freeelectron's Xanga

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:05:51 GMT

My new boss in Cambridge sent me 2 review papers on supramolecular chemistry. This is the first page of one of the reviews:

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Thu, 03 May 2007 01:19:22 GMT

Excerpt from << Nanocosm>> p.112

"......Furthermore, we must visit nature not as conquerors but as acolytes. At last we know enough to be modest; and armed with that new modesty, we must change the way we think, make, and dream. We must do as Lady Nature does."

Monday, March 12, 2007

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 02:25:33 GMT

Double Quotation:

Nobel Lecture in Chemistry 1994, by Prof. George A. OLAH

"Intensive, critical studies of a controversial topic always help to eliminate possibility of any errors. One of my favorite quotation is that by George Bekessy (Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1961). 45 “[One] way of dealing with errors have friends who are willing to spend the time necessary to carry out a critical examination of the experimental design beforehand and the results after the experiments been completed. An even better way is to have an enemy. An enemy is willing to a vast amount of time and brain power to ferreting out errors both large and small, this without any compensation. The trouble is that really capable enemies are scarce; most of them are only ordinary. Another trouble with enemies is that they sometimes develop into friends and lose a good deal of their zeal. It was in this way the writer lost his three best enemies. Everyone, not just scientists, need a few good enemies!” "

Monday, February 05, 2007

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 12:04:56 GMT

Towards the end of the book, the author never fails in adding flavor to it.

<< Nanocosm >>
p. 233
As the next day wears on, a vile joke heard long ago comes to mind. An overweight man, having failed at every other diet, visits a Sure-Fire Weight Loss Clinic. The first day he’s shown into a locked room where he’s greeted by a beautiful woman in a Versaci gown. “If you catch me,” she says, “I’m yours.” She leads him on a high-speed chase that causes him to shed ten pounds. The next day the woman’s wearing in a bikini, and in the chase, he loses twenty pounds. The third day he’s shown into a smaller room where a 500-pound sumo wrestler, stark naked, is smiling wickedly. “If I catch you,” the wrestler says, “you are mine.”

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 10:25:17 GMT

Another quote from << Nanocosm >>

p. 184
"A Ph.D., it’s been said, learns more and more about less and less, until he knows everything about nothing. (By contrast, honesty compels me to admit, we science journalists learn less and less about more and more, until we know nothing about everything.)"

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 09:44:50 GMT

Recently burrying my head into << Nanocosm>>

p. 119
"Scientists, like everyone, laugh at things that illuminate the puzzles and paradoxes of their daily lives. Much of this only other scientists will understand; since they share a worldview, they get similar jokes. When you’ve spent twenty years studying mitochondria, the thought of an imaginary energy currency called systemic adenosine transferase protein, or SATRAP, may leave your on the floor. Not so those outside your would, even that sniffy geneticist in the adjacent office. And as for the layman… well. Scientists have no sense of humor, right?"

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Wed, 17 May 2006 02:43:18 GMT

Finally finished reading <<Nanosystems - Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation >>
Really an inspiring book.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 23:12:55 GMT

Haha... getting zero offer from grad schools...

Recent progress:
Quantum Chem: 606 out of 606 (In fact finished some time already, it's a nice bk anyway.)
Nanosystems: 275 out of 500 (A very inspiring bk, though there are significant portions, which I don't understand... Have to work hard in my thermodynamics and statistics after finishing this book.)
Biochem: 23x out of 1040 (gaining important knowledge...)

Monday, March 20, 2006

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 11:24:14 GMT

Rejected by Harvard...

Recent progress:
Quantum Chem: 546 out of 606
Nanosystems: 98 out of 500
Biochem: 182 out of 1040

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 09:05:15 GMT

Recently, have been sick for at least a week...
sigh...
Nevertheless, it gives me chances to enjoy loves from my parents and wife and other friends who really care me. Thank you all of you. Academicia is never the whole of my life, there are certainly some other things which are of higher importance.
Thank God for sustaining me wherever I may be.

Recent progress:
Quantum Chem: 475 pages (out of 600)
Nanosystems: 85 pages (out of 510)
Really have to study more physics and physical chem before I can appreciate this book more... luckily I can still press on quite well without understanding every part of the content. I am now up to molecular dynamics and statistical thermodynamics.
Biochem: just a few pages