shell@fornax.UUCP (Barry Shell) (05/23/91)
I am planning to write a new book called "Great Canadian Scientists."
Please forward your nominations to me: shell@cs.sfu.ca
The rules are that the person must be a Canadian citizen. They don't have
to be born in Canada or even live in Canada, but they must have (or have
had, if they are dead) Canadian citizenship while they are/were great
Canadian scientists.
Some obvious names that come to mind are Banting (Insulin), Hertsberg ('71
Nobel Prize, chemistry), Polanyi ('86 Nobel prize: chemiluminescence).
I'm not quite sure what should constitute greatness, and there may be a
gray area here. If you have any ideas on criteria for greatness, I would be
pleased to hear them. In any event, please nominate people even if you are
not sure they are great. I would like as big a list as possible.
Please give me a name and email address, phone number or mail address, so
that I can contact the person. If you don't know any of the above, then
give me their last known whereabouts. Also please give your reason for why
you think the person should be considered a great Canadian scientist.
After I have the list, I will choose about ten of the most interesting ones
and do in-depth biographies of those individuals in the style of Tracy
Kidder's "Soul of a New Machine." The rest of the great Canadian scientists
will appear in an appedix with one paragraph biographies.
If you have any other ideas about this project, I am interested to hear
them. From time to time I will post the results of the project to
Barry Shell 604-876-5790
4692 Quebec St. Vancouver, B.C. V5V 3M1 Canada
shell@cs.sfu.ca
rescorla@rtnmr.chem.yale.edu (Eric Rescorla) (05/24/91)
In article <2734@fornax.UUCP> shell@lccr.UUCP () writes: > > >Some obvious names that come to mind are Banting (Insulin), Hertsberg ('71 ^^^^^^^^^ >Nobel Prize, chemistry), Polanyi ('86 Nobel prize: chemiluminescence). Do you mean Herzberg, as in Gerhard Herzberg, the optical spectroscopy god? or is there another Herzberg? -Ekr -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eric Rescorla rescorla@rtnmr.chem.yale.edu Yale University Department of Chemistry rescorla@psun.chem.yale.edu "No his mind is not for rent--to any God or government." Peart/Dubois
ilan@leland.Stanford.EDU (ilan vardi) (05/24/91)
In article <2734@fornax.UUCP> shell@lccr.UUCP () writes: > >Some obvious names that come to mind are Banting (Insulin), Hertsberg ('71 >Nobel Prize, chemistry), Polanyi ('86 Nobel prize: chemiluminescence). > The one that comes to mind for me is Ilan Vardi. >I'm not quite sure what should constitute greatness, and there may be a >gray area here. If you have any ideas on criteria for greatness, I would be >pleased to hear them. In any event, please nominate people even if you are >not sure they are great. I would like as big a list as possible. > Hey, I'm a great guy *and* a scientist. Modesty is what makes me great. I don't have any gray areas. -Ilan Vardi
hofbauer@csri.toronto.edu (John Hofbauer) (05/27/91)
In article <1991May24.140433.22124@leland.Stanford.EDU> ilan@leland.Stanford.EDU (ilan vardi) writes: > The one that comes to mind for me is Ilan Vardi. > Hey, I'm a great guy *and* a scientist. Modesty is what makes me great. > I don't have any gray areas. > > -Ilan Vardi Ah, but you couldn't possibly be Canadian because Canadians, by definition, are diffident and will not call attention to themselves, unless they are in their heart wannabe Americans, in which case they head south of the border. :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) in case some humourless American misunderstands. :-) Long live the beaver and maple leaf! John Hofbauer Austrian by birth, Canadian by citizenship and spirit. Austria - what can you say about a country who's best known living males are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kurt Waldheim!
buckland@ucs.ubc.ca (Tony Buckland) (05/27/91)
One easy way to get a list of great Canadian scientists would be to let Isaac Asimov do the research, and consult his "Biographical Encyclopedia of Science & Technology" (Doubleday, 1982, 2nd edn). It might not be exhaustive, but I don't think you'll find any bias in it.
abbott@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (John P. Abbott) (05/27/91)
To do a speedy search for Canadian Scientists, use _American Men and Women of Science_ (Dialog file 236). You can search by country of birth: s bs=canada Education: s ed=Univ(w)ed=Toronto Honors and Awards s ha=nobel Year of birth, sex, even current zip code. "American" means USA and Canada (no Mexico). The database includes physical and biological sciences. You can specify the discipline (s developmental(w)biology/id). Ask your local science reference librarian. Good Luck/Bon Chance. John Abbott NCSU Libraries (Credentials lacking, Farley Mowat remains my most beloved Canadian scientist)