new things, so that you will one day break out of the cocoon and become a butterfly, and flutter into the sky of your dreams. A promising future awaits those who attempt to carve a new path. But remember that a promising future requires like-minded people with whom we cooperate to build it. Let us continue to work hard on earth for human society, so that we can lengthen humanity’s existence. To do this, we need to take a path different than the one we took in the past.