Fri 22 Apr 2005
Geoff Hutchinson ‘99 notes that:
In the 1967 movie, The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman receives the one-word advice “Plastics.” If Hollywood were to remake the movie right now, chances are that one word would be the hot buzzword “Nano” as in “nanotechnology” or “nanoscience.”
All good Ephs know that Charles Webb ‘61 is the author of the book that the movie was based on. We also like to believe that Dustin Hoffman’s character went to Williams, although that is never stated (nor contradicted) in the movie.
Yet, for me, the 2005 version of “plastics” is definitely “statistics.” Learn statistics, young Ephs. Doing so will serve you well in more careers than any other single topic taught at Williams today.
April 22nd, 2005 at 7:05 pm
It looked like Hoffman’s character wears a Williams tie at the party where he’s told, “Plastics” too.
Is the film still shown on campus every September?
April 25th, 2005 at 2:06 pm
Stats? Sure, statistics is an incredibly useful subject to study and I use skills taught by Prof. DeVeaux frequently.
On the other hand, it’s hardly a *new* area that’s some sort of inside information.
I mentioned “nano” because my interpretation of that line in The Graduate is that “plastics” is supposed to be the next great thing from science — and something business should watch for investment, etc.
In my probably-biased opinion, the buzzword analogue of “plastics” *used* to be “biotech” or “internet” in the 90s.
I think it’s most definitely “nano” now. Bet you have some “nano” stain-resistant pants or shirts right now. And I’ve seen “nano”coatings in eyeglasses.
Sounds like someone’s trying to cash in…
April 25th, 2005 at 2:23 pm
Geoffrey,
Glenn Reynolds (aka Instapundit) has written about it quite a bit. Having received a nanotechnology summer research grant from the NSF-MRSEC, I saw firsthand how many project proposals and descriptions were reworded to incorporate something at the nanoscale into the phrasing