【推荐2】In 1957 a group of physicists gathered in a lecture hall at Princeton University to be addressed by a Chinese American woman. As she told the crowd about her recent experiment and its results, the response was dead silence for two minutes, then a thunderous applause (掌声) continued for ten minutes. The woman was Chien-Shiung Wu, known as the First Lady of Physics, who transformed nuclear science through her work on the Manhattan Project and other groundbreaking experiments.

Born in 1912 near Shanghai, China, Wu was influenced by her father, an engineer, and her mother, an educator. Unlike many Chinese women of her time, she received a formal education. Fascinated by new discoveries and the story of women scientists like Marie Curie, she entered National Central University to study physics and then began her scientific studies.

It was a time of rapid change in both the field of physics and China. Domestic unrest and a bad relationship with Japan made life at home uneasy. With the help of an uncle, she immigrated to the United States for graduate school.

Wu planned to go to the University of Michigan, but a tour of the University of California, Berkeley — and word that a student center at Michigan did not allow female students to enter through the front door — changed her mind. At Berkeley Wu was visible for her gender and race, and from the start her male colleagues commented as much on her physical appearance as her keen mind. She quickly gained a reputation and became an expert in the newly discovered phenomenon of nuclear fission (核裂变).

After graduation, she headed to Smith College to teach women physics. During World War Two Wu went to Princeton University, where she became the physics department’s first female instructor. But shortly after her arrival, her career took an unexpected turn in 1944. She ended up joining the staff at Columbia University on a top- secret research program now known as the Manhattan Project.

【推荐3】Despite his slim body of work, J. D. Salinger was one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century. His short stories, many of which appeared in The New Yorker, inspired the early careers of writers such as Phillip Roth, John Updike and Harold Brodkey.

Born on January 1, 1919, in New York, Salinger was a restless student, attending New York University, Ursinus College and Columbia University. While taking classes at the latter, he met Professor Whit Burnett, who was also the editor of Story magazine. Burnett, sensing Salinger’s talent as a writer, pushed him to create more often and soon Salinger’s works were appearing not just in Story, but in other big-name publications such as Collier’s and the Saturday Evening Post.

His career had started to take off, but then, like so many young American men around that time, World War II interrupted his life. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Salinger was drafted into the army, serving from 1942 to 1944. During that time, however, Salinger kept writing for a new novel whose main character was a deeply unsatisfied young man named Holden Caulfield.

When Salinger returned to New York, he quickly set about resuming his life as a writer and soon found his work published in his favorite magazine, The New Yorker.

He also pushed on with the work on his novel about Holden Caulfield. Finally, in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye was published. The book earned its share of positive reviews, but some critics weren’t so kind. But over time the American reading public ate the book up and The Catcher in the Rye became an essential part of the academic literature course. To date, the book has sold more than 65 million copies.

In 1953, two years after the publication of The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger moved from New York City to Cornish, New Hampshire. There, Salinger did his best to cut off contact with the public and significantly slowed his literary output. He only published one new story, the 25,000-word Hapworth 16, 1924, before his death on January 27, 2010, in Cornish, New Hampshire.

【推荐1】Beth Booker of Florida, turned to Twitter for help last week after seeing the images of her 78-year-old grandmother’s home in Fort Myers Beach, Florida being in water. In the days before Hurricane Ian struck her grandmother’s community, Beth and her husband helped her granny, Carole McDanel, prepare herself and her home for it.

Her granny wanted to stay where she had been living for more than two decades. She felt safe to stay because Ian was heading north for another city and the house had survived quite a few major hurricanes in history. In addition, the home contained priceless family memories and heirlooms (传家宝), among which were photos of Booker’s dad, who passed away when she was only five years old. After her dad’s death, Booker had to live with her grandmother, McDanel.

Once the storm struck, Booker received updates from her granny, who shared photos and videos showing flood started to fill the home. In her last phone call with granny, Booker told her granny to climb on the roof if the flood waters continued to climb. Unable to communicate with her granny any longer, Booker turned to Twitter for help with everything from searching for her granny to contacting local emergency officials.

