NE WI ACS October Meeting!
Dr. Addison Ault
"Chance and Design in Organic Chemistry"
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh
Room 175, Halsey Science Center
800 Algoma Blvd., Oshkosh, WI 54901
6:00 National Chemistry Week Poster Contest
6:45 Councilor Update
7:00 Presentation
Map (link)
 |
| The purpose of this talk is to tell some of the stories that illustrate the subtle and complex relationships between hard work and good luck in the advancement of organic chemistry or of any branch of science. These relationships have been summarized in many ways, two of which are "Chance favors only the prepared mind" (Louis Pasteur), and "The harder I work, the luckier I get" (Lee Iacocca). Examples will include the discovery of the enantiomeric crystals of sodium ammonium racemate by Louis Pasteur, the Birch reduction by A. J. Birch, the sodium borohydride reduction of acetone and the hydroboration of olefins by H. C. Brown, the Wittig reaction by Georg Wittig, and the prediction of the fluxional nature of bullvalene by William Doering. In so far as it is possible, the motivation for the research that led to these discoveries will be presented in the words of the scientists who did the work. The main lesson to be learned from these stories is that what turn out in retrospect to be the great events of science are the result of observations made in the course of routine work. Confidence in the quality of the experimental work coupled with sufficient curiosity about an unexpected result are all that are needed for great work in science. |
|
