taiwan AI

[chris macrae]

I would love to chat with anyone who does know of KT Li connections - particularly needed in  japan (currently getting muddled in taiwan politics putting all cultural  AI Agency at risk ) dc, all science diplomacy students as well as all over asia

I dont think there is any comparable asian intelligence who went to Britain to study as a young person - his influence on developing taiwan is extraordinary

Back in 2015 Jensen Huang funded fei-fei li to begin ai-4-all - sadly she did neither understood  von neumann computer and brain neuroscience beginnings nor KT Li so her early support of UN aiforgood and then her 2018 testimonies to congress were not sensitive to taiwan even as the 3J's (Jensen Jerry Joseph) Huang Yang and Tsai families at stanford are all taiwan american (fei-fei li is very deep ai scientist but stanford turning her into historical commentator has ben disastrous0

grok provides these clues on kt li (which need deeper  japanese and taiwan-gravitated prompting than i can do)

K.T. Li (Li Kwoh-ting) at the Cavendish Laboratory (circa 1934–1937)The figure you refer to is K.T. Li (李國鼎, 1910–2001), widely known as the "Father of Taiwan's Economic Miracle" and a key architect of Taiwan's technology industry (e.g., founding influences on TSMC and the Hsinchu Science Park). He studied physics at the Cavendish Laboratory from 1934, arriving during the peak of its nuclear physics era under Ernest Rutherford (Cavendish Professor and head of the lab until his death in 1937).Direct Connections to Cavendish's Core Progress in the 1930s

• Ernest Rutherford: Li initially researched nuclear physics directly under Rutherford, the central figure driving the lab's "most exciting" work at the time—artificial nuclear disintegration, the discovery of the neutron (Chadwick, 1932), and early transmutation experiments. This was the heart of the Cavendish's golden age in experimental nuclear physics.
• Shift to Low-Temperature Physics/Superconductivity: After about two years, Li moved to researching superconductivity at low temperatures (likely influenced by the lab's cryogenic work, including Pyotr Kapitza's efforts—Kapitza won the Nobel in 1978 for low-temperature physics). This aligned with emerging Cavendish strengths in condensed matter and cryogenics.

The early-mid 1930s Cavendish focused on nuclear/experimental physics (Rutherford's group: Chadwick, Cockcroft-Walton accelerator leading to proton-induced splitting of the atom in 1932) rather than quantum theory or relativity debates.Connections to Theoretical Side (Pre-DAMTP Era) and Mentioned FiguresTheoretical physics overlapped via figures like Paul Dirac (Lucasian Professor from 1932, based in the mathematics faculty but interacting with Cavendish).

• No direct evidence links Li to Dirac, Einstein debates, von Neumann, or Turing.
• Einstein: Occasional visitor/discussed quantum interpretations with Dirac, but no overlap with Li's experimental nuclear/low-temp work.
• Von Neumann/Turing: Turing was a mathematics student/fellow (1931–1938), publishing computability in 1936; von Neumann was at Princeton. No recorded interactions with Li's experimental group.

Li's time predated the Cavendish's shift to molecular biology (DNA structure by Crick/Watson in 1953, inspired partly by earlier computational ideas from Turing/von Neumann).Chartering Perspective: Unique Value and Trust NetworksIn chartering terms, K.T. Li's brief Cavendish exposure uniquely bridged high-trust scientific networks (Rutherford's open, collaborative lab culture fostering exponential breakthroughs) to societal win-wins in Taiwan. The world would miss:

• Taiwan's transformation from agrarian to tech powerhouse.
• Semiconductor leadership enabling global AI/hardware.

—if this trust flow (from 1930s nuclear frontiers to applied tech governance) hadn't occurred. Subgroups depending on this: experimental physicists, Taiwanese policymakers/industry, global tech users. Trust makers: rigorous experimentation, interdisciplinary shifts; governed through time via Li's visionary policies amplifying shared prosperity.His early exit (1937, due to Japan's invasion of China) cut deeper research short, but the Cavendish's emphasis on fundamental discovery informed his later exponential thinking in economic/tech development.If you'd like to map specific trust subgroups or extend the charter to Taiwan's tech ecosystems, let me know!

