Newsletter No. 107

Wei Lun Lecture Physicist Explains Magnetism P rof. Daniel C. Mattis, professor of physics at the University of Utah, de l i v e r ed a We i L un lecture on 'Magnetism, from Compass to High- Temperature Superconductivity' on 9th Ap r il in the Lady Shaw Building. Prof. Mattis is a world-class physicist who is w e l l - k n o wn f or his contributions to theoretical many-body physics. He is among the best few active physicists in the world working on exactly solvable problems. More recently, he has been i n v o l v ed in understanding the nature of magnetism and high-temperature superconducting materials. In the lecture, Prof. Mattis recounted the historical attempts to explain the phenomenon of ferromagnetism and paramagnetism, from pre-historic times up to the purely theoretical discovery of antiferromagnetism and the discovery of the Meissner effect in superconductivity. He then focused on the paradigm shift which occurred when a serious search for the root causes of spontaneous magnetic phenomena was undertaken in this century. Prof. Mattis sketched out, in lay people's terms, the evolution of the way theoretical physicists have been conditioned to think about all these perplexing topics. Theories of Translation Draw Them Together L inguists, professional translators, members of the Official Languages Agency, teachers, and students gathered at the Lecture Theatre of Shaw College on 9th April to listen to lectures given by three world-renowned translation scholars — Dr. Eugene A. Nida, Prof. Peter Newmark, and Prof. Wo l f r am Wilss. After welcoming speeches by Prof. Arthur K. C. Li, vice-chancellor, Prof. Yeung Yue-man, head of Shaw College, and Prof. Serena Jin, head of the Department of Translation, the lectures began with Prof. Peter Newmark from the University of Surrey speaking on 'Why Translation Theory? What Translation Theory?'. He was followed by Prof. Eugene A. Nida of the United Bible Society in the US, with Theories of Translation', and Prof. Wolfram Wilss f r om the University of Saarland, Germany, w i th 'Context, Culture, Comp e n s a t i o n: Three Basic Orientations of Translation'. A forum was conducted in the afternoon with the three scholars as panelists. It was well-attended by teaching s t a ff from local tertiary institutions which offer programmes in translation. The discussants included Prof. Evangeline Almberg from The Chinese University, Dr. Leo Chan Tak-hung from Lingnan College, Dr. Simon Chau Siu-cheong from Baptist University, Prof. John M i n f o r d f r om the Hong Ko ng Polytechnic University, Dr. Sin King- k u i f r om C i ty Un i ve r s i t y, and Ms Diana Yu from the University of Hong Kong. Distinguished Chinese Nuclear Physicist Lectures on Energy Resources W orld-renowned nuclear physicist, Prof. Wang Ganchang, delivered a lecture entitled 'The Prospects for Energy Resources in the 21st Century' on 18th April at the Hang Seng Bank Building in Central. The lecture was organized by the University under the auspices of the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation. Prof. Wang spoke on the use and shortfall of fossil fuel and the latest developments in the use of nuclear energy, with special reference to China. He also elaborated on one of his major achievements in nuclear energy research, namely, inertial confinement. Prof. Wang contributed significantly to the design and manufacture of China's first atomic bomb in 1964, and the first hydrogen bomb in 1967. In 1964, he proposed that intense laser irradiation could produce neutrons from deuterium and tritium, which has since been demonstrated experimentally and is pivotal in the development of laser-induced fusion using inertial confinement. Prof. Wang was vice- minister of nuclear industry, director of the Institute of Atomic Energy, and a member of the Standing Committee of the Third to the Sixth National People's Congress of China. He is currently a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, honorary director of the Institute of Atomic Energy, and adviser to the China National Nuclear Corporation. He was also the recipient of the first Ho Leung Ho Lee Award in 1994. The Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation was established primarily for awarding prizes annually to distinguished Chinese scholars from mainland China. It is funded by donations from the S.H. Ho Foundation Ltd., Dr. Leung Kau-kui, Dr. Ho Tim, and the Wei Lun Foundation Ltd. (established by Sir Q.W. Lee). Health-Care Workers Alerted of Risks in Decision Making Prof. Jonathan Samet O ver 300 scholars and professionals attended a symposium on 'Information on Risks in Public Health Dec i s i on -Mak i ng' j o i n t ly organized by Chung Chi College and the Department of Commun i ty and Family Medicine on 12th April. Discussion topics covered risks in public health decision- making, evidence-based health care and policy, respiratory diseases and their control, and common problems in ageing and strategies for control. The use of techniques such as risk assessment methods for health protection and their application in health care policies were also explored. Keynote speaker Prof. Jonathan Samet of The Johns Hopkins University delivered two speeches: 'Estimating Risks: Implications for Decision- and Policy-Making' and 'Occupational Lung Diseases: Risk Assessment and Control'. Panelists of the symposium included Prof. S. H. Lee, professor of community and family medicine; Prof. Jean Woo, professor of medicine; Dr. Dickson Chang, deputy director of operations of the Hospital Authority; Dr. P. Y. Lam, deputy director of the Health Department; and Prof. Richard Hsieh from the School of Hygiene and Public Health of The Johns Hopkins University.