Donald J. Cram: From Design to Discovery (Profiles, Pathways, and Dreams)

Donald J. Cram is recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on Host-Guest Complexes. A pioneer in physical organic chemistry, Dr. Cram developed early concepts for asymmetric synthesis ("Cram's rule"). His book is an interesting and lively account of this scientific research.

"In Cram's book we learn how, fatherless from the age of four, he 'bartered' his way through education and escaped from a poor background, holding down 18 different menial jobs at the age of 16 to pay his way. His chemical interests are clearly listed, from Cram's rule and phenonium ions, through cyclophanes, to the world of host-guest complexation with spherands, podands and cavitands. This lifetime work culminated in the announcement of his share in the Nobel prize with Pedersen and Lehn just after the completion of the original manuscript for the book--good timing indeed!"--Chemistry in Britain

"Cram's 'From design to discovery' is outstanding for the most beautiful artwork of structural chemical formulae in the whole series of books: they were hand drawn by June Hendrix. Nobel laureate, guitar player and passionate sportsman--tennis, swimming, sailing, skiing and surfing--he showed his prowess as a poet and singer when his acceptance speech for the Californian Scientist of the Year Prize was a poem sung by him on that occasion. It was a parody of 'HMS Pinafore'. To him, being creative in organic chemistry research offered more open ended opportunities than were given to any other scientist, encompassing such a variety of scientific reasoning and allowing so many opportunities of putting predictions to a speedy test. His life's work was a 'contribution to world-culture, clearly on exhibit, so accumulative and so subject to verification'."--Interdisciplinary Science Reviews