Yearbook of Medical Informatics, Table of Contents Yearb Med Inform 2008; 17(01): 103-108DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1638599 Original Article Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart Reflections on Curiosity[a] J. H. van Bemmel 1 Dept of Medical Informatics, Erasmus Medical Center and Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands › Author Affiliations Recommend Article Abstract Full Text PDF Download Keywords KeywordsCuriosity - scientific research - cosmology - perinatal research - ECG - human reasoning References References 1 Quotes can be found, for instance. in: Pais A. Subtle is the Lord. The Science and Life of Albert Einstein. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1982, or Born M. The Born-Einstein Letters 1916-1955. Friendship, Politics and Physics in Uncertain Times. New York: Pelgrave MacMillan Publ; 2005 2 Plato (428 to 347/8 BC) in his θεαιτητος (Theæthetus), 155D: ‘I see, my dear Theætetus, that Theodorus had a true insight into your nature when he said that you were a philosopher, for wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.’. 3 Hubble E. A relation between distance and radial velocity among extra-galactic nebulae. Proc Nat Acad Sci 1929; 15: 168-73. 4 Penzias AA, Wilson RW. Determination of the microwave spectrum of galactic radiation. Astrophys J 1966; 146: 666-9. 5 Hawking S. A Brief History of Time. New York: Bantam Books; 1988 6 The physicist and Nobel Prize winner Philip Anderson wrote on this matter (Science, 177, August 4th, 1972): ‘The more the elementary particle physicists tell us about the nature of the fundamental laws, the less relevance they seem to have to the very real problems of the rest of science. … At each stage entirely new laws, concepts and generalizations are necessary, requiring inspiration and creativity to just a degree as in the previous one. Psychology is not applied biology, nor is biology applied chemistry.’. 7 Horgan J. The End of Science: Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the Twilight of the Scientific Age. Reading MA: Addison Wesley; 1996 8 Committee on the Physics of the Universe National Research Council of the National Academies Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos. Eleven Science Questions for the New Century. Washington DC: National Academies Press; 2003 9 Einstein told his friend, the mathematician and philosopher Maurice Solovine: ‘You find it strange that I consider the comprehensibility of the world as a miracle or an eternal mystery. A priori one should expect a chaotic world which cannot be grasped by the mind in any way. One could expect the world to be subjected to law only to the extent that we order it through our intelligence. Ordering of this kind would be like the alphabetical ordering of the words of a language. By contrast, the kind of order created by Newton’s theory of gravitation, for instance, is wholly different. Even if the axioms of the theory are proposed by man, the success of such a project presupposes a high degree of ordering of the objective world, and this could not be expected a priori. That is the “miracle” which is being constantly re-enforced as our knowledge expands. There lie the weaknesses of positivists and professional atheists who are elated because they feel that they have not only successfully rid the world of gods but “barred the miracles.” Oddly enough, we must be satisfied to acknowledge the “miracle” without there being any legitimate way for us to approach it.’. In: Goldman RN. Einstein’s God— Albert Einstein’s Quest as a Scientist and as a Jew to Replace a Forsaken God. Northvale NJ: Joyce Aronson Inc; 1997: 24. 10 Van Bemmel JH, De Haan J, Veth AFL. Instrumentation for obstetrics and gynecology. In: Medical Engineering. Chicago, IL: Year Book Medical Publishers; 1974: 548-88. 11 Veth AFL, Van Bemmel JH. The role of the placental vascular bed in the fetal response to cord occlusion. In: Longo LD, Reneau DD. eds. Fetal and Newborn Cardiovascular Physiology, Vol. I. Developmental Aspects. NewYork: Garland STPM Press; 1978: 579-614. 12 Van Bemmel JH, Zywietz Chr, Kors JA. Signal analysis for ECG interpretation. Methods Inf Med 1990; 29: 317-29. 13 Van Bemmel JH, Kors JA, van Herpen G. Methodology of the modular ECG analysis system MEANS. Methods Inf Med 1990; 29: 346-53. 14 Willems JL, Abreu-Lima C, Arnaud P, van Bemmel JH. et al. The diagnostic performance of computer programs for the interpretation of electrocardiograms. New Engl J Med 1991; 325: 1767-73. 15 Rose S. The 21st Century Brain. Explaining, Mending and Manipulating the Mind. London, Vintage Books 2006; 207-12.
