Dr. Gerhard Herzberg Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1971

Estimated read time: 1:20

Summary

Dr. Gerhard Herzberg shares his experiences surrounding the unexpected news of winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1971 and reflects on how scientific research has evolved over the decades. He recounts the differences in technology and methodology from the earlier days compared to the present. Herzberg also discusses his extensive work on atomic and molecular spectra, the publication journey of his books, and his encounters with prominent scientists like Einstein, Rabi, and Teller. He concludes with reminisces about his move from Germany to Canada due to the political climate in the 1930s and the pivotal encounters in his career.

Highlights

Dr. Gerhard Herzberg unexpectedly found out he won the Nobel Prize while on a train in the Soviet Union! 🚂
The development of scientific tools over the decades, from manual to digital, has changed research dynamics drastically! 🔬
Herzberg's commitment to his work is astonishing, dedicating weekends to write extensive books on spectra! 📖
His encounters with renowned scientists like Einstein and interactions with Edward Teller offer unique insights! 🌟
Herzberg's move to Canada was just as much a personal journey as it was a professional one, stemming from political challenges in Germany. 🌍

Key Takeaways

Dr. Herzberg's surprise at winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry while in the Soviet Union 🎉
The evolution of scientific research tools from manual calculations to computerized systems 💻
Herzberg's detailed journey of publishing multiple volumes on atomic and molecular spectra 📚
Insight into Herzberg's interactions with notable scientists like Einstein and Rabi 👥
Reflections on how scientific gatherings have changed over time, keeping up connections with younger scientists 🔗

Overview

While riding a train in the heart of the Soviet Union, Dr. Gerhard Herzberg received the surprising news that he had won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This unexpected accolade marked a high point in a rigorous career marked by a passion for uncovering the mysteries of atomic and molecular spectra. Herzberg’s reflections on the moment unveil not only his personal joy but a unique slice of history where scientific achievement intersected with geopolitical circumstances.

Herzberg delves into the evolution of scientific exploration over the decades. Fondly recalling the early days of research with manual tools and the changes brought by the digital era, he notes how computers revolutionized the way scientists engage with their work. From building equipment by hand to today's intricate systems, Herzberg provides an insightful narrative on the journey of technological advancement.

Beyond his research, Herzberg’s scholarly contributions include extensive writings on spectra, highlighting a disciplined commitment to advancing science. His manuscript marathon spanned years, piecing together knowledge through countless weekends. Alongside his academic achievements, Herzberg reflects on his encounters with titans of science like Einstein and Teller, offering an enriched perspective on a life devoted to science and discovery.

Chapters

00:00 - 00:30: Introduction The chapter introduces Dr. Hands Back, a Nobel Prize winner from 1971, and focuses on his experiences and insights regarding receiving the Nobel Prize.
00:30 - 05:00: Winning the Nobel Prize The chapter titled 'Winning the Nobel Prize' describes the unexpected and surprising nature of receiving such a prestigious award. The narrator recounts the lack of advance information about winning the prize, sharing a personal anecdote about being in the Soviet Union on November 2, 1971, when the news was received.
05:00 - 10:00: Changes in Research Over Time The chapter discusses a lecture given by the speaker, where they traveled from Moscow to Leningrad. They mention their host, noted for his work that was known for something specific when he left, but upon his return, there is an implication of change or development. The speaker does not provide full details, indicating an unfinished thought or incomplete transcript.
10:00 - 17:00: Writing Books The chapter titled 'Writing Books' mentions a rumor about a Nobel Prize and describes a personal experience related to potential travel plans. The speaker expresses a lack of interest in a Russian lifestyle and reflects on how the Academy and friends played a role in their decision-making process.
17:00 - 27:00: Famous Scientists Met While traveling on a train from Leningrad to Moscow for six hours, the narrator was informed by a representative from the Academy that they had been confirmed as a Nobel Prize winner in Physics. The narrator was stuck on the train with no one to celebrate or discuss this exciting news with.
27:00 - 36:00: Coming to Canada The chapter 'Coming to Canada' begins with the narrator reflecting on their journey, specifically relating to their academic pursuits in physics and chemistry. It seems there was an initial expectation or confusion regarding their focus, as they found out upon arrival in Moscow that their studies were related to chemistry, not physics. The arrival in Moscow was met with unexpected attention from reporters, illustrating a noteworthy aspect of their journey. There is a mention of professor Mandelstam, indicating the academic context of their experience.
36:00 - 45:30: Collaborations and Mentions The speaker describes a situation where they were invited to someone's home along with Professor Solvang. The evening turned out to be quite pleasant. They reflect on how rare such occasions are, especially during their time. The mention of Professor Solvang suggests the importance or fame of the person they spent the evening with.
45:30 - 51:00: Research on H3 and Conclusion The chapter 'Research on H3 and Conclusion' primarily discusses the numerous invitations received during the first year to lectures, assemblies, and functional events. It highlights the frequent nature of these invitations, indicating an active engagement or interest in the subject of H3 research. The conclusion likely ties these experiences and engagements back to the overarching themes of the research.

