James Bryant Conant Quotes

James Bryant Conant — American Scientist born on March 26, 1893, died on February 11, 1978

James Bryant Conant was an American chemist, a transformative President of Harvard University, and the first U.S. Ambassador to West Germany. Conant obtained a PhD in Chemistry from Harvard in 1916. During World War I he served in the U.S. Army, working on the development of poison gases. He became an assistant professor of chemistry at Harvard in 1919, and the Sheldon Emery Professor of Organic Chemistry in 1929. He researched the physical structures of natural products, particularly chlorophyll, and he was one of the first to explore the sometimes complex relationship between chemical equilibrium and the reaction rate of chemical processes. He studied the biochemistry of oxyhemoglobin providing insight into the disease methemoglobinemia, helped to explain the structure of chlorophyll, and contributed important insights that underlie modern theories of acid-base chemistry... (wikipedia)

Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.

Behavior which appears superficially correct but is intrinsically corrupt always irritates those who see below the surface.

Each honest calling, each walk of life, has its own elite, its own aristocracy based on excellence of performance.

Every vital organization owes its birth and life to an exciting and daring idea.