NOYES LABORATORY AND ASTONOMY; "CRITTERS"
Some of the 1953 senior organic majors did their thesis work,
under the directions of Prof. E.C. Taylor, in a large lab in the
4th floor corner of Noyes Lab catty-corner from what was then
the Chemical Engineering Building. Many of us took astronomy as
an elective that year. When the weather was good and the night
sky was clear, many of us (NOT me) went out the window of this
lab onto the roof to look for the constellations. (Prof. Taylor
was rarely in his neighboring office at night and so was unaware
of this risky practice.)
At that time, biochem stored animal feed near this lab. At night,
the cockroaches that gorged themselves here would prowl the dark
hallways. Since the roaches were humungous, to step on one constituted
a slipping hazard. Also, it was a favorite prank of many of the
senior male students to catch one, put it into a vial and then
into one of the lab drawers of an unlucky female student. Her
reaction was predictable.
William H. Gumprecht
Class of 1953
