DOCSLIB.ORG

In Defense of the Use of the French Language in Scientific

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
In Defense of the Use of the French Language in Scientific Bull. Hist. Chem., VOLUME 39, Number 1 (2014) 73 IN DEFENSE OF THE USE OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE IN SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION, 1965-1985: NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DELIBERATIONS AND AN INGENIOUSLY CLEVER TAKEOFF ON THE THEME BY R. B. WOODWARD Joseph Gal, Departments of Medicine and Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, [email protected] and Jeffrey I. Seeman, Department of Chemistry, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA 23173, jseeman@ richmond.edu Supplemental Material Abstract Introduction For many decades, French scientists, the French The international nature of chemistry—indeed, of Académie des Sciences, and the government of France science—is a truism. Operationally, however, the practice have been concerned about the declining use of French of doing and communicating chemistry is not equally within the scientific milieu and the trend toward English and symmetrically shared throughout the world. That is as the universally-accepted language to communicate also a truism. The evidence that English has become the science. This trend is discussed with a focus on the issues unofficial language throughout the world in chemistry most vigorously debated in the time period 1965-1985, is multifold. For example, English is the only accepted including the reduced use of French in international sci- language of Pure and Applied Chemistry, the official entific communication resulting from the dominance of journal of the International Union of Pure and Applied English. A summary of the merging of national-chemical- Chemistry (IUPAC). Indeed, there has been a gradual society journals into international journals is also present- disappearance of non-English chemistry journals over ed. A set of previously unpublished documents from 1965 the past several decades. written by the late Robert Burns Woodward—actually a In the late 1990s, the 14 European chemical societies linguistic twist on La Marseillaise, the French national listed in Table 1 founded the organization ChemPubSoc anthem, that addresses the French-English debate—and Europe “as a consequence of the amalgamation of many his letter and enclosures to Jean-Marie Lehn are included chemical journals owned by national chemical societ- and discussed. ies into a number of high-quality European journals” (2). The journals listed in the top portion of Table 2, all It shall and may be lawful by the said society by their published by ChemPubSoc Europe, are solely in Eng- proper officers, at all times, whether at peace or war, to cor- lish, “replac[ing] 14 traditional national journals” (2). respond with learned Societies, as well as individual learned In 2005, surely influenced by the model and success men, of any nation or country ... of ChemPubSoc Europe, the Asian Chemical Editorial —American Philosophical Society charter 1780 Society (ACES) was founded as a “conglomeration of [13] chemical societies [Table 1] with the mutual aim of 74 Bull. Hist. Chem., VOLUME 39, Number 1 (2014) creating a modern publishing forum for research in Asia Table 2. ChemPubSoc Europe’s and Asian Chemical and coordinating future publishing activities” (3). ACES Editorial Society’s journals (2, 3). publishes two journals, both in English: Chemistry—An Asian Journal and Asian Journal of Organic Chemistry. ChemPubSoc Europe’s Journals (See the bottom portion of Table 2.) Chemistry—A European Journal European Journal of Organic Chemistry Table 1. Participating societies in ChemPubSoc Europe (2) and the Asian Chemical Editorial Society (ACES) (3) European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry ChemBioChem Participating societies (abbreviation) Country ChemPhysChem ChemPubSoc Europe ChemMedChem Gesellschaft Österreichischer Chemiker Austria ChemSusChem (GÖCH) ChemCatChem Société Royale de Chimie (SRC) Belgium ChemPlusChem Koninklijke Vlaamse Chemische Vereniging Belgium (KVCV) ChemElectroChem Czech Repub- ChemistryOpen Česká Společnost Chemická (ČSCH) lic ChemViews Société Chimique de France (SCF) France Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) Germany Asian Chemical Editorial Society’s Association of Greek Chemists (EEX) Greece journals Magyar Kémikusok Egyesülete (MKE) Hungary Chemistry—An Asian Journal Società Chimica Italiana (SCI) Italy Asian Journal of Organic Chemistry Koninklijke Nederlandse Chemische