Went to a very interesting lecture yesterday by Harry Kroto, 1996 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (link).
He was a great speaker, being able to hold the audience’s attention, despite reading whole paragraphs (nearly chapters) from various books that he claimed ‘changed his life’. The talk started off very well analysing what it means to be a good scientist; the questioning of everything and taking nothing as a given without looking at the evidence personally (something that may not always be too practical).
It then descended into a rather preaching rant about modern times, took a tour through skeptical religions, and ended with a surreal video of Mexican girls balancing buckyball-models on their heads. And that was it. Had to dash to Said for a business lecture. Damn commercialism.
More details, including a video archive of his previous lectures, can be found on his website of The Vega Trust (link).
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I have often seen reminiscences of people I have never even heard of, and I fail to see -- because I do not happen to be a 'Somebody' -- why my blog should not be interesting. My only regret is that I did not commence it when I was a youth.
