Spinach On The Ceiling The Multifaceted Life Of A Theoretical Chemist
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Spinach On The Ceiling: The Multifaceted Life Of A Theoretical Chemist
'Karplus's tales of a turbulent graduate school experience at Caltech will inspire readers to muster fortitude when everything seems to be spinning out of control. Karplus balances rigorous scientific discussions with refreshing chapters expounding his passion for photography and gastronomy.'Nature Chemistry, May 2020Nobel Laureate Martin Karplus was eight when his family fled Nazi-occupied Austria via Switzerland and France for the United States. He would later credit his life as a refugee as a decisive influence on his world view and approach to science.Spinach on the Ceiling is an autobiographical telling of Karplus' life story, and how it led him to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2013. The book captures pivotal moments in Martin's life — from his escape to Switzerland in 1938 shortly after Hitler's entrance into Austria; to memorable moments like when his parents gave him a microscope which opened his eyes to the wonders of science; to his education in New England and California; and his eventual scientific career which took him to England, Illinois, Columbia, Strasbourg, and Harvard. It relates how Martin's optimistic outlook and belief in his vision made it possible for him to overcome setbacks in his life, and turn a subject of study his colleagues considered a waste of time into a central part of chemistry and structural biology. It is his hope to inspire and aid young readers, in particular, to have a successful trajectory in their own lives. Although research and teaching have been his primary focus, he has traveled the world photographing people and places with a Leica IIIC and has had numerous exhibitions of the photographs. He has also enjoyed a lifelong interest in cooking and worked in some of the best restaurants in France and Spain.
Walter Kohn: From Kindertransport And Internment To Dft And The Nobel Prize
Walter Kohn, 1998 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and discoverer of the Density Functional Theory (DFT), died in 2016 at the grand age of 93. This book is the first ever biography of Kohn, who led a remarkable life and scientific career, not least the fact that his DFT theory has emerged as the underlying computational method for molecular simulation used throughout the physical and life sciences. Taking us on a compelling journey, Sir David Clary traces Kohn's early life in Vienna and his dramatic escape from the Nazis on the Kindertransport to England in 1939, followed by Kohn's internment as an 'enemy alien' and his transportation to Canada in 1940. His subsequent scientific career is discussed in detail, including his remarkable sabbatical in France when he discovered DFT, and his enduring efforts on peace initiatives and reduction of nuclear proliferation. An extraordinary story of a theoretical physicist winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Walter Kohn is a sparkling chronicle of one of the great scientists of the 20th century who forever changed the way contemporary science is done.
The Knowledge Illusion
“The Knowledge Illusion is filled with insights on how we should deal with our individual ignorance and collective wisdom.” —Steven Pinker We all think we know more than we actually do. Humans have built hugely complex societies and technologies, but most of us don’t even know how a pen or a toilet works. How have we achieved so much despite understanding so little? Cognitive scientists Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach argue that we survive and thrive despite our mental shortcomings because we live in a rich community of knowledge. The key to our intelligence lies in the people and things around us. We’re constantly drawing on information and expertise stored outside our heads: in our bodies, our environment, our possessions, and the community with which we interact—and usually we don’t even realize we’re doing it. The human mind is both brilliant and pathetic. We have mastered fire, created democratic institutions, stood on the moon, and sequenced our genome. And yet each of us is error prone, sometimes irrational, and often ignorant. The fundamentally communal nature of intelligence and knowledge explains why we often assume we know more than we really do, why political opinions and false beliefs are so hard to change, and why individual-oriented approaches to education and management frequently fail. But our collaborative minds also enable us to do amazing things. The Knowledge Illusion contends that true genius can be found in the ways we create intelligence using the community around us.