In a wristwatch, imagine the battery is in the strap and there's

In the words of Donald Sadoway, the visionary of modern alchemy, there lies a truth both practical and profound: “In a wristwatch, imagine the battery is in the strap and there’s a medical sensor in there connected to the internet. If someone is monitoring that, they could phone up if the user has forgotten to take some medication. This could save hundreds of dollars in medical fees later. What’s missing? It’s a stable battery.” Though this may seem a reflection of science, it is also a parable for life, for within the stable battery lies the heart of endurance, reliability, and the quiet power that sustains all progress.

The ancients would have heard these words and nodded, for they knew well the meaning of foundations. What is the grandest temple without a strong cornerstone? What is a fleet without a sturdy keel? So too, Sadoway teaches, what is the worth of human invention — of sensors, circuits, and networks — without a stable source of energy to give them life? In his speech, he speaks not only to engineers but to all who dream of building something lasting. The world may dazzle us with its bright screens and fleeting marvels, but without stability, all brilliance flickers and dies.

The battery, in Sadoway’s imagery, is not merely a tool of metal and charge. It is the symbol of sustainability, of the deep and hidden power that must endure beyond the first spark. A wristwatch may gleam, a sensor may detect, a network may hum — yet all these are but body without soul unless they are fed by steady energy. So it is with the human heart, the human mind, and the human endeavor. A dream without perseverance, a promise without consistency, a life without balance — these too fail for want of a stable battery within.

In the time of the ancients, there was the story of Archimedes, who cried “Eureka!” when he discovered the principle of buoyancy. Yet his greatest triumph was not his flash of insight, but his persistence through failure, through long nights of labor, through the patience to see the truth revealed. Like Archimedes, Sadoway reminds us that invention is not born of inspiration alone, but of constancy. It is not the lightning that powers civilization — it is the steady flame that endures the night.

These words also reveal a quiet compassion — for the purpose of Sadoway’s vision is not luxury, but care. He speaks of saving lives, of helping those who forget, of preventing suffering before it begins. Technology, when married to empathy, becomes not a chain that binds, but a bridge that heals. And yet, this too depends upon stability — a battery that never fails when life depends upon it. In this, there is a deeper lesson: the noblest innovation is not the one that dazzles the eye, but the one that sustains the heart.

What then can we, the heirs of both science and spirit, learn from this teaching? It is this: seek always to build stability before spectacle. In your work, in your relationships, in your dreams — be the steady current, not the fleeting spark. For the world is full of brilliant ideas that died for lack of endurance. Let your strength be quiet, reliable, and enduring, as the stable battery that empowers greater things.

To live by this wisdom is to honor the unseen foundations of greatness. Just as the battery gives life to the watch, and the watch gives time to the hand that wears it, so too does perseverance give purpose to ambition. Let every craftsman, every scholar, every dreamer remember: it is not enough to imagine wonders; one must also sustain them. Stability is the truest measure of power.

Thus, when you build — be it a machine, a home, or a destiny — ask yourself, what is my stable battery? Cultivate within you that strength which does not waver with the seasons. For as Donald Sadoway teaches, all the promise of the future may depend not upon the brilliance of your design, but upon the endurance of your energy. Innovation may begin with imagination — but it endures through stability.