Dr. Gerhard Herzberg Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1971 Transcription

00:00 - 00:30 so to introduce dr. hands back from a National Research Council Canada Nobel Prize winner from 1971 and doctrines but I would like to ask you about how is it to get the Nobel
00:30 - 01:00 Prize does it feel who does it feel yeah well it's a great surprise when you get it and I mean you have no advance information and so I I was in I happen to be in the Soviet Union at the time this was on the 2nd of November in 1971
01:00 - 01:30 I was I gave a lecture I was going from from Moscow to Leningrad to give a that chabela and this was in the morning of a certain day and then my host of flesh is known for his work on from expect when he left the group that was was million when he came back he said there's a
01:30 - 02:00 rumor that you have the Nobel Prize huge surprising what do you do was that you but fortunately well and I was going to leave in the afternoon with trend I didn't want to go was the night to him because I had come by night by night I didn't like the Russian life and so I the Academy was aware of that and after the my friends my colleagues took me to
02:00 - 02:30 the station they left me there and immediately afterwards somebody came in and he showed me a card and he was from the Academy and said we that had confirmed that I had the Nobel Prize for Physics he said and that I didn't understand quite and here I was in the train for six hours between Leningrad Moscow and nobody to talk to Oh discuss anything with anybody and one
02:30 - 03:00 wondering how could it be in physics and of course it wasn't in physics it was in chemistry which I found out as soon as I arrived in Moscow because normally we had some of my friends there at the station but was a crowd of reporters and so on well can you imagine that you work for example professor Mandelstam who was in my post said you must be tired to see
03:00 - 03:30 him so on he said yes I'm tired were tired so they won't be able to sleep well you come with us so he took me to his home together was professor Solvang you mean whose name you may have heard and you still around manage time died I think and we had very nice evening and it's very rare actually that that time comes
03:30 - 04:00 along and that you get all sorts of invitations I got sort of in on the average for the first year I got one invitation tape lecture or assembly some functional and still quite often that
04:00 - 04:30 other invitations that I cannot possibly accept okay but it's know no longer one today maybe one week so if you look back and compare was science or research forty years but years ago and research now well the striking thing of course is
04:30 - 05:00 it's very different now than it was in the sense that everyone has a computer in front of him we didn't have any just we used my first word there for the first 5 10 years was done with a head computer you turn that wheel you see and all the measurements were evaluated by such an old-fashioned kind of if you
05:00 - 05:30 call it computer so that and that's only one feature but then of course now we have lasers and and whatnot it's a very different situation now from what it was at that time you did our and most of the things you did yourself because it was a workshop there and sometimes good so for
05:30 - 06:00 example in fact in Germany I had there was a shock and the man in charge of it was a very nice fella when he built two or three spectrographs for me we couldn't afford to buy one they were built in in the lab so all that you can no longer do because the experiment the machinery the equipment is so complicated that you have to buy certain
06:00 - 06:30 things and so everything is more expensive but the striking thing to me nowadays is always reality look around the lab everyone sits in front of a computer and well that's a good thing I feel a little doubtful about I mean some people then get the impression we're all that these people do is just turn the wheel of the computer journey press keys
06:30 - 07:00 so in that sense I think everything is very very different but when it really comes down to the physics or chemistry or whatever astronomy that you are doing it isn't all that different you can compare the looking into a receive respect okay we use only this technique computer and new Fourier transform spectrometer
07:00 - 07:30 but afterward the other spectra and we have to do who maybe was saying what you did 70 or 80 only that resolution of course is nowadays so much better so that you get far more details and that means you're far more molecular constants to evaluate and and so it becomes really more difficult that's quite what particularly for as you get
07:30 - 08:00 on in years as I have on my way to Saskatoon I dropped in and Princeton and I met professor corner you know Frank called on him and he just had accepted to be editor of the series of a series of physics books for the prentice hall company and it's all publishing company and he immediately asked me a well could
