Chemistry Nobelist Speaks at Havemeyer

by John Wong

Chemistry deals with life because it is all around us. There is a duality of chemistry, which can be seen by its utility as well as its harms. Modern medical techniques work with chemistry. Pollution and chemicals that make up our food and air are vital to us. In other words, chemistry deals directly with life.

Hoffmann also explained how chemists and scientists actually work. Chemists often see themselves as scientists who look at work of other scientists with utmost objectiveness. But sometimes, this is not the case. Chemists are human beings who work with emotion. Hoffmann talks about the human touch of chemistry.

In addition, Hoffmann discussed reductionism, which is a way of understanding that utilizes a hierarchy of sciences, and the value judgment of quality of knowledge. How far does one have to reach back to the source to truly understand a specific topic? He declares that there are two ways of seeking knowledge, horizontally, and vertically. Hoffmann favors the horizontal approach, where interesting problems in a certain field should be studied within that field. If all knowledge is reduced to something deeper, the inherent flavor of the original problem may be lost.

Roald Hoffmann is a Columbia College graduate, class of 1959. He recently published a book with the same name as the lecture "The Same and Not the Same", published by Columbia University Press. His book is dedicated to his teachers at Columbia College. Hoffmann is an accomplished poet and writer who wrote many articles on topics in chemistry, as well as Chemistry Intrigued a book about art, science, and literature. He attributed the education at the College provided him with an introduction to the liberal arts. He uses his knowledge of the liberal arts to link chemistry and art together, as well as to explain complicated chemical knowledge in layman's terms.