Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

See the Conversations with History Blog See a webcast of this interview: Stark

This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

Welcome to a Conversation with History. I'm Harry Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our guest is Professor Lawrence Stark, who has been a professor at the University of California at Berkeley since 1968, where he divides his teaching and research efforts among the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) and Mechanical Engineering and the Physiological Optics and Neurology units in biology and medicine.

1. Background ... influence of parents ... books read ... working at museums as a child ... fixing things ... becoming a neurologist
2. What Makes a Scientist? ... early research ... scientist as poet ... as practical dreamer ... courage and individualism ... scientists are born
3. The Mind's Eye: Research ... feedback mechanisms ... scan path theory ... idiosyncratic nature of sight ... high and low visual resolution
4. The Mind's Eye: Applications ... artistic creation ... communication of artist and viewer ... virtual reality ... robots
5. The Implications of Science ... mathematics as the bridge between nature and machines ... the excitement of discovery ... the sparse connections of brain to outside world; the power of internal mental models ... all one flesh yet all different ... humans and robots
6. Lessons Learned

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