Verenig- The Nether- ing (KNCV) lands Polskie Towarzystwo Chemiczne (PTChem) Poland The transition to English as the single most-domi- nant language of communication in chemistry from 1985 Sociedade Portuguesa de Química (SPQ) Portugal to the present is surely based on the preparative 20-year Real Sociedad Española de Química (RSEQ) Spain period 1965-1985. A variety of practical considerations— Svenska Kemistsamfundet (SK) Sweden economics of publication being just one—have funneled Asian Chemical Editorial Society (ACES) many chemical forums around the world into English and away from French and German, the dominant languages Royal Australian Chemical Institute Inc. (RACI) Australia of chemical communication in the 19th and first half Chinese Chemical Society (CCS) China of the 20th centuries. Other factors can be cited for the Hong Kong Chemical Society (HKCS) China choice of English as today’s preferred language of the Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI) India chemical community, a critical one being the dramatic Himpunan Kimia Indonesia (HKI) Indonesia rise of American chemistry after World War I and further Korean Chemical Society (KCS) Korea powered by World War II and post-World War II chemical advances in the USA (4). Chemical Society of Japan (CSJ) Japan Institut Kimia Malaysia (IKM) Malaysia Ironically, French and German substituted for th New Zealand Institute of Chemistry (NZIC) New Zealand another native language in 19 -century chemical com- munications. For example, instead of Russian in the Singapore National Institute of Chemistry Singapore (SNIC) Bulletin scientifique publié par l’Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg, Russian chemists Chemical Society Located in Taipei, China Taipei, China (CSLT) published their research in French and German. Appar- ently, Russian chemists during that time felt that their Chemical Society of Thailand (CST) Thailand work would be better disseminated by using what were Chemical Society of Vietnam (CSV) Vietnam then the international languages of science. There are other similar cases, a full discussion of which is outside the scope of this article. Bull. Hist. Chem., VOLUME 39, Number 1 (2014) 75 Almost certainly, nowhere has the discussion of the future Nobelist French chemist Jean-Marie Lehn. These choice of English as the universal scientific language documents reveal Woodward’s French literary capabili- been more pronounced and publicly more vigorous than ties coupled with his wittiness, subtle sense of humor, in France. However, recent discussions on the decreasing and adroit political savvy. We first discuss the context use of languages in science communication have taken in which these Woodward documents are best viewed. place in countries other than France, especially in Ger- many, Italy, and Japan (5). There is substantial national On English Becoming the Universal pride by the French, and indeed in other countries, for Language of Science and the Resistance to their own language. Given the emphasis in this article on the French-to-English conversions in science communi- this Trend by the French cations, we note that in 1998, the venerable Bulletin de At the March 1, 1965 meeting of the French Aca- la Société Chimique de France and Chemische Berichte/ démie des Sciences (“Académie” henceforth) in Paris, Recueil and Liebigs Annalen/Recueil merged with other the following was adopted on the basis of a decision by journals to form the European Journal of Organic Chem- a Comité Secret (i.e., secret committee, that is, one that istry and the European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry. meets behind closed doors) of the Académie, as reported One year earlier, in 1997, Chemische Berichte and Lie- in the official journal of the Académie (8). (See Figure bigs Annalen were merged with the Dutch journal Recueil 1 for the original.) des Travaux Chimiques des Pays-Bas to form Chemische Berichte/Recueil and Liebigs Annalen/Recueil. For a COMITÉ SECRET. personal account of some of these transitions, see the The following wish, to be addressed to the President autobiographical essay by Wiley-VCH publishing ex- of the Republic, concerning the maintaining of the ecutive and Ph.D. chemist Eva Wille in the journal The use of the French language in international scientific Chemical Record (6). meetings is adopted unanimously: L’ACADÉMIE DES SCIENCES, In this essay, we shall review some of the highlights committed to the active defense of the French lan- of the concerns and trends expressed between 1965 and guage in international scientific events and troubled 1985 dealing with the choice of English as the universal by pressures in favor of the exclusive use of the language in chemistry and the French resistance to this English language exerted by certain international trend. We emphasize the word “highlight” as this is organizations of intergovernmental nature, expresses neither a comprehen- its wish for a firm inter- sive research study of vention by the [French] this communication state to assure from trend nor of the vari- now on the respect of the French language ous national responses in the scientific domain to English, today, or within the framework German and French of meetings sponsored
