About jerzy vetulani Quotes
20 quotes
"A characteristic feature of the Professor was the fascination with technical novelties, especially those that could facilitate his scientific and editorial work. When home computers started to appear in the second half of the 1980s, he immediately brought to our Department one of them, and then the next ones. In this way, he initiated, and then, being a deputy director, he took care of the computerization of the Institute."
"A truly Renaissance personality. Absolutely undisputed authority, world-renowned scholar, a real neuroenthusiast who can also spray such a cascade of wit and humor that all anecdotes should hide!"
"Above all, a man of inexhaustible energy, drawing life with full handfuls and a great provocateur. However, in the good sense of the word. As he admitted in an interview with me, which we published as a book, he felt almost all his life a fool who wanted to make people laugh and at the same time stimulate them to think. Anyone who has ever listened to the lecture of Professor Vetulani, knows what I'm talking about. That's why I find it so difficult to accept His death. Unreasonable, because it is a consequence of a tragic accident. I could not be present at his 80th birthday, so I was hoping to celebrate the 85th and then the 90th and subsequent jubilees with his family and lots of friends. I was hoping to see him during these jubilees, bursting with energy and wit, as He did usually. Unfortunately, life has written a different scenario."
"Feisty, lively, silver, smiling and always rebellious. Loving life and people, completely tolerant. Atheist believing in man. A rationalist defending marijuana. That's what Professor Vetulani was."
"He always left a strong and distinctive trace. His personality exerted a great influence on people, on their knowledge, worldview, approach to life. In such an extent he was. That is why it is so difficult to accept his passing away. He died in a result of a tragic accident, full of intellectual strength and full of activity. And I know that if he had anything to say on the matter, he would prefer it just so."
"He is an outstanding pharmacologist and at the same time a man who is obsessed with popularizing – in the best sense of the word. He does it great, gathering thousands of listeners on various occasions."
"He never built a distance to other people despite his scientific position. Sensitive, open to new ideas, with a large personal culture, endowed with excellent emotional intelligence and a kind of media talent – these features allowed the Professor to quickly establish contact with listeners, regardless of their age and education. We listened with delight to his descriptions of animal behavior full of virtuosity. His expressive lectures have always attracted crowds of listeners, and popular science articles and books, written with extraordinary lightness of the pen, are a model of how to translate the difficult language of scientific discoveries into a fascinating story about the mysteries of the body's functioning."
"He was an extremely direct man, spontaneous in dealing with other people, he did not care about keeping distance between him as the boss and co-workers. At the very beginning he informed me that he was on first name terms with everyone, proposing the same to me as well. Of course, I willingly (and proudly) accepted this situation."
"He was a man of contradictions: genius, loyal, virtuous. But also uncompromising and even brazen. Beloved and unbearable at the same time. A controversial scientist, and just a good man."
"He was an extraordinary man – a colorful bird against the background of academic gray. A scholar and erudite, he was witty, malicious, surprising, uncompromising and courageous. His knowledge and talent for lecturing made him a valued popularizer of neuroscience. He could simplify even very complex phenomena, showing their essence and meaning. Non-standard interpretations of the reality that he presented at the lectures were witty, but also deep and attracted fascinated youth. He loved Krakow – he knew everything about it and was a great guide. There is grief and anger in us that he was driven over at the pedestrian crossing by a delivery van."
"I met Jurek many years ago when he was only little older than his beloved grandson now. And he was just as nice and at the same time extremely handsome!"
"I will remember him as a man who is honestly seeking the truth. And a bit more: there was also the courage to find and take risks to defend this truth."
"In lectures, it is important that you lecture plain. We are interested in the smartest students, and we really should take care of those who have most difficulties with understanding certain concepts. I try to balance it. You know what? In lecturing, Jerzy Vetulani really helped me – listening to his lectures, I learned how to teach correctly, so that the students did not fall asleep after fifteen minutes."
"It is the most obvious fact that Jerzy Vetulani is an extraordinary personality who masterfully combines deep knowledge with the art of rhetoric, form and beauty of expression. But I have trouble answering the question: Who is Professor Vetulani really? There is no doubt that he is an eminent scholar, a star of Polish science, but he is also an unconventional man – what shocked me two years ago when he marched in the first line of the Cannabis Legalization March."
"Jurek had a feature rarely seen in an older adult – an unrestrained, almost childish curiosity of the world that fueled his activity in everyday life and did not allow him to age mentally. He liked to be on the move all the time, to go on trips, so as not to sit idle."
"Jurek was a ubiquitous person, in all ways sociable, he constantly acquainted people with one another and liked to be in the center of attention. He was extroverted, he felt best in company, which he liked to surprise with his funny sayings and stories and often controversial opinions on various life topics. He also liked to talk about himself and his achievements and belonged to a small group of people who took care of writing down the details of their biography and continually supplementing it with descriptions of subsequent events. Obtaining further awards or honorable functions was carefully recorded. When I once asked if it wasn't a waste of time for him, he retorted with his inborn charm and a specific sense of humor: "... of course not, this will be another line to my obituary. And yet, my dear, there are many indications that you will take part in writing it, so be happy that just in case you will have something like ready "crib sheet" and above all "first hand" data so at least you won't mess up anything." Jurek's prophetic words, it was so, I did not have to look for that data because I had it in my computer."
"Professor writes about the brain in a very approachable way, and from what he writes, the conviction that man is free is born. The message of his books influenced, among others, the emergence of several of my painting cycles. For me he is an authority, and I do not have many of them."
"The professor was a charismatic person, lectures and crowds of listeners gave him great pleasure. Undoubtedly, an additional feature that attracted crowds was his sense of humor, also in relation to himself. Not only lectures, but also ordinary conversations with Jurek were full of humor and jokes. He had an amazing personality. His energy, knowledge sharing did not diminish with age, but even being an extremely busy person because of his scientific activities and numerous lectures given throughout Poland, he never refused to lecture as part of the "Brain Week" and write an article. He is an unrivaled model of a neuroscientist, social activist and popularizer of science."
"The results led us to say that the so-called β-down-regulation is not (as it was believed in the 1970s and 1980s) a necessary and characteristic condition for the antidepressant action of drugs. In particular, this confirmed the result that citalopram, currently considered the most effective antidepressant from the group of selective serotonin inhibitors, does not cause β-down regulation, and the opposite effect. Jurek was completely not bothered by the fact that these results had narrowed down the earlier theory (his and Sulser's) regarding the mechanism of action of antidepressants. He believed, and often said, that a true scholar can not fall in love with his own theories and must know that sometimes they should be verified."
"With all due respect for the title of professor. Vetulani, however, is a unique moron."