The Fort Myers area was left devastated Wednesday after Hurricane Ian. On Thursday, as rescue crews came over to search for survivors, Booker’s husband and friend began their own search for her granny by boat. Just a few hours later, at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Booker tweeted the news that her husband and friend found granny sitting on her own sofa, where she was able to remain safe during the storm.

McDanel and Booker, who declined to be interviewed, said in a statement that they felt grateful for the support they had received and that they are calling for the world to continue the same energy and love into recovery and relief efforts for their community.

【推荐2】Carl Allamby started his car repair business at 19, working alone in a garage (汽车修理厂). Over the years it had grown into two shops, but Allamby wanted something more. At first, he thought that meant growing his business even further. So at 34, Allamby decided to go for his bachelor’s degree (学士学位) in business management. After taking classes part-time over the next five years, Allamby was told he had to take biology (生物学) to get his degree.

Biology class reawakened Allamby’s childhood dream. He remembered the feeling of wanting to be a doctor back when he was younger.

Born in East Cleveland, Ohio, Allamby and his five sisters and brothers were raised by their stay-at-home mother and a father who sold home goods door to door. “That didn’t pay so well,” Allamby says.

Growing up in an African American neighborhood, he faced many difficulties. His school didn’t offer advanced science classes. Even if it had, doing well in school could get him into trouble. “Sometimes you wouldn’t carry your books home because other kids would laugh at you,” Allamby says. So he gave up thoughts of becoming a doctor and chose to fix cars.

With his family’s support, Allamby decided to take science classes he’d need to become a health care worker. Becoming a doctor when he would be nearly 50 years old seemed crazy. He would instead become a nurse.

But Allamby’s chemistry teacher stopped him after class one day. “Carl,” he said, “you’re like the oldest student here. What’s your end game?”

Allamby told him how he’d like to become a doctor but it would be better to have a smaller goal.

“Why not a doctor?” the teacher asked. “You have a great intuition (直觉) for the work. You will go a long way.”

He was right. Allamby did well in all his courses. So in 2015, Allamby started at Northeast Ohio Medical University. In 2019, at age 47, Carl Allamby became a doctor, and took a job in emergency (急诊) medicine at Cleveland Clinic Akron General.

When my husband Ash told me he was planning to turn down some perfectly good job offers and start his own business, I was surprised. I advised against it. But Ash’s mother, who had run her own business, said: “Why not give it a go?”

My mother-in-law was right. Ash started Present Model Management. He loves it: the pressure (压力) he has now is lower. Plus, he can take the kids to school if he wants.

Watching him succeed inspired me to take my own leap. After 12 years of working as a childminder, I knew that something had to change. I loved the kids, but I’d been singing “Twinkle Twinkle” for 12 years. I only became a childminder in order to be home with my own children. Now that they are more independent, I have time to try something more exciting.

I set up @family_feasts to record what our family eats: healthy, tasty meals on a sensible budget (开支). From there, I started a WordPress blog to hold the recipes (食谱). When I started sharing weekly meal plans, the feedback (反响) was amazing. That’s what people want: inspiration.

At first I wanted to teach workshops for parents. To prove that I could teach, I started a cooking class for 8-10-year-old children at my daughter’s primary school.

It sold out overnight. A year later, I have a long waiting list. It’s so meaningful to watch the kids learn: they’ve burnt and cut themselves, but they’re really starting to understand flavors.

The next thing that took off was children’s cookery birthday parties. People have booked those through word of mouth. From the strength of my blog, I’ve published recipes with the BBC and Co-op Food Magazine. My final dream is to write a family cookbook one day.

I’m so glad that Ash and I took this leap. We plan our work around the kids. We pay ourselves less than before, but we also spend more sensibly. I love the freedom of our life, the time we have together, and the excitement of building a community of kids who will be able to feed themselves.