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Ian Rae: “Two Croatian Chemists Who Were Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry”
    Croatian Studies Review 13 (2017) Ian Rae: “Two Croatian Chemists who were Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry” Ian Rae School of Chemistry University of Melbourne [email protected] Abstract Two organic chemists of Croatian origin, Leopold Ružička and Vladimir Prelog, made significant contributions to natural product chemistry during the twentieth century. They received their university education and research training in Germany and Czechoslovakia, respectively. Both made their careers in Zürich, Switzerland, and both shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, in 1939 and 1975, respectively. In this article, I have set the details of their lives and achievements against the education and research climates in Europe and other regions, especially as they apply to the field of chemistry. Key words: Croatia, organic, chemistry, Nobel, Ružička, Prelog 31 Croatian Studies Review 13 (2017) Introduction1 In the twentieth century two organic chemists of Croatian origin were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. They were Lavoslav (Leopold) Ružička (1887-1976) and Vladimir Prelog (1906-1998), whose awards came in 1939 and 1975, respectively. Both were living and working in Switzerland at the time of the awards and it was in that country – specifically in the city of Zürich – that they performed the research that made them Nobel Laureates. To understand the careers of Ružička and Prelog, and of many other twentieth century organic chemists, we need to look back to the nineteenth century when German chemists were the leaders in this field of science. Two developments characterise this German hegemony: the introduction of the research degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), and the close collaboration between organic chemists in industry and university.
    [Show full text]
  • Biographical References for Nobel Laureates
    Dr. John Andraos, http://www.careerchem.com/NAMED/Nobel-Biographies.pdf 1 BIOGRAPHICAL AND OBITUARY REFERENCES FOR NOBEL LAUREATES IN SCIENCE © Dr. John Andraos, 2004 - 2021 Department of Chemistry, York University 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ONTARIO M3J 1P3, CANADA For suggestions, corrections, additional information, and comments please send e-mails to [email protected] http://www.chem.yorku.ca/NAMED/ CHEMISTRY NOBEL CHEMISTS Agre, Peter C. Alder, Kurt Günzl, M.; Günzl, W. Angew. Chem. 1960, 72, 219 Ihde, A.J. in Gillispie, Charles Coulston (ed.) Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Charles Scribner & Sons: New York 1981, Vol. 1, p. 105 Walters, L.R. in James, Laylin K. (ed.), Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 1901 - 1992, American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1993, p. 328 Sauer, J. Chem. Ber. 1970, 103, XI Altman, Sidney Lerman, L.S. in James, Laylin K. (ed.), Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 1901 - 1992, American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1993, p. 737 Anfinsen, Christian B. Husic, H.D. in James, Laylin K. (ed.), Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 1901 - 1992, American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1993, p. 532 Anfinsen, C.B. The Molecular Basis of Evolution, Wiley: New York, 1959 Arrhenius, Svante J.W. Proc. Roy. Soc. London 1928, 119A, ix-xix Farber, Eduard (ed.), Great Chemists, Interscience Publishers: New York, 1961 Riesenfeld, E.H., Chem. Ber. 1930, 63A, 1 Daintith, J.; Mitchell, S.; Tootill, E.; Gjersten, D., Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists, Institute of Physics Publishing: Bristol, UK, 1994 Fleck, G. in James, Laylin K. (ed.), Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 1901 - 1992, American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1993, p. 15 Lorenz, R., Angew.
