Dudley Herschbach Interview: Conversations with History; Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

See the Conversations with History Blog See a webcast of this interview: Herschbach

This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

Welcome to a Conversation with History. I'm Harry Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our guest today is Dudley Herschbach, who is the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 1986. He is the 2005 Hitchcock Professor on the Berkeley campus.

1. Background ... rural life ... influence of parents ... lessons of father ... teachers ... education ... discovering science
2. Doing Science ... being naïve ... living with frustration ... truth waits for the scientist ... sense of wonder and fellowship ... example of Einstein ... evangelical fervor ... poetry and creativity ... child's play
3. Nobel Research ... cooperative science and lunatic fringe ... classical research in chemical reactions ... developing single-collision chemistry ... experimentation ... co-operative endeavor ... evolution of tools and ideas ... practical applications ... learning nature's language ... surprising discoveries from basic research
4. Science and Society ... legitimation ... Ben Franklin as scientist ... the importance of science for international respect ... current vs. past societal view of science ... Thomas Jefferson ... integrating science into historical studies
5. The Future of Science Education ... the problem of compartmentalization ... looking to the next generation ... student scientists on television ... advice to students ... importance of the individual imagination

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