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Stanford Engineering Hero Martin Hellman Lecture: The Wisdom of Foolishness
Engineering Hero Martin Hellman talks about "The Wisdom of Foolishness" and how it led him (and two colleagues) to create public key cryptography in the 1970s and several other major life accomplishments.
http://nuclearrisk.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/the-wisdom-of-foolishness-2/
The Wisdom of Foolishness
Posted on March 2, 2013 by Nuclear Risk
Recently I was named as one of Stanford University’s Engineering Heroes. With only 23 people inducted thus far, it was an honor to be includied with Hewlett, Packard and others of similar stature. As part of the induction process, I gave a talk on “The Wisdom of Foolishness” and, while it is more general than this blog, it provides a subtler way to introduce new people to the issue. If you’d like to watch it or suggest it to friends, it’s on Stanford’s YouTube channel.
If anyone tells you that you’re engaged in a fool’s errand by trying to reduce the risk of a nuclear disaster, this talk explains why you can take that as a compliment. Some of the most profound advances of recent decades were initially derided as foolish.
In the talk I also note that two out of the seven people inducted this year have made reducing the risk posed by nuclear weapons their life’s work – the other being former Secretary of Defense William Perry. Maybe that is telling us something!
Martin Hellman
The Wisdom of Foolishness
Posted on March 2, 2013 by Nuclear Risk
Recently I was named as one of Stanford University’s Engineering Heroes. With only 23 people inducted thus far, it was an honor to be includied with Hewlett, Packard and others of similar stature. As part of the induction process, I gave a talk on “The Wisdom of Foolishness” and, while it is more general than this blog, it provides a subtler way to introduce new people to the issue. If you’d like to watch it or suggest it to friends, it’s on Stanford’s YouTube channel.
If anyone tells you that you’re engaged in a fool’s errand by trying to reduce the risk of a nuclear disaster, this talk explains why you can take that as a compliment. Some of the most profound advances of recent decades were initially derided as foolish.
In the talk I also note that two out of the seven people inducted this year have made reducing the risk posed by nuclear weapons their life’s work – the other being former Secretary of Defense William Perry. Maybe that is telling us something!
Martin Hellman
