[In lieu of profiles, the contributors to this blog have decided to do their own Reactions pieces…]<\/p>\n
1. What made you want to be a chemist?<\/em><\/p>\n Like Josh<\/a>, I didn\u2019t get interested in chemistry until quite late in the game. My high school science classes were not very inspiring, but they were also sufficiently painless that I wasn\u2019t averse to taking more when I got to college. My freshman general chemistry class, then, got things moving: It was taught in the Socratic method by the best teacher ever, John Hutchinson. While the rest of the class was great, my \u2018eureka\u2019 moment came during a lecture about how soap works\u2026 as stupid as it sounds, the idea that physical processes could be explained in such a meaningful and elegant way really set me on the scientific path.<\/p>\n 2. If you weren\u2019t a chemist\/Nature Editor and could do any other job, what would it be – and why?<\/em><\/p>\n Well, I\u2019ve been saying for a long time that I wish someone would pay me to read things, so if I couldn\u2019t have this job, the other obvious choice is as an editor for a \u2018normal\u2019 publisher where I could read silly things (i.e., fiction). The other other<\/em> (i.e., non-geeky) obvious choice would be as a dancer, although I would have to get back in shape (ahh, guacamole, the plague of my exercise plan!).<\/p>\n 3. How can chemists best contribute to the world at large?<\/em><\/p>\n Without getting too negative, I think that many people live their lives without thinking things through, either in terms of their consequences (i.e., \u2018it doesn\u2019t matter if I throw this trash on the ground\u2019\u2026) or in how they will affect people around them (hmm\u2026 not sure I should get into this one, but let\u2019s say I do not see eye-to-eye with Bush\u2019s policies\u2026). I like that scientists, as a whole, seem to be more willing to think about things carefully and act accordingly. Thus (although I guess this isn\u2019t specific to chemists), an important potential contribution is to help people think more often.<\/p>\n 4. Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with \u2013 and why?<\/em><\/p>\n Do they have to be dead? I would say Jon Stewart. I simply cannot imagine a more hilarious evening.<\/p>\n 5. When was the last time you did an experiment in the lab – and what was it?<\/em><\/p>\n Last spring (May \u201906) \u2013 I was trying to figure out if my beta-peptides had structure or not, and spent a few frustrating days on the CD. The last time I did an actual chemical experiment was shortly before that \u2013 homologating alpha amino acids to the beta compounds with diazomethane. I am proud to say there were no explosions.<\/p>\n 6. If exiled on a desert island, what one book and one CD would you take with you?<\/em><\/p>\n I am, as my sister would say, an easy reader, so this is a tough one! Since I know I love it, and it\u2019s long enough to take more than ~a day to read (and I could use it to further improve my Japanese), I would probably take Shogun, by James Clavell. (Josh thinks I should point out that I got this book for 25 cents, amidst a used-book-sale binge of 300 books. Fortunately they all cost ~25 cents.) Otherwise I\u2019d take the complete works of Shakespeare. A CD\u2026 probably Crash, by Dave Matthews Band. Unfortunately, my favorite time to listen to that CD is while driving, which doesn\u2019t work out so well for being on a desert island… can I have a (CD-equipped) dune buggy too?<\/p>\n Catherine Goodman is an Associate Editor for Nature Chemical Biology<\/em><\/a> and a regular contributor to the Sceptical Chymist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [In lieu of profiles, the contributors to this blog have decided to do their own Reactions pieces\u2026] … Read more<\/a> Continue reading