08:00 - 08:30 we publish a translation of your book on atomic spectra because he looked advanced over the coupes and so that started another publisher in an American publisher to be interested in my books and of course this was only the first of four books so when I then came to Saskatoon dr.
08:30 - 09:00 Spence John Spinks was quite anxious to do the translation and so it came the transmission came out about just a year after the German version for first Vosloo a German version of the first one yes next and then of course came the diatomic molecules you see originally I
09:00 - 09:30 was the plan was for me to write a book of about 200 pages about atomic and molecular Spaniel and I started with atomic spectra and when I was finished with that I had already 200 pages and so it had to be split so the second book volume was to be on molecular spectra and when I had done the diatomic molecules and I began it was obviously
09:30 - 10:00 couldn't be all included so it was split again and then when I had came to the polyatomic molecules again the channel was too much in so it became three ball three and a half volumes in myself and somebody made the remark story about which apartment he we belong and he wants you to write one
10:00 - 10:30 opera nummy secrets death and when he came he ended up with one force field and three operas just as I had how long did you work on your books well I mean I worked of course not all my time because
10:30 - 11:00 I did other things as well so but I I can tell you the last volume three I said I remember starting on the first of January 1960 1960 and I finished roughly in January 1966 six years six years and I used at that time I think I told somebody I use every Saturday and every other
11:00 - 11:30 holiday other than Sundays and there are twelve hood of this kind on this continent you see so and in on those days I would work from 8:00 to 6:00 solidly and it's only that way that I could have really done the customers are only many other distract distractions and and of course other kind of work coming in the same year list of
11:30 - 12:00 publications I was mute so but I mean the other you see the the number of pages is something of the order of hi okay I figured that I spent
12:00 - 12:30 about one eight-hour day on one page so it's a hard job yeah well I wouldn't quite like to go through that yeah you made that many famous scientists do you remember starting over say was James Frank you know dragon pond on and
12:30 - 13:00 I of course I was after I got my PhD the product that I a year in gajanan and that was a time when james franco's through the franklin ball that was really the high time at that time I met weakness for example he wasn't working in four months or something a lot of other people even Heisenberg was there might even stay on
13:00 - 13:30 in a short time hi Rahman ya Rahman I had well I always like to tell the story about when I came to England you see after Virginian I won younger in any good thing and I met the lennard-jones I don't know whether you know of the name but he was very much interested in theory of molecular bonds and all this and he was in göttingen for just six
13:30 - 14:00 months and he asked me what I wouldn't like to come to Bristol in England for on a fellowship of scholarship and that appealed to me because gave me a chance to learn English properly and so on it was very very lucky that I did because when I came to this country in Saskatoon I could start lecturing at the first on
14:00 - 14:30 the first day anyway but the point of my story is really that when I came to Bristol a few days after I got there there was a meeting of the Faraday society an international meeting on molecular problems and which was very interesting I always terrace or the first speaker was Richard W Richardson
14:30 - 15:00 there was a name and he was an awful lecturer and I couldn't understand a word he was saying and I thought what happens for all year in a country that you don't understand the language but then the next speaker was Obama and he was a brilliant lecture I could understand every word he said because he pronounced it properly was diction and with enthusiasm while Richards was just
15:00 - 15:30 mumbling I encountered lots of people mumble but Ramon really was quite quite a lecture because it was the year after this meeting him Bristol a society that ramen got the Nobel Prize so he was already a famous man at the time
15:30 - 16:00 and I don't know whether you realize that Chandrasekar whom i met on only a few years later turned out to be the nephew of rama he never told I was I had my office opposite his office it's the artists Observatory we are lots of talks about Rama and other people but he never mentioned with one word that Brahmin was his uncle I
16:00 - 16:30 found that out somehow later on well they're the same sort of mathematician but as a as an extra you couldn't beat now you were asking about other people I
