Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Happy Birthday...Have a Nobel Prize!




It was a great birthday for Gerhardt Ertl. He turned 71 today and was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry. His award-winning research involved "surface chemistry", vital to the development of the catalytic converter, and our understanding of the vanishing ozone layer.

Professor Ertl spoke at a live press conference today, "It is the best birthday present that you can give somebody. I was really speechless."

Happy Birthday, Professor Ertl!

2 comments:

Heather Kirkwood said...

Hey Doc:
I heard an interview with the professsor today. He said he was worried that now that he's a Nobel Prize winner, he's worried people will expect him to be smarter than he really is....I thought that was funny! HA!

Did you see the prize for medicine earlier in the week...the names escape me but they won for figuring out how to turn genes on and off....if memory serves?

BTW - NIH funding is up for a vote in the Senate next week. Fingers crossed!

eyedoc333 said...

Hiya Heather! Great to see you.

Yes, please keep your fingers crossed on that NIH funding bill. My NIH grant proposal is poised for funding, as long as enough money is allocated. I've written to my senators to support NIH funding and hope that all readers will do the same.