What about Dr. Jacobs [sic-rare apostrophe violation] award?
Dr. J., Klein Gilhousen, Roberto Padovani, and Dr. Viterbi jointly invented something truly momentous. In the process, they tweaked the noses and picked the pockets of the Nordic Hagfish Guild all while fattening our bank accounts.
All of them, not just Dr. J., who is simply the public face of the QCOM machine, deserve public applause, recognition, medals, ribbons, prizes, and accolades.
I think Cobalt Blue should volunteer to peel grapes and hand feed them to every one of those talented fellows while they repose on 3 ft. thick goose-down beds on a gorgeous day at the beach in, say, Kauai or Santa Barbara.
It's not the form of the public recognition that matters, but its semiotics. Something that signifies a hearty "well-done" should be made a part of our national and indeed international scientific and technological legacy.
We need to stop and hail the extraordinary in some form or fashion. Those who perform extraordinary feats should accept the accolades even if they don't care for the pomp because it serves a larger purpose, namely, igniting the ambitions of the young.
I do object to women becoming knighted. |
