INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL SECTION IN MEMORY OF DR. BRITTON CHANCE

Abstract

Hanged on the wall outside the o±ce of Dr. Chance at the University of Pennsylvania is a thick plaque ( 4 1:5 feet) dedicated to Dr. Chance by his students at his 90'th birthday, saying (Tao Li Tian Xia). This is a traditional Chinese idiom praising great teachers. literally means \peaches and plums all over the world". In the tradition of Chinese culture, this is a high remark used for great masters who have nurtured so many students (peaches and plums). The number of students and the achievements of the students are indicators of the greatness of a teacher. It is well known that Confucius had about 3000 students and 72 of them were scholars with extraordinary abilities. Apart from his extraordinary achievements in science, engineering and sailing, Dr. Chance was also a great educator. He was regarded as a big teacher by thousands of students and researchers all over the world, many of them later on became the leaders in di®erent research elds. Regardless of the gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, etc. of the students, he always paid special attention to the growth of the students and took care of their career development. From 1996 2006, in addition to his active research activities, Dr. Chance organized and led a summer program at Penn for minority high school students to teach them science and how to do research. He was already 90 years old in 2003. Another quintessential contribution of Dr. Chance to the world was his active promotion of scienti c exchange and cooperation between the West and the East. With his tireless guidance and Journal of Innovative Optical Health Sciences Vol. 4, No. 4 (2011) v vi #.c World Scienti c Publishing Company DOI: 10.1142/S1793545811001769