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Group
    Historical Group NEWSLETTER and SUMMARY OF PAPERS No. 64 Summer 2013 Registered Charity No. 207890 COMMITTEE Chairman: Prof A T Dronsfield | Prof J Betteridge (Twickenham, 4, Harpole Close, Swanwick, Derbyshire, | Middlesex) DE55 1EW | Dr N G Coley (Open University) [e-mail [email protected]] | Dr C J Cooksey (Watford, Secretary: Prof. J. W. Nicholson | Hertfordshire) School of Sport, Health and Applied Science, | Prof E Homburg (University of St Mary's University College, Waldegrave | Maastricht) Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW1 4SX | Prof F James (Royal Institution) [e-mail: [email protected]] | Dr D Leaback (Biolink Technology) Membership Prof W P Griffith | Dr P J T Morris (Science Museum) Secretary: Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, | Mr P N Reed (Steensbridge, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ | Herefordshire) [e-mail [email protected]] | Dr V Quirke (Oxford Brookes Treasurer: Dr J A Hudson | University) Graythwaite, Loweswater, Cockermouth, | Prof. H. Rzepa (Imperial College) Cumbria, CA13 0SU | Dr. A Sella (University College) [e-mail [email protected]] Newsletter Dr A Simmons Editor Epsom Lodge, La Grande Route de St Jean, St John, Jersey, JE3 4FL [e-mail [email protected]] Newsletter Dr G P Moss Production: School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS [e-mail [email protected]] http://www.chem.qmul.ac.uk/rschg/ http://www.rsc.org/membership/networking/interestgroups/historical/index.asp 1 RSC Historical Group Newsletter No. 64 Summer 2013 Contents From the Editor 2 Obituaries 3 Professor Colin Russell (1928-2013) Peter J.T.
    [Show full text]
  • View Responses of Scouts, Scout Leaders, and Scientists Who Were Scouts
    ABSTRACT This study of science education in the Boy Scouts of America focused on males with Boy Scout experience. The mixed-methods study topics included: merit badge standards compared with National Science Education Standards, Scout responses to open-ended survey questions, the learning styles of Scouts, a quantitative assessment of science content knowledge acquisition using the Geology merit badge, and a qualitative analysis of interview responses of Scouts, Scout leaders, and scientists who were Scouts. The merit badge requirements of the 121 current merit badges were mapped onto the National Science Education Standards: 103 badges (85.12%) had at least one requirement meeting the National Science Education Standards. In 2007, Scouts earned 1,628,500 merit badges with at least one science requirement, including 72,279 Environmental Science merit badges. ―Camping‖ was the ―favorite thing about Scouts‖ for 54.4% of the boys who completed the survey. When combined with other outdoor activities, what 72.5% of the boys liked best about Boy Scouts involved outdoor activity. The learning styles of Scouts tend to include tactile and/or visual elements. Scouts were more global and integrated than analytical in their thinking patterns; they also had a significant intake element in their learning style. ii Earning a Geology merit badge at any location resulted in a significant gain of content knowledge; the combined treatment groups for all location types had a 9.13% gain in content knowledge. The amount of content knowledge acquired through the merit badge program varied with location; boys earning the Geology merit badge at summer camp or working as a troop with a merit badge counselor tended to acquire more geology content knowledge than boys earning the merit badge at a one-day event.
