See the calendar below. Many events of interest to scientists this week. If you would like to add events to the calendar, please contact us.
In addition to an ever expanding list of seminars, lectures and gatherings, friends and colleagues of the late William Lipscomb will gather at 2 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Church in Harvard Yard to remember the Nobel-prize-winning chemist.
For more on Dr. Lipscomb:
- The Harvard Gazette
- The Annals of Improbable Research. Dr. L was a regular at the Ig Nobels.
- The New York Times
Nobel laureate Linus C. Pauling, Dr. Lipscomb was a pioneering researcher whose work on the chemical structure of boranes — compounds of boron and hydrogen — continued Dr. Pauling’s work at the California Institute of Technology in the 1940s.
In terms of practical applications, boron compounds have shown some promise in radiation therapy for treating brain tumors. But mainly the work significantly advanced basic knowledge of the way atoms bond together.
As Dr. Lipscomb said: "For me, the creative process, first of all, requires a good nine hours of sleep a night. Second, it must not be pushed by the need to produce practical applications.