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RESEARCH SUMMARY ON
THE 70TH BIRTHDAY
On
occasion of my 70th birthday in october 2007, and as a response to inquiries
about research
results, thoughts and feelings, both professional and personal, I wished to
present the following short summary based on a few relevant excerpts from The
Ecclesiastes. Under the subsequent years I did complete
this text with some pertinent additions that, however, were later gathered
into a more comprehensive Research
Summary on the 75th Birthday. It can
also work as a handbook for professors emeriti in general,
and as a guide for progressive closing of life's balance-sheet:
"What has happened
will happen again, and what has been done will be done again, and there is
nothing new under the sun...The men of old are not remembered, and those who
follow will not be remembered by those who follow them..."(1:9, 11)
"So I applied my
mind to understand wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly, and I came to see
that this too is chasing the wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and the
more a man knows, the more he has to suffer..."(1:17)
"Yes, indeed, I
got pleasure from all my labour, and for all my labour this was my reward. Then
I turned and reviewed all my handiwork, all my labour and toil, and I saw that
everything was emptiness and chasing the wind, of no profit under the
sun..."(2:10)
"What sort of man
will he be who succeeds me, who inherits what others have acquired? Who knows
whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be the master of all the
fruits of my labour and skill here under the sun. This too is emptiness." (2:18)
"One
more thing I have observed here under the sun: speed does not win the race
nor strength the
battle. Bread does not belong to the wise, nor wealth to the intelligent, nor
success to the skilful; time and chance govern all..."(9:11)
"One further
warning, my son: the use of books is endless, and much study is
wearisome."(12:12)
Always
welcome with
your thoughts and comments!
Kristo
Ivanov
http://www.informatik.umu.se/~kivanov/