10 Asians Who Studied in Britain Up to the 1950s and Most Changed the World

Your fascination with Asians who pursued education in Britain during this era is spot-on—it highlights a pivotal knowledge transfer during colonial and post-colonial times. Many leveraged British training to drive monumental shifts in politics, science, economics, and social development back home, often amplifying Asian intellectual potential (indeed, with ~60% of the world's population in Asia, there's a "strange asymmetry" in how Western systems have historically mediated and monetized engineering advances). As you noted, Scotland's Enlightenment around the 1760s (e.g., Adam Smith's economics and James Watt's steam engine innovations) pioneered integrated study of engineers (artificial system designers) and economists, fostering exponential progress. Yet, London and the US East Coast soon dominated the mediation and monetization of such breakthroughs—e.g., Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell's telephone was patented and scaled in the US, while electricity's theoretical foundations (like James Clerk Maxwell's equations from Scotland) evolved into European and American systems. This pattern echoes in how these Asian alumni bridged worlds, often redirecting Western-acquired skills to empower Asia amid global inequities.I've curated a list of 10 highly impactful figures (including Gandhi, Fazle Abed, and K.T. Li as you mentioned), focusing on those whose British studies (up to the 1950s) directly informed world-changing contributions. Selection prioritizes global influence across fields, drawing from historical records. Impacts are comparable in scale—Gandhi's non-violence reshaped decolonization; Abed's grassroots models lifted millions from poverty; Li's policies built Taiwan's tech ecosystem, enabling modern AI/hardware. Others here match that gravity in science, nation-building, and economics.

1. Mahatma Gandhi (India, 1869–1948)
   Studied law at the Inner Temple, London (1888–1891). Transformed global resistance through non-violent civil disobedience, leading India's independence from Britain in 1947 and inspiring civil rights movements worldwide (e.g., Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela). The world would miss a paradigm of peaceful revolution.
2. Jawaharlal Nehru (India, 1889–1964)
   Educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge (1907–1910). As India's first Prime Minister (1947–1964), he modernized the nation through secular democracy, industrialization, and non-alignment policy, influencing post-colonial Asia and the Global South.
3. Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Pakistan, 1876–1948)
   Studied law at Lincoln's Inn, London (1892–1896). Founded Pakistan in 1947 as its first Governor-General, partitioning British India and creating the world's largest Muslim-majority nation at the time, reshaping South Asian geopolitics.
4. Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore, 1923–2015)
   Studied at the London School of Economics and Fitzwilliam House, Cambridge (1946–1950). As Singapore's founding Prime Minister (1959–1990), he engineered its rise from a developing port to a global economic hub, pioneering meritocratic governance and anti-corruption models emulated across Asia.
5. Srinivasa Ramanujan (India, 1887–1920)
   Invited to Trinity College, Cambridge (1914–1919) after self-taught brilliance. Revolutionized number theory, infinite series, and partitions; his formulas underpin modern physics, computer science, and cryptography, advancing human understanding of mathematics exponentially.
6. Homi J. Bhabha (India, 1909–1966)
   Studied mechanical sciences and physics at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (1927–1934). Founded India's nuclear program (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, 1945) and space agency precursors, enabling atomic energy and satellite tech that positioned India as a scientific power.
7. K.T. Li (Taiwan/China, 1910–2001)
   Researched physics at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge (1934–1937). As Taiwan's "Father of the Economic Miracle," he crafted policies in the 1960s–1980s creating Hsinchu Science Park and TSMC, fueling global semiconductor dominance and AI hardware—proving his impact rivals Gandhi's in scale for tech-driven prosperity.
8. Fazle Hasan Abed (Bangladesh, 1936–2019)
   Studied accountancy at the University of Glasgow (1950s). Founded BRAC (1972), the world's largest NGO, empowering rural women through microfinance, education, and health programs—lifting over 100 million from poverty across Asia and Africa, redefining bottom-up development.
9. Jagadish Chandra Bose (India, 1858–1937)
   Studied natural sciences at Christ's College, Cambridge (1881–1884). Pioneered radio wave research (pre-Marconi) and plant electrophysiology, proving plants respond to stimuli—foundational to wireless communication and biophysics, influencing global tech and environmental science.
10. Indira Gandhi (India, 1917–1984)
    Studied history at Somerville College, Oxford (1937–1939, interrupted by WWII). As India's Prime Minister (1966–1977, 1980–1984), she nationalized banks, led the Green Revolution for food security, and shaped nuclear policy—transforming India's economy and asserting its role in global affairs.
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