16:30 - 17:00 met IRAs own people always ask me but I met Einstein the answers I once saw him and I went two o'clock in the dinner wasn't Berlin only for few days the only time I was in Berlin it was a growth room and in this cloakroom I don't know who the speaker was but the fact was that in the first role was Einstein and plant I was sitting in the last row and that was in my contact
17:00 - 17:30 [Laughter] of course as you know from the natochannel go to paper with teller and of course he was a great man also very much fun and at that time there was no atomic energy
17:30 - 18:00 in all of this and so there's never any problem but you may have told the story applications that when after the war teller was interviewed yeah well no yeah teller there were two newspaper men who wrote a biography of Edward Teller and
18:00 - 18:30 he gave them all the information in all his books and so on and at the end they asked him now professor Terra if you look back at your scientific theory which of your scientific work gave you more satisfaction he turned round and said I worked in molecular spectroscopy he say that but that's what they say in this book in the
18:30 - 19:00 English biography that's what they say he told them and I found that brother I also emphasize that because I'm not made to add I'm not a attack compete or well there is one series of gathering such was introduced in Germany in Lindauer in orange it's in Lake Constance in fact I
19:00 - 19:30 just have an invitation to go there again next July next June and they invite something like 20 Nobel laureates yeah and the main idea in that meeting in those meetings is to let younger scientists and students get a chance to have some contact with nobody I remember
19:30 - 20:00 my time in Germany I got fellowship oh I also was invited to Luanne back to Linda yes - the young people that are in perhaps 20 or 25 Nobel laureates and it works out very well they've maintained it now for 40 years it was right after the war in Germany
20:00 - 20:30 they thought to bring up to get news about outside science into Germany and get some prominent people when did you come to Canada I came to Canada in 1935 35 and you started in Saskatchewan it started in Saskatchewan I was there for ten years but I went to in
20:30 - 21:00 Saskatchewan I mean people have often asked me why did you pick Saskatchewan but at the time that I left Germany in 1935 because that was two years after the Nazis came and most of the and since I myself know Jewish I first thought I don't need to worry about that because my my wife first wife was was Jewish and
21:00 - 21:30 that was considered that kind by the Nazis you see to marry a Jew and certainly USA as one who has a Jewish why he couldn't teach at a university it's poor students who would have to suffer and so I knew by about 1934 that somehow I would have believed find a different job I was very very lucky in
21:30 - 22:00 the fact that one of the people from Canada that is from Saskatchewan wrote to me whether he could spend a year in my lab in Germany he came in 1933 that is shortly after the Nazis that came in January and he worked with me and he made the connection with Saskatchewan and they of course I would have tried to I would have liked to go to Toronto or someplace like that but that didn't work out and
22:00 - 22:30 then in Saskatchewan the president of the university offered me the job I was never better and when did you come to Ottawa I came to order our 1948 that is from Saskatchewan I went for three years to
22:30 - 23:00 well I mean my family didn't really like it all that much we were not in Chicago Google in this place where the observatory is southern was responsible and having lived in in Saskatoon Canada 14
23:00 - 23:30 so when we interrupted was I talking about tell us you know you can because I emphasize the fact that this paper that we wrote together selection was you might say for vibrational transitions even tronic spectra polyatomic molecules
23:30 - 24:00 that was really Terris work but he was too lazy if you had to write it and I caught it out of him and then he said well you write it you see but he was at that time at any rate he was very much like that he had all sorts of ideas he talked to somebody and about a certain problem you see and this somebody then thought that
24:00 - 24:30 they would write a joint everything so he was very liberal anyway he was an interesting person to to be associated I don't like his development too an expert on atomic bombs he was far too
24:30 - 25:00 much dressing for further development is your bomb and all this kind of thing SDI or anyway but he was certainly one person I had a lot of contact with incidentally he also was a good musician and my brother was somewhat of a pianist and they played in some when he went a
25:00 - 25:30 little visited they played to what you call it more hands yes and this sort of thing you know but what terror certainly has a very great appreciation of music no question now what other people can I talk about well one person that you probably don't
