The CHEMISTRY of MOTHERHOOD: Any thoughts?

[GammaGlobulin]

My Friends,

 

CONCERNING Richard Smalley’s tribute to his mother published on his website at Rice University…

 

Only a few short years before Richard Smalley, so sadly and prematurely, kicked off this planet, just to rise up again to Saturn, where he now spends his (10-hour-34-minute) days with Kurt Vonnegut, I read one of the most impactful tributes to MOTHERHOOD that I have ever read. And I read it, not on Reddit, but on Smalley’s personal website, hosted by Rice University.

 

Unfortunately, this tribute, originally posted over 20 years ago, is now unlocatable by me.

 

Instead, I will post a very shortened excerpt of his originally published thoughts about MOTHERHOOD which I found on some Nobel-Prize-related site.

 

After reading the two below-quoted paragraphs Smalley wrote about his mother’s contribution to his career in science, copied from nobelprize.org, what are your thoughts about MOTHERHOOD?

 

Richard Errett Smalley was an American chemist who was the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry, Physics, and Astronomy at Rice University. 

Born: June 6, 1943, Akron, Ohio, United States

Died: October 28, 2005, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States

Education: Princeton University (1973), Princeton (1973), MORE

Awards: Nobel Prize in Chemistry, John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium

Notable student: Lihong V. Wang

Books: Bucky Balls, Fullerenes, and the Future: An Oral History Interview with Professor Richard E. Smalley, January 22, 2000

Known for: buckminsterfullerene

 

And…Just One of Smalley’s students: https://www.mede.caltech.edu/people/lvw

 

 

============

 

Here is what Smalley had to say about MOTHERHOOD:

 

“My interest in Science had many roots. Some came from my mother as she finished her B.A. Degree studies in college while I was in my early teens. She fell in love with science, particularly as a result of classes on the Foundations of Physical Science taught by a magnificent mathematics professor at the University of Kansas City, Dr. Norman N. Royall, Jr. I was infected by this professor second hand, through hundreds of hours of conversations at my mother’s knees. It was from my mother that I first learned of Archimedes, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and Darwin. We spent hours together collecting single-celled organisms from a local pond and watching them with a microscope she had received as a gift from my father. Mostly we talked and read together. From her I learned the wonder of ideas and the beauty of Nature (and music, painting, sculpture, and architecture). From my father I learned to build things, to take them apart, and to fix mechanical and electrical equipment in general. I spent vast hours in a woodworking shop he maintained in the basement of our house, building gadgets, working both with my father and alone, often late into the night. My mother taught me mechanical drawing so that I could be more systematic in my design work, and I continued in drafting classes throughout my 4 years in high school. This play with building, fixing, and designing was my favorite activity throughout my childhood, and was a wonderful preparation for my later career as an experimentalist working on the frontiers of chemistry and physics.”*

 

“My mother’s youngest sibling, Dr. Sara Jane Rhoads, was one of the first women in the United States to ever reach the rank of full Professor of Chemistry. After earning her Ph.D. in 1949 with William von Eggers Doering, who was then at Columbia University, she devoted her life to teaching and research in the Department of Chemistry of the University of Wyoming. She received the Garvan Medal of the American Chemical Society in 1982 for her contributions to physical organic chemistry, particularly in the study of the Cope and Claisen rearrangements. She was the only scientist in our extended family and was one of the brightest and, in general, one of the most impressive human beings I have ever met. She was my hero. I used to call her, lovingly, “The Colossus of Rhoads”. Her example was a major factor that led me to go into chemistry, rather than physics or engineering. One of the most enjoyable memories of my early life was the summer (1961) I spent working in her organic chemistry laboratory at the University of Wyoming. It was at her suggestion that I decided to attend Hope College that fall in Holland, Michigan. Hope had then (and still has now) one of the finest undergraduate programs in chemistry in the United States.”*  (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1996/smalley/biographical/)

 

Smalley’s original tribute to his mother, posted on his Rice University page, as I recall when I first read it before Y2K, was much longer, and much more informative concerning what Smalley considered to be his mother’s greatest gifts to him.

 

But still, after reading just these two paragraphs written by Smalley, what are your thoughts about the Chemistry of Motherhood?

 

Regards,

As Ever….

Gamma

 

Please Note:  There is no need, maybe, to criticize Smalley as a scientist, nor to mention that he inexplicably became a Creationist in later life, maybe in reaction to his fatal cancer.  Everybody knows that Faith and Science do not mix.

 

Second Note: I guess there is also no need to broach old topics about motherhood such as those related to the film, "Mommie Dearest", or even the existence of more modern "Chinese Tiger Moms", etc.  Today is a Sunday, for pity's sake.

 

Also, concerning spiritualism and faith and Smalley’s alleged conversion to belief in creationism, if true, I think I have already covered this in the first paragraph above by my mention of his reported existence on Saturn after his death.

 

In the end, there is only the Scientific Method to be relied upon.

In the beginning, there is only motherhood, a result of our biology.

 

I just hope that I do not need to explain to anybody what this topic is about, because you just gotta read the two quoted paragraphs to make things crystal clear for yourselves.

 

*(Although I never use bold text, in this case, Smalley’s beautiful words about his mother inspired me to use darker text to highlight his impactful thoughts about MOTHERHOOD. Also, Smalley is a Nobel, and so his quotations should be printed using bolder text.)

 

The study of the Natural Sciences, including Chemistry, at the highest level, is HARD, Baby!

Climbing Everest, by comparison, is a piece of cake, fit for nitwits, signifying NOTHING.

 

=====

Last Note: Concerning Smalley and Creationist beliefs, I would like to think that his battle with a fatal cancer makes this a moot issue. And that further, Smalley may have gotten slightly off the beaten track of science, just due to his horrific battle.

 

 

Chok-Di_!!!

 

 

 

[zzaa09]

Life is matriarchal/matrilineal.

The inner Goddess dominates all. 

[GammaGlobulin]

8 minutes ago, zzaa09 said:

Life is matriarchal/matrilineal.

The inner Goddess dominates all. 

POWER dominates us all.

 

AND, if one wishes to better understand POWER, in the family, in the village, and in society, then one should spend significant time studying "Kinship Terminology", which is the KEY to understanding power relationships.

 

By Kinship Terminology, I am referring, in the case of passa Thai, to Pi, Nong, etc.

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by GammaGlobulin

[Gottfrid]

5 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

what are your thoughts about MOTHERHOOD?

Need more information. Should I refer to my own mother or all the MILF´s with great attributes?

[thaibeachlovers]

The CHEMISTRY of MOTHERHOOD: Any thoughts?

 

I've seen enough births to be glad I'm not capable of getting pregnant.

[GammaGlobulin]

On 7/17/2023 at 12:38 AM, Gottfrid said:

Need more information. Should I refer to my own mother or all the MILF´s with great attributes?

Please refer to the mother who most helped you achieve your academic goals in Science.

How did she influence you most.

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by GammaGlobulin