    [Show full text]
  • Michael Rossmann
    • • Purdue College of Science | Spring 2017 MICHAEL ROSSMANN: HIS PATH TO PURDUE & DECADES OF DISCOVERY @PurdueScience INSIDE: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE :: ALUMNUS’S NEXT NASA MISSION Dr.JD For more than 50 years, Michael Rossmann, the Hanley Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences, walked to his labs in Lilly Hall and Hockmeyer Hall of Structural Biology from his West Lafayette home. It was a leisurely 30 -minute stroll, at just over a mile to the southern tip of the Purdue campus. However, if one adds up all of his trips, he has traveled a distance equal to a round trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and back again to Rio. During those walks down Grant Street — past the blocks of homes built in the early 20th century as Purdue University grew and through an expanding campus — Rossmann’s mind stormed with ideas. Ideas mulled on these walks have led to monumental discoveries in the field of structural biology. Rossmann’s discoveries have helped doctors under - stand, treat and even cure infections from alpha viruses, coxsackievirus B3, flaviviruses like dengue and Zika, and even the rhinovirus that causes the common cold. His latest work has been a collaborative effort with Richard Kuhn, professor of biological sciences and director of the Purdue Institute for Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease, to study Zika virus. The virus has received widespread attention because of an increase in microcephaly — a birth defect that causes brain damage and an abnormally small head in babies born to some mothers infected during pregnancy — and reported transmission of the mosquito -borne virus in 33 countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Robert Burns Woodward
    The Life and Achievements of Robert Burns Woodward Long Literature Seminar July 13, 2009 Erika A. Crane “The structure known, but not yet accessible by synthesis, is to the chemist what the unclimbed mountain, the uncharted sea, the untilled field, the unreached planet, are to other men. The achievement of the objective in itself cannot but thrill all chemists, who even before they know the details of the journey can apprehend from their own experience the joys and elations, the disappointments and false hopes, the obstacles overcome, the frustrations subdued, which they experienced who traversed a road to the goal. The unique challenge which chemical synthesis provides for the creative imagination and the skilled hand ensures that it will endure as long as men write books, paint pictures, and fashion things which are beautiful, or practical, or both.” “Art and Science in the Synthesis of Organic Compounds: Retrospect and Prospect,” in Pointers and Pathways in Research (Bombay:CIBA of India, 1963). Robert Burns Woodward • Graduated from MIT with his Ph.D. in chemistry at the age of 20 Woodward taught by example and captivated • A tenured professor at Harvard by the age of 29 the young... “Woodward largely taught principles and values. He showed us by • Published 196 papers before his death at age example and precept that if anything is worth 62 doing, it should be done intelligently, intensely • Received 24 honorary degrees and passionately.” • Received 26 medals & awards including the -Daniel Kemp National Medal of Science in 1964, the Nobel Prize in 1965, and he was one of the first recipients of the Arthur C.
    [Show full text]
  • Los Premios Nobel De Química
    Los premios Nobel de Química MATERIAL RECOPILADO POR: DULCE MARÍA DE ANDRÉS CABRERIZO Los premios Nobel de Química El campo de la Química que más premios ha recibido es el de la Quí- mica Orgánica. Frederick Sanger es el único laurea- do que ganó el premio en dos oca- siones, en 1958 y 1980. Otros dos también ganaron premios Nobel en otros campos: Marie Curie (física en El Premio Nobel de Química es entregado anual- 1903, química en 1911) y Linus Carl mente por la Academia Sueca a científicos que so- bresalen por sus contribuciones en el campo de la Pauling (química en 1954, paz en Física. 1962). Seis mujeres han ganado el Es uno de los cinco premios Nobel establecidos en premio: Marie Curie, Irène Joliot- el testamento de Alfred Nobel, en 1895, y que son dados a todos aquellos individuos que realizan Curie (1935), Dorothy Crowfoot Ho- contribuciones notables en la Química, la Física, la dgkin (1964), Ada Yonath (2009) y Literatura, la Paz y la Fisiología o Medicina. Emmanuelle Charpentier y Jennifer Según el testamento de Nobel, este reconocimien- to es administrado directamente por la Fundación Doudna (2020) Nobel y concedido por un comité conformado por Ha habido ocho años en los que no cinco miembros que son elegidos por la Real Aca- demia Sueca de las Ciencias. se entregó el premio Nobel de Quí- El primer Premio Nobel de Química fue otorgado mica, en algunas ocasiones por de- en 1901 al holandés Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff. clararse desierto y en otras por la Cada destinatario recibe una medalla, un diploma y situación de guerra mundial y el exi- un premio económico que ha variado a lo largo de los años.
