Robert Burns Woodward (April 10, 1917 – July 8, 1979) was an American organic chemist. He is considered by many to be the preeminent organic chemist of the twentieth century, having made many key contributions to the subject, especially in the synthesis of complex natural products and the determination of their molecular structure. He also worked closely with Roald Hoffmann on theoretical studies of chemical reactions. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1965.
Read more about Robert Burns Woodward: Early Life and Education, Early Work, Later Work and Its Impact, Woodward Institute and Later Life, Family, Publications, Idiosyncracies, Honors/Awards, Honorary Degrees
Famous quotes containing the words robert, burns and/or woodward:
“When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.”
—J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904–1967)
“Ev’n thou who mourn’st the Daisy’s fate,
That fate is thine—no distant date;
Stern Ruin’s ploughshare drives , elate,
Full on thy bloom,
Till crush’d beneath the furrow’s weight,
Shall be thy doom.”
—Robert Burns (1759–1796)
“What you don’t understand about this town is that they can fight about issues all they want, but they don’t really care about them. What they really care about is who they sit next to at dinner.”
—Anonymous “Prominent Woman,” Washington, DC, socialite. As quoted in The Agenda, ch. 20, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, to Bob Woodward (1994)