Prof. Carlo Rubbia never seemed to stop smiling: before his lecture, during his press conference and during his interview for Forum
During his visit to Charles University, Carlo Rubbia gave Forum the following interview.
For eighteen years you taught at Harvard. The status of university teachers is now a burning issue here, enveloped by many problems. Which three qualities would you personally consider decisive for a good teacher?
C. Rubbia: Above all they must be competent. They should know the art of how to endear themselves to their students. There should be a kind of electric charge which "pulses" between student and teacher - this all requires a considerable level of psychological ability. One of the things which is fundamental in the relationship between the school and the teacher (and I don't think I'm just speaking for myself) is the fact that I simply can't imagine anyone working as a university teacher without themselves doing research. Knowledge is, in short, a dynamic quantity and it changes with time...
How has science marked your philosophy of life?
C. Rubbia: Science is my life, not my philosophy of life... In my opinion, science is a complete immersion in a problem. I've never ceased to think about it - it's an obsession.
You seem like an optimistic person. Don't you ever get pessimistic when you consider all the things that science is capable of doing?
C. Rubbia: No, we simply have to understand the rules of the game. And then we have to come to terms with the fact that only a tiny fraction of the things we do is successful...
How would you assess the quality of Czech science? Has it been more dynamic in recent years?
C. Rubbia: Your country has been going through a whole string of dynamic changes - first a revolution; then, a short while later, you split in two. Your times are a time of enormous change. As regards your science and the people who do it, I think that the internationalisation of your science will grow rapidly, as well as the level of competition between science here and abroad. It is science, far more than business, which is tending towards globalisation; the most important, most significant questions have a world-wide validity. A new discovery can be made in Japan or in Poland, just as easily as in Slovakia, here in your own country, or in America. At the present time, I think you're doing very well for yourselves; your scientists are well connected, they have good contacts with the rest of the world. And then, you are part of a very healthy society. The only problem facing Czech science today is the problem of financial resources. And because the goals of scientific research are very long-term - cancer research, AIDS research, the problems of energy supply - it's important that you don't allow yourselves to be distracted by questions of short-term importance from those that are truly fundamental. To draw up a long-term plan and unravel a significant line of research, that's a problem! Perhaps it seems very easy to make cuts in funding for research, teaching and the education of young people, because the damage isn't immediately apparent, but it will express itself in the future, perhaps after twenty years...
Can you tell us something about your private life?
C. Rubbia: I'm a grandfather by now, that's my most important function ...
How many times have you been in Prague, and do you like it here?
C. Rubbia: This is at least my tenth visit to Prague. Prague is a very civilised and beautiful corner of your country. You know, my upbringing was not so very different from yours; I was born near Trieste, that means within the boundaries of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, and my grandmother was from Graz. My grandfather served in the Austrian navy, and that was actually why he came to Italy, because at that time it belonged to Austria... My upbringing was very similar to that in Prague, Vienna, Salzburg - I actually belong to Central Europe. I feel good here, at home... I would say I like coming to Prague more and more. There were times, you know, when it seemed as if the clocks on the Prague clock towers had stopped moving. But now they're turning again, nicely forward...
Prof. Carlo Rubbia never seemed to stop smiling: before his lecture, during his press conference and during his interview for Forum
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