    [Show full text]
  • A Nobel Synthesis
    MILESTONES IN CHEMISTRY Ian Grayson A nobel synthesis IAN GRAYSON Evonik Degussa GmbH, Rodenbacher Chaussee 4, Hanau-Wolfgang, 63457, Germany he first Nobel Prize for chemistry was because it is a scientific challenge, as he awarded in 1901 (to Jacobus van’t Hoff). described in his Nobel lecture: “The synthesis T Up to 2010, the chemistry prize has been of brazilin would have no industrial value; awarded 102 times, to 160 laureates, of whom its biological importance is problematical, only four have been women (1). The most but it is worth while to attempt it for the prominent area for awarding the Nobel Prize sufficient reason that we have no idea how for chemistry has been in organic chemistry, in to accomplish the task” (4). which the Nobel committee includes natural Continuing the list of Nobel Laureates in products, synthesis, catalysis, and polymers. organic synthesis we arrive next at R. B. This amounts to 24 of the prizes. Reading the Woodward. Considered by many the greatest achievements of the earlier organic chemists organic chemist of the 20th century, he who were recipients of the prize, we see that devised syntheses of numerous natural they were drawn to synthesis by the structural Alfred Nobel, 1833-1896 products, including lysergic acid, quinine, analysis and characterisation of natural cortisone and strychnine (Figure 1). 6 compounds. In order to prove the structure conclusively, some In collaboration with Albert Eschenmoser, he achieved the synthesis, even if only a partial synthesis, had to be attempted. It is synthesis of vitamin B12, a mammoth task involving nearly 100 impressive to read of some of the structures which were deduced students and post-docs over many years.
    [Show full text]
  • THE NINETY-THIRD PRESENTATION of the WILLARD GIBBS MEDAL (Founded by William A
    http:/chicagoacs.org MAY• 2004 THE NINETY-THIRD PRESENTATION OF THE WILLARD GIBBS MEDAL (Founded by William A. Converse) to PROFESSOR RONALD BRESLOW sponsored by the CHICAGO SECTION AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2004 North Shore Lights at The iation for a nametag , and your check. Acceptance of the Award Hotel Moraine Be sure to include your address. 700 North Sheridan Road Tables fo r ten are availab le. If you Highwood, Illinois would like a table for a group, please 847-433-6366 put the ir names on a separate sheet and include it with your registration. DIRECTIONS TO THE MEETING From the North or South: Take 1-294 (continued on page 2) (the TriState Tollway) to Route 22. Exit east, take it to Route 41 (Skokie Hwy). AWARD CEREMONY 8:30 P.M. Turn north to the next exit, Old Elm. Go east on Old Elm to Sheridan Road Oust The Willard Gibbs Medal across some railroad tracks) . Turn right/south for 3/4 mile. The hotel is on Milt Levenberg, Chair the right. Chicago Section, ACS From Downtown: Take the Kennedy Introduction of the Medalist Expressway north. At the split , follow the Edens Expressway , which turns Madeleine Jacobs Executive Director & CEO, ACS into Skokie Highway past Lake Cook Dr. Ronald Breslow Road. Continue north to Old Elm Road. Presentation of the Medal Samuel Latham Mitchill Professor of Turn right/east on Old Elm and follow Chemistry and University Professor the directions above to the hotel. Dr. Charles P. Casey Department of Chemistry President, ACS Columbia University Parking: Free New York, NY RECEPTION 6:00-7:00 P.M.
