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The business about it being wicked to gamble and
lose was related to a quotation from Carl S. Marvel.
In remembering "Speed" Marvel, we may well recall a few
of his favorite sayings, but some may have become entwined with
the aphorisms of Mark Twain, another man who crossed the Mississippi
River. "Anyone is a fool to go into academic work. All good
chemistry is done in industry. If chemistry isn't fun, it shouldn't
be done. Insurance is useless due to inflation with the Democratic
(or Republican) Party in power. Membership in a scientific honor
society is like a pair of
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Carl S. "Speed"
Marvel |
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pants - you don't get any credit for it but you would look funny
without it." His advice to a department head (Herbert E. Carter)
included the following messages: "Keep committees to a minimum.
They seldom create new ideas and are too often swayed by the most
aggressive talker. Never take a vote until you know you have a good
majority on your side. Never ask the Provost for less than you need,
but always supply documentation. Don't ask for funds to do something
- start doing something, even at a sacrifice, and ask for funds
to continue and expand a promising activity. Know your faculty and
keep track especially of the young chemists."
Speed could drink the hottest coffee and consume the largest amount
of popcorn. He was fond of guiding his colleagues through the Greek
alphabet and of interjecting Latin quotations. He teased us with
statements of the wonderful chemistry they were doing at DuPont
that he wished he could tell us about. In answer to our random complaints,
he had lived through a bigger snowstorm, had had a worse graduate
student (who improved dramatically) and a worse secretary (who responded
to training), and always felt old (while doing the work of at least
three young people). In remembrance of Speed Marvel, we smile for
someone we really cared for and who cared for all of us. The lasting
words that he gave me were "Remember that our major product
is our students."
The citation of 1986 when he received the National Medical of Science
was:
"For leading us into the Polymer Age through his researches
on polymers, including synthetic rubber; for helping us
into the Space Age through his development of thermally
stabile polymers; for his many services to the chemical
profession; and for educating and inspiring three generations
of chemists."
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| Charles C. Price III |
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Charles C. Price, III, told me that Speed had
influenced his career by saying, "If you are going to study
reaction mechanisms, you might as well do so for important reactions:
polymerizations." He and his students did study addition polymerization
at Illinois, especially end group analysis. His student Royston
Roberts discovered a key step in the synthesis of the antimalarial
Chloroquine, and I joined the Price and Snyder groups in manufacturing
kilo supplies of the quinoline ring portion. During World War II,
Charlie Price's group was also engaged in the study of Sulfur and
Nitrogen Mustards, which required the upgrading of the Noyes hoods.
His advice to me was "Just work hard. Enjoy the chemistry you
are doing. Your academic future will take care of itself."
His future was to be at Notre Dame and the University of Pennsylvania.
Charlie Price and Harold Snyder had spent a year
together as labmates as Roger Adams' postdoctorates. Harold assembled
and maintained a group of industrious, dedicated, and loyal research
students. When Harold was not at his office desk editing chapters
and chapters of "Organic Reactions," the first volume
of which was published in 1942, he was likely to be found in the
library or in the laboratory across the hall from his office in
Noyes Laboratory. There he tried out new reactions on a test-tube
scale before he assigned problems to students, especially undergraduate
research students. He explained that "It is wise to generate
a bit of optimism at the start of a research problem." He inspired
his students to follow their own ideas, stressed that research was
a learning experience for them, and he was always willing to take
an extra step on their behalf. For me, he was tolerant (of my singing
in the laboratory next to his office), generous (my wife-to-be lived
with the Snyders for three months prior to our marriage), and helpful
(he got me involved in "Organic Syntheses" - another first
for Adams in 1920). I still recall his dry wit and his propensity
for engaging in practical jokes, often well-staged and elaborate.
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Harold Snyder |
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