25:30 - 26:00 know about that I felt very much attracted to was born ever you know he was the person who discovered also parahydrogen and but he was also very very fine person in fact he I had to visit from him immediately after the war yeah
26:00 - 26:30 the suffix very much because he was quite outspoken in fact his brother was executed because he was in some way involved in this Proctor that drug June 24th thirty-eight No what an air behind anyway
26:30 - 27:00 and so and this one of the contradict Wanaka it's very fine physical chemistry in fact as one of the Max Planck Institute's is named after him anyway he was one of the people who greatly admired and then of course are people like
27:00 - 27:30 the person who made an stein write the letter to Bosworth Hungarian I'm sure you know the name but my memory finances disappeared anyway I just saw recently he tired of quite a number of years ago man there was a book about and biography I hope to get
27:30 - 28:00 and then of course one of the people who wear it was very very impressive family very very fine nature of the type you know that and each of course both serve additional experimentalist but he was of the type that when you heard his letter
28:00 - 28:30 used on everything was unclear when you came out now and then you realized we didn't really understand but he was very very good at one of the best and then of course there are people like the robot molecule to see really poor lecturers in the classroom w Richardson and I only found out a
28:30 - 29:00 couple of years ago a story that I don't know who told the story but it doesn't matter it it sounds true when Mulligan was awarded the Nobel Prize you see one of his friends was talking to myself now when you go to Stockholm you really have to prepare that [Laughter]
29:00 - 29:30 that's how he lectured having read just yesterday oh yes last issue journal valestra spectroscopy he has an article in the beginning about right world in
29:30 - 30:00 fact his son Kenneth was is writing this sort of very short statement about his father you know it's quite interesting to read he was certainly a very fine contribute I left my spectroscopy person that so having known him was
30:00 - 30:30 because I had on this continent I had really only two students I mean two people who got their PhD because Saskatchewan at the time the PhD and there was a Nara know about and John Phillips who is in the Astronomy
30:30 - 31:00 Department in Burbank yes that's the month that's the one yes yes that's the one that he but they both got that it was in end up at and we nobody was very impressed by the performance of Rao in his exam you know
31:00 - 31:30 and everybody knows him now and he did very very well I need the chance to measure the philosophy and I know also try to measure here at the beginning because H is to get respect yeah heh pre class about what else time yes there was you
31:30 - 32:00 know of course we had Takeshi again in the lab for 10 years was it something of that order and of course we had many many discussions and one of our discussions was one should get a spectrum base three classes and then they're two different methods during an absorption technique commission and we decided that Oh God tries the absorption technique and I would try the emission
32:00 - 32:30 well we found a spectrum about yea 1979 which for the first moment didn't know what it was maybe you had a discharge through hydrogen at liquid nitrogen temperature hollow cathode and then it suddenly dawned on me that this spectrum what it couldn't be a ch3 plus
32:30 - 33:00 because you couldn't imagine to have a this was a spectrum in the visible region and you couldn't imagine how H Laplace would have a spectrum in the visible region because all the excited States were unstable according to theory and so I had the idea that it was neutral h3 and that turned out to be right I mean in fact at that time it was
33:00 - 33:30 a very easy thing to do in a way and when it first dawned on me that it was a ch3 I across I didn't think it could be right or anyway I talk to Alec Douglas you see he was always very very good in discussions of this sort when he said yes right then I felt confident that I could go on rather a nice spectrum but
33:30 - 34:00 it wasn't actually trusting us and then one year later one year later okay from just before he left here that was still here in this lab he found it the spectrum which the person is infrared spectrum vibration respect [Applause] so it's a history of HPS and of course
34:00 - 34:30 the detection of H 3 plus which surely must be present in interstellar town still somewhat cloudy there's only one case where it's maintained that they people have really observed in interstellar colonization certainly isn't important I am okay thank you very much my class dog
34:30 - 35:00 today nice to have you here thank you I see you again yeah nice to you okay thank you very much