[關於大型強子對撞機的粒子研究的實際應用] 但讓我告訴你一個秘密：促使我們物理學家做這個的不是為了擁有更好的彩電。… 那是衍生品。我們做這個是因為我們想理解我們在宇宙中的角色和位置。

——加來道雄（美國理論物理學家）

來源：《麻省理工學院斯隆管理評論》；From: MIT Sloan Management Review

科學家選擇畢生投身於基礎研究時，心心念念想著的也許不是報答社會，而是腦海裡只充滿著一件東西：好奇心。

為什麼引力相互作用比其他三個基本相互作用弱那麼多？最後共同祖先是什麼？比137號元素更重的元素能存在嗎？我們為什麼能在這裡？在如此多的未解之謎的誘惑下，無數人前赴後繼地投入科研事業之中。

難道普通人就沒有好奇心了嗎？當然不是。當人們找不到答案時，他們反而更加渴望真相。若沒有適當的引導，人們常常轉向偽科學和陰謀論，其危害不言而喻。

但問題是，科學家只忙於研究，而普通人又困於生計。因此，我們需要一箇中間人，他的名字叫"科普"——科學家的"科"，普通人的"普"。

科普工作者會簡化科學概念，用通俗的語言將其解釋給大眾。趣味性是很多科普作品的特色，以此來吸引人們關注和了解科學知識。簡而言之，科普作品本質上還是科學，只是去除了那些晦澀難懂的東西。

作者本人對這個世界的運作方式十分好奇。我也承認我對這個世界知之甚少。所以，我希望我們能夠共同學習，增進我們對這個奇妙宇宙的認識。

Foreword: Curiosity

[On the practical applications of particle physics research with the Large Hadron Collider.] But let me let you in on a secret: We physicists are not driven to do this because of better color television. … That's a spin-off. We do this because we want to understand our role and our place in the universe.

—Michio Kaku (American physicist)

From: The Graphic Recorder

Helping the public might not have been on the minds of basic research scientists when they chose to devote their lives to this career. What they probably did have on their mind was one thing: curiosity.

Why is gravity weaker than the other three fundamental interactions? What was the Last Universal Common Ancestor? Is element 137 the heaviest element which can exist? Why are we here? Unanswered questions like these are what attracted people to academia in droves.

But that does not mean that everyone else completely lacks curiosity. Indeed, curiosity, in these cases, is inflamed by the inability to find answers. Without guidance, people often turn to pseudoscience or conspiracy theories. The danger of this cannot be overstated.

There is, however, a big problem: scientists are too engaged in their research while everyone else is too engaged in their work. We need a medium; the medium we use here is popular science.

Popular science simplifies scientific concepts for the general public's consumption. Pieces are often humorous to attract and engage the audience. In short, popular science is science without the messy stuff.

This is what these articles aim to be.

I, the author, am curious about how this world works; I also acknowledge that I know very little about this world. So, hopefully, we will be able to learn together to advance our understanding of our intricate universe.

I am still a student, so I am prone to make mistakes. My writing does not represent any authority. I will, however, be very careful in checking my sources to ensure that my work is correct to the greatest extent possible. I will also place a list of citations at the end of each piece for you to verify.

Since I am still studying, my schedule changes periodically and can be very chaotic, so I am afraid that I cannot promise regular issues. I will, however, try my best to publish a piece of writing every fortnight. Sometimes I might do more, sometimes I might have to put this work down to focus on my studies. Nevertheless, I will not give up this writing without good reason.

Anyway, I hope to see you all (through my typed words) very soon!