This blog is my attempt to reconnect with the world of chemistry. I have a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry and make a living doing research for a large company in Michigan. As times have changed, that company has changed its focus and I no longer have as much chance to do the basic, fundamental research which I most enjoy. Through this blog, I am hoping to recapture the magic which I felt during my graduate (and undergraduate) days in college. Expect topics on chemistry and alchemy along with some non-chemistry related items which I think might be interesting.

"The chymists are a strange class of mortals, impelled by an almost insane impulse to seek their pleasure among smoke and vapour, soot and flame, poisons and poverty; yet among all these evils I seem to live so sweetly that may I die if I would change places with the Persian King."

Johann Joachim Becher (phlogistonist)
Acta Laboratorii Chymica Monacensis, seu Physica Subterranea, (1669).

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Goodbye, Mr. Clarke

As most of you probably know by now, Arthur C. Clarke died yesterday at the age of 90. He was probably my favorite author in high school and I still enjoy rereading some of his books even today. “A Fall of Moondust” is still my favorite. I especially enjoyed his collection of short stories, where he would take a basic science fact and weave a clever story around it. I stopped reading his books after “Cradle” and “Rama II”, both of which were collaborations with Gentry Lee. Even though Lee was the secondary author, the books seemed to have so little of Clarke’s style that I lost interest in them and regretfully assumed that Clarke was winding down his career as an author. In fact, I have no idea if Clarke wrote anything else since then.

In any case, I would like to say goodbye to Mr. Clarke and thank him for many, many wonderful memories.
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