Enjoying Organic Chemistry, 1927-1987

Enjoying Organic Chemistry, 1927-1987
By:Egbert Havinga
Published on 1991 by Amer Chemical Society

|How did you get the idea--and the good fortune--to convince 22 world-famous chemists to write their autobiographies?| This question has been asked of me, in these or similar words, frequently over the past several years. I hope to explain in this preface how the project came about, how the contributors were chosen, what the editorial ground rules were, what was the editorial context in which these scientists wrote their stories, and the answers to related issues. Furthermore, several authors specifically requested that the project's boundary conditions be known. As I was preparing an article for Chemical Reviews on the Curtin-Hammett principle, I became interested in the people who did the work and the human side of the scientific developments. I am a chemist, and I also have a deep appreciation of history, especially in the sense of individual accomplishments. Readers' responses to the historical section of that review encouraged me to take an active interest in the history of chemistry. The concept for Profiles, Pathways, and Dreams resulted from that interest. My goal for Profiles was to document the development of modern organic chemistry by having individual chemists discuss their roles in this development. Authors were not chosen to represent my choice of the world's |best| organic chemists, as one might choose the |baseball all-star team of the century|. Such an attempt would be foolish: Even the selection committees for the Nobel prizes do not make their decisions on such a premise. The selection criteria were numerous. Each individual had to have made seminal contributions to organic chemistry over a multidecade career. (The average age of the authors is over 70!) Profileswould represent scientists born and professionally productive in different countries. (Chemistry in 13 countries is detailed.) Taken together, these individuals were to have conducted research in nearly all sub-specialties of organic chemistry. Invitations to contribute were based on solicited advice and on recommendations of chemists from five continents, including nearly all of the contributors. The final assemblage was selected entirely and exclusively by me. Not all who were invited chose to participate, and not all who should have been invited could be asked. A very detailed four-page document was sent to the contributors, in which they were informed that the objectives of the series were. 1. to delineate the overall scientific development of organic chemistry during the past 30--40 years, a period during which this field has dramatically changed and matured; . 2. to describe the development of specific areas of organic chemistry; to highlight the crucial discoveries and to examine the impact they have had on the continuing development in the field; . 3. to focus attention on the research of some of the seminal contributors to organic chemistry; to indicate how their research programs progressed over a 20--40-year period; and. 4. to provide a documented source for individuals interested in the hows and whys of the development of modern organic chemistry. One noted scientist explained his refusal to contribute a volume by saying, in part, that |it is extraordinarily difficult to write in good taste about oneself. Only if one can manage a humorous and light touch does it come off well. Naturally, I would like to place my work in what I consider its true scientific perspective, but..|. Each autobiography reflects the author's science, his lifestyle, and the style of his research. Naturally, the volumes are not uniform, although each author attempted to follow the guidelines. |To write in good taste| was not an objective of the series. On the contrary, the authors were specifically requested not to write a review article of their field, but to detail their own research accomplishments. To the extent that this instruction was followed and the result is not |in good taste|, then these are criticisms that I, as editor, must bear, not the writer. As in any project, I have a few regrets. It is truly sad that Egbert Havinga, who wrote this volume, and David Ginsburg, who translated another, died during the development of this project. There have been many rewards, some of which are documented in my personal account of this project, entitled |Extracting the Essence: Adventures of an Editor| published in CHEMTECH.

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