Legacy

Robert Kaita, Plasma Physics

Princeton

[Dec 13, 2009] —

There is a tradition among many of us in the teaching profession to compile our academic “genealogies.”

My wife is a music teacher, for example, and many of her colleagues like to claim their pedagogical authority from an unbroken lineage through Schnabel and Czerny, back to the great Beethoven himself. Among scientists, the American Physical Society once sponsored a contest to see how far any of members could trace their advisor “ancestors.”

My Academic Family Tree

Not long ago, a member of the Faculty Commons staff encouraged me to compile my own academic “family tree.” I was reluctant at first, since I thought it would be little more than an ego-building exercise, but the results were pretty interesting.

After a very kind administrative assistant looked into some old records, it turned out that one of my advisor “ancestors” received a doctorate at Cambridge under Ernest Rutherford, who in turn had studied under J. J. Thomson. A few “generations” earlier, you find a certain Adam Sedgwick who had a fellow named Charles Darwin as one of his advisees.

The definition of “thesis advisor” loses its modern connotations if you go back as far as Darwin, as does physics as a distinct discipline. Still, the link to this famous natural philosopher did give me pause. I could have indeed become very prideful of my distinguished genealogy, and ended it there.

Implications Of The Tree

Instead, I began to think about implications of the “family tree” itself. Adam Sedgwick was a very distinguished scientist in his own right. He was unknown to me, however, until I started this “genealogical” exercise, and the same might be true for most readers of this essay.

It would be safe to say, on the other hand, that nearly everyone has heard of Darwin, and all physical scientists know who Thomson and Rutherford are. As brilliant as Sedgwick was, it would be very hard to believe that he had any inkling of what a tremendous impact his “descendants” would have, down to the present day.

What are the implications for us? I’m sure many of us have heard sermons on similar perspectives when it comes to the genealogies we find in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Did Rahab, the mother of Boaz, or Ruth, the mother of Obed, have any idea that they would be ancestors of our Lord? While we have an intellectual understanding of the answer to this rhetorical question, we need to ask if we truly appreciate what it means to us individually.

This is where formulating our own academic “genealogy” could help. Many scholars have pointed out that their accomplishments were possible because they “stood on the shoulders of giants.” Believer and non-believer alike can benefit from such a humbling reminder of the intellectual legacy we are expected to pass on to future “academic” generations.

Our Spiritual Legacy

Christians should also acknowledge that we have an obligation for our spiritual legacy. We are to recognize the giants whose shoulders are supporting us, but we must also remember those we are lifting up in turn. Christ provides an example for us.

When the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, many called Him “Teacher” out of respect for His knowledge and wisdom. They saw Him wash the feet of His disciples as well. We should have a similar mindset toward those in our institutions who we are entrusted to “shoulder.”

Merry Christmas and have a blessed New Year.

This MMM may be copied or forwarded in its entirety for personal ministry purposes by including:

© 2009   Robert Kaita    Used by Permission of Faculty Commons

A Canadian Christmas Connection

Warren T. Jones, Sr.
Professor Emeritus, Computer and Information Sciences,
University of Alabama at Birmingham

[December 6, 2009] —

How is Christmas treated (or mistreated) on campus? I thought about this recently while my wife Bobbie and I were touring the maritime provinces of Canada. It was one of those memorable bus tours with a wonderful native guide who loved to tell local stories as we enjoyed the passing coastal scenery.

Our guide recounted  the events of December 6, 1917 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Seven years earlier the city had been the center of recovery and retrieval efforts for the Titanic. Now warships ladened with troops and supplies frequented the harbor.

That Fateful Morning

On that fateful morning two ships, the Norwegian Imo and the French S.S. Mont-Blanc, collided in an area of the harbor called “The Narrows.”  The S. S. Mont-Blanc was carrying 2,600 tons of military explosives; when it finally exploded, it destroyed nearly everything within two square kilometers –  the largest man-made explosion before the atomic era.

Communication with the outside world was difficult. More than 2000 people were killed; another 9000 were injured. The city of Boston responded first, and immediately sent a train with doctors, nurses and medical supplies. As the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic explains, “the continuing generosity of Massachusetts was unforgettable.”

As an expression of gratitude soon after marking the 50th anniversary of that event, the city of Halifax began sending the city of Boston a beautiful, 50-foot Christmas tree. It is delivered by the Province of Nova Scotia and erected in the Boston’s Prudential Plaza.

Four years ago Boston acknowledged the annual gift  by thanking the Canadians for their “Holiday Tree.” The city of Halifax promptly responded that the gift was a “Christmas Tree” and if it could not be acknowledged as such, Boston could return it.  The Nova Scotian logger who felled the tree said that if he had known it would be called a “Holiday Tree,” he would have fed it straight into a wood chipper. After much discussion, Boston officials acknowledged the tree as the “Christmas Tree.”

The True Meaning

We can all admire our Canadian neighbors for their stand on maintaining the focus on the true meaning of the Christmas season, but the real “take away” from this story for me was to reflect on the need for all of us individually to find ways to build pointers to the real meaning of Christmas each year.

A number of years ago when the Chinese and Indian student population dominated our university’s computer science graduate program, we invited international students to attend our church’s annual Christmas Festival with us.

The evening began with the organization of a car caravan from the campus to the church with group photographs at the front of the church, and ended with refreshments at our house. The Gospel message has always been a part of the Festival at our church, so everyone had an opportunity to understand why we, along with those Nova Scotians, will always call it “The Christmas Tree.”

©Warren T. Jones, Sr.