In 1988, I grew frustrated with my post-doc position at ASU. It seemed to me the research that I was engaged in there lacked any real value, or meaning. Thus, I greeted the chance to work with Dr. Norihiko Fukuta at the University of Utah’s Department of Meteorology (now, Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences) with enthusiasm. Even though he was best known in the field of cloud nucleation and weather modification, there were enough fits between my desire to straddle the line between cloud microphysics and cloud chemistry to make the position appealing.
Of course, it meant I would have to learn a lot about cloud nucleation and weather modification in a hurry. His intent was to hire me for a year, then take a sabbatical leave in Europe, leaving me to run the place. He was intent on rapidly ramping up his weather modification efforts in the meantime.
Dr. Fukuta had a child-like enthusiasm when it came to speaking about science. He was charming and energetic. But one could sense hardness in him – contempt for softness of any sort. I would have to toe the line.
Executives of many sorts tend to have that same kind of contempt Dr. Fukuta displayed – contempt for one’s colleagues; contempt for regulators; contempt for rivals; contempt for politicians; contempt for the general public. In most executives, that contempt generally reveals itself in dark sarcasm. Dr. Fukuta had some sarcasm, but probably because of his Japanese background, his contempt generally expressed itself as straight, simple, unalloyed contempt.
For example, the Japanese scientific and industrial tradition is best known for its exceptional craftsmanship and hard work. Nevertheless, Dr. Fukuta had great contempt for the Japanese because of their passivity, their servile nature and their uncertainty in the face of challenges.
The American scientific and industrial tradition is best known for its willingness to ask hard questions, and its daring. Dr. Fukuta had great contempt for the Americans because of their tolerance for error. As Dr. Fukuta often said, without a trace of irony:
“Americans always say, ‘well, everyone makes mistakes.’ That is the wrong spirit! Look at me! Do I make mistakes? No! I NEVER make mistakes!”
And if Dr. Fukuta had contempt for two of the strongest scientific and industrial traditions on the planet, Europeans, Chinese and others had little chance to win his estimation. The Chinese reverence for age? Dr. Fukuta would have none of it:
“With too many old people, they are just old. Old brains. Nothing more.”
Of course, you can’t hold these attitudes for long without some blowback. Dr. Fukuta won more of his share of contempt in return, generally expressed behind his back. Among some underlings, his nickname was “Dr. F***-you-too-a”. But he never paid attention to that chatter.
I remember one day graduate student Qiu Jiang Lu, Dr. Fukuta, and myself were driving through a thick, wintertime Salt Lake City fog. A passing car was expelling a huge plume of fog from under its engine hood. Apparently the car was overheating. It quickly pulled to the side of the road. We stopped to see if we could help.
Talking to the car’s woman driver, it quickly became evident there was a huge gulf between the way most people think, and the way Dr. Fukuta thought. Paraphrasing the woman:
“I just haven’t had time to pay attention to the car! My boyfriend is thinking of moving back to Iowa, and I just have to keep him here! He’s such a sweetheart!”
Dr. Fukuta replied: “You may have seen us on television. We’re the ‘Fogbusters!’ We intend to clear the entire Salt Lake Valley of fog, using liquid carbon dioxide seeding!”
It was almost like a dialogue of two deaf people….
I remember once Dr. Fukuta made a confession:
“I have –what do you call it? – a hobby,” he said.
A hobby? What could that be? Hard to imagine. I knew he liked to play tennis, but he clearly had something else in mind.
“I like to locate the gas station in town that sells gasoline at the cheapest rate,” he said. He identified a certain gasoline station in the southwestern suburbs of Salt Lake City as having the cheapest gasoline. Indeed, we went there one day, and he was right: the cheapest gasoline in the entire metropolitan area!
(more to come)
No comments:
Post a Comment