    [Show full text]
  • CURRICULUM VITAE Robert Michael Williams, Ph.D
    CURRICULUM VITAE Robert Michael Williams, Ph.D. University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 Phone (970) 491-6747; FAX (970)-491-3944 e-mail: [email protected] Webpage: http://rwindigo1.chm.colostate.edu/ Personal Information: Date of birth: February 8, 1953 Married: Jill Janssen Williams Children: Ridge Janssen Williams (born February 23, 2001) Rainier Valentine Williams (born August 20, 2005) Education: B.A., Chemistry (with highest distinction), May, 1975. Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. Thesis under Professor Ei-ichi Negishi on "A Stereoselective Synthesis of Partially Substituted 1,2,3-Butatriene Derivatives via Hydroboration". Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, June, 1979. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. Thesis advisor, Dr. W. H. Rastetter. Thesis title: "Epidithiapiperazinedione Syntheses". Postdoctoral Fellow, September 1979-September 1980, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. The late Professor R. B. Woodward group (Y. Kishi, principal investigator). Total synthesis of erythromycin A. Honors and Awards: Organic Synthesis Award, Local Rocky Mountain ACS Section, Reaching New Heights (2012) JSPS Invitation Fellowship Program for Research in Japan (Long-Term) 2012-2013 Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products, American Chemical Society (2011) Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation Senior Award (2009-2011) University Distinguished Professor, Colorado State University (2002) Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, American
    [Show full text]
  • Robert Burns Woodward 1917–1979
    NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ROBERT BURNS WOODWARD 1917–1979 A Biographical Memoir by ELKAN BLOUT Any opinions expressed in this memoir are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences. Biographical Memoirs, VOLUME 80 PUBLISHED 2001 BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS WASHINGTON, D.C. ROBERT BURNS WOODWARD April 10, 1917–July 8, 1979 BY ELKAN BLOUT OBERT BURNS WOODWARD was the preeminent organic chemist Rof the twentieth century. This opinion is shared by his colleagues, students, and by other distinguished chemists. Bob Woodward was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and was an only child. His father died when Bob was less than two years old, and his mother had to work hard to support her son. His early education was in the Quincy, Massachusetts, public schools. During this period he was allowed to skip three years, thus enabling him to finish grammar and high schools in nine years. In 1933 at the age of 16, Bob Woodward enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study chemistry, although he also had interests at that time in mathematics, literature, and architecture. His unusual talents were soon apparent to the MIT faculty, and his needs for individual study and intensive effort were met and encouraged. Bob did not disappoint his MIT teachers. He received his B.S. degree in 1936 and completed his doctorate in the spring of 1937, at which time he was only 20 years of age. Immediately following his graduation Bob taught summer school at the University of Illinois, but then returned to Harvard’s Department of Chemistry to start a productive period with an assistantship under Professor E.
    [Show full text]
  • THE 101ST PRESENTATION of the WILLARD GIBBS MEDAL (Founded by William A
    Chicago Section http://chicagoacs.org MARCH • 2012 THE 101ST PRESENTATION OF THE WILLARD GIBBS MEDAL (Founded by William A. Converse) to PROFESSOR MARK A. RATNER sponsored by the CHICAGO SECTION AMERICAN CHEMCIAL SOCIETY FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 Casa Royale Seating will be available after the dinner 783 Lee Street for people not attending the dinner but Des Plaines, IL 60016 interested in hearing the speaker. 847-297-6640 (continued on page 2) Directions to Casa Royale are on page 2. AWARD CEREMONY 8:30 PM RECEPTION 6:00 P.M. Hors-d’oeuvres The Willard Gibbs Medal Two Complimentary Drinks Avrom C. Litin, Chair DINNER 7:00 P.M. Chicago Section, ACS The History of the Willard Gibbs Award Dinner reservations are required. To re- serve your tickets, please call the Chi- Introduction of the Medalist cago Section office at 847-391-9091 or register at http://ChicagoACS.org by Presentation of the Medal Monday, May 14 and pay $40 at the door, or fill out the reservation form on The Citation: Dr. Mark A. Ratner, Dumas University page 5 and mail it with your payment of Professor, Department of Chemistry, $40 by Wednesday, May 9 to the ad- For principal achievements in Northwestern University, Evanston, IL dress given on the form. If you are not • Molecular Electronics a member of the Chicago Local Section, ACCEPTANCE ADDRESS you are not eligible for half price tick- • Single-Molecule Aspects of Molecu- ets for students, unemployed, or retired lar Electronics “From Rectifying to Energy: Some Chicago Section members. Tickets and Reflections” nametags will be available at the door.
    [Show full text]