在網上看到一個好帖，貼過來和大家分享，來源：劉軍濤科學網博客
既然是做有機的, 就不能不提本領域內"活著的豐碑"--E.J.Corey, 這老先生是鼎鼎大名, 光榮事跡就輪不著我說了. 今天我選他2004年在JOC- Perspective上發表的文章---Impossible Dreams---(J. Org. Chem., 69 (9), 2917 -2919, 2004. 10.1021/jo049925d).
其實這篇文章在網上也見到有評價, 大體是說Corey自命不凡，居然在JOC上給自己寫自傳。我倒是覺得老爺子還是蠻可愛的，在其他地方看到一些大牛把Angew.Chem.和JACS當成自己家的後花園撒潑吵架或者當成自家雜誌寫長篇小說連載，覺得那境界也就彼此彼此吧。大家都是人，而且人家是化學界的名人，也要允許顯顯擺嘛，不然一輩子混得什麼勁兒。他首先說小時候自己是波士頓紅襪隊的超級粉絲。做了一輩子的球迷，終於有了回報。十七年前孩提時代的英雄Ted Williams與他交談共處了一個多小時， 然後談到自己的不可能夢想。(插一句嘴, 我怎麼老想著Impossible Mission呢)。我看完了這篇文章也沒鬧明白老爺子嘴裡掛著的Impossible Dreams是什麼東東, 難道是小時候琢磨的"電燈電話, 樓上樓下"?
下面是我的摘錄:You will understand the title at one level by knowing that I have been a fan of the Boston Red Sox for about seventy years. This loyalty was partially rewarded about seventeen years ago when by chance I had the pleasure of spending an hour with my boyhood hero, Ted Williams. At about the time that I started to follow the Red Sox games by radio, I acquired the notion that I would like someday to know in detail how to build from scratch radios, planes, skyscrapers, bridges, and all the other objects of modern life. I sometimes wonder, in retrospect, whether this impossible dream somehow had an influence on the course of my life.
接著講他在MIT的求學經歷, 以及後來到Illinois謀得教職。後來又到哈佛做教授。這些就省略了，反正大家有興趣自己找來看就是，也不用我在這兒囉嗦。我想說得就是文章的末段:在倒數第三段裡, Corey對化學界的年輕人做了"寄語":To them and to those starting careers in chemistry, I would offer the following advice: Never underestimate what you can accomplish if you prepare yourself well, continue to learn, work hard and optimistically, and value your integrity. 這一段話相當精彩，反正我是把它做成自己的QQ籤名了.在Nicholau在Angew.Chem.上寫的一篇全合成綜述裡提到一段話,我把它抄過來:Corey's contributions have turned the art of synthesis into a science....就是說Corey把有機合成藝術變成了一門科學。正文的標題還有一句"Dedicated to Professor E. J. Corey for his outstanding contributions to organic synthesis"。不光是做學問的，其實很多時候最重要的不是自己吹噓自己多厲害，同行的認可和尊重顯得更為重要。我等小輩在這個時候所能做的就是給予滔滔江水般景仰.I am often asked about my vision for the future of chemistry, especially synthetic chemistry. As just stated, I believe that chemical synthesis will make enormous contributions to human progress in the next century especially when coupled to biology and medicine. However, those developments will not be fully realized without great and continuing advances in the central disciplines of chemistry. There is so much that remains to be discovered, in my opinion, that today's chemistry will seem archaic to a 22nd century chemist. I envy the young people in chemistry who will experience the excitement and pleasure of making the many discoveries of the next century of chemical research. Yet, at the same time, I worry about whether the younger generations of this country and the world will aspire to high creativity and persevere to achieve their impossible dreams.在倒數第二段裡，Corey提到自己經常被問到對有機合成化學的前景。他講道化學合成和生物及藥物結合起來，必定對人類的發展做出巨大貢獻。然而如果沒有化學作為中心學科持續取得很大進展，這些發展就無從談起。在他看來，仍然有許多有待探索的東東，今天的化學在未來22世紀看來可能就是archaic(古代的, 已經廢棄的)。另外他很羨慕這個領域的年輕人etc....還有他擔心下一代會不會有足夠的抱負及高的創造力來堅持去實現他們自己的Impossible Dreams我覺得,他的意思是和"九斤老太"一樣----擔心一代不如一代, 一方面對新來的鼓勵,另外也是吹捧自己吧,呵呵。免費領取Chemdraw學習乾貨合集
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