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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1987)
r :,)ltl Plex m t the (a|| "lion Oalj ®“ ls . tenn 5 ivo lleyba|| 111 s e> iercisf na) no uin. I water bl Monday, April 6, 1987/The Battalion/Page 7 lobel prize winner at A&M as diverse set of interests iir Barton' makes sure he knows his subject ttoad/MJ. r/ By Suna Purser Reporter ■Sir Barton, as he is called by some Iff members in Texas A&M’s chemistry department, likes to think fn has fashioned himself after the I author Somerset Maugham. ■“I like to think that I have pat terned my style, if I have any, after him,” Dr. Derek Harold Richard Brton says. “My favorite book is ‘Of Haman Bondage.’ It evoked the same feelings as Theodore Dreiser’s I A i American Tragedy.’ ” ■Barton is an avid reader, not only 1 classic novels but of countless journals and publications in his field 1-chemistry. Barton spends approx imately 25 hours a week pouring [er scholarly papers and texts, ieping himself abreast of current findings. ■ "I start my day at five,” the spry, ■-year-old chemist says. “I’m a ■truing thinker, and that’s when I | do a lot of my reading. If you want 111 be a successful research man, you ■ed to know your subject thor- ■ghly." ■Being a successful research man (tnd knowing his subject thoroughly R two things Barton excels in. He I won a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 119:)9 for his woi k on conformational ^^■^Bilysis. He shared the award with HRfn^KOdd Hassel of Norway, p tj^BBarlon, speaking with an easy- k ^Hing British accent, recalls the ^^ardceremony thoughtfully: I There was a very lavish dinner wiih lots of people. The old Swedish Kg, who was 85 at the time, was there. He was an archaeologist and spoke five languages. It was a most Kmorable time.” ■0|Ma| iBarton was only .82 years old IMvIO; Ben his theory of conformational ||^»lysis evolved. He was a visiting *“"" 1 Bturer at Harvard University at ^||¥ 4 t time. Lfll j Bit is a theory that defines the Irfitionship between molecular Utire IWP e an( l tdiemical reactivity. Bar- Bis revolutionary wt)i k in this area A changed the face of organic ^BHmistry and taught the synthetic THd analytical c hemist how to think in tree dimensions. ^Barton quips that the paper he ■<>te on conformational analysis s quite short — only four pages — ause he had to type it himself. Vhile the curly gray-haired scien- may not be a great typist, he is fm I Hiainly a great achiever in other LUtS alms. jhaircutte ■“Anyone who has studied my fam- “““ B background would never have pledicted that I would one day go to Sljckholm (to receive the Nobel Pri ze ” he says. ■Barton’s grandfather and father wire carpenters. His father opened ■umber business that did well. Be- |ciise of that, Barton went to a good private school. ■His father died in 1935, when Brton was only 18, and he had to |quii school to work in the family ! business. ■‘After two years in the wood busi- Bss, doing my share of manual la- jboi, 1 felt that there must be some- Ithiug more interesting in life,” he si's. “I spent one year in a technical fcoi ege to pass the necessary exams, llook a bachelor of science degree in hemistry in two years at Imperial iGollcge in London and continued in organic chemistry for a doctorate, which was completed in 1942.” ^■After completing his doctoral work at Imperial College, Barton f |wa, recruited into the World War II . " j effort on a scholarly basis. Still at Im- pe ial College, Barton was a re- sfciich chemist for military intelli gence. For two years, his research ■olved inventing secret inks. ^ '* ie en< ^ *’‘ s military service, f Barton and his colleagues were en- fcouiaged to move into industry. He j sp i;i one year in Birmingham, En- Igland, where he worked on organo- . Bosphorpus com pou n d s. ) 5 998 Dr. Derek Barton During that time, at the age of 36, Barton says his thought processes just weren’t flowing. “I did not invent the Wittig reac tion, or any other reaction for that matter, as I was too immature to know how to think at that time,” he says. But now, after his thinking has matured, inventing chemical reac tions is exactly what this witty grand father of three does best. “I am very interested in intellec tual problems, and since I’m not gifted with mathematical ability, I was naturally interested in chemical intellectual reactions,” he says. “I like to invent chemical reactions.” Dr. Alastair Scott, a chemistry professor at A&M, has known Bar ton since the early 1950s, when they were doing their post-doctoral work in London. “He creates chemical reactions with a tremendous energy and undi minished vigor,” he says. “He’s never changed in all the years I have known him.” But not all of this chemical wiz ard’s reactions have met the success his theory of conf ormational analysis did. He glibly refers to an incident at Imperial College that took place many years ago. The incident involved chlorine di oxide, a very volatile, explosive sub stance. In this particular experi ment, Barton had set a glass flask of chlorine dioxide in a container of ice. This container rested on a layer of gauze and the entire setup was supported by a metal framework. “I’m a morning thinker and that’s when I do a lot of my reading. If you want to be a successful re search man, you need to know your subject thor oughly. ” — Dr. Derek Harold Rich ard Barton The budding scientist went to the stockroom —just for a few seconds, he says. When he returned, the only thing remaining of his experiment was the metal framework. “It was quite impressive,” he re ports. Barton’s ability to speak fluent French is just as impressive as the ex- periment-gone-awry was at Imperial College. Before coming to A&M in No vember 1986, the bilingual chemist lived in France for nine years. Part of that time he lectured and did re search at the Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles in Gif-sur- Yvette. Barton learned to speak French when he was 46 years old. He “didn’t have anything to do,” and decided to learn a foreign language. Still in London, he began taking French les sons at the Institut Francais. He went to class twice a week for three hours per session and completed the program in two years. “From the very first day of class, we spoke nothing but French,” he says. “You really had to learn the language in order to do well. I speak only two languages. It’s (bilingua lism) good for the intellect and good for the brain, but terrible for the spelling.” Scott says Barton’s ability to speak a foreign language is a sign of his re markable intellect and his readiness to assimilate easily. ingi ruddy-faced Englishman, proved to be good not only for his intellect but his love life as well. His French in structor, Christiane, later became his wife. “I like to say I fell in love with her irregular verbs,” he says mischie vously. “French has lots of irregular verbs. But English has a lot of irreg ular verbs, too. We just don’t know it.” Barton and his wife return to Bir mingham once a year, usually in Au gust, to visit his son and grandchil dren; a girl and two boys whose ages are 6, 8 and 3. They go in August because “it’s too cold in the U.K. the rest of the year,” he says. But Barton’s travels are not lim ited to just England. His work takes him all over the world. He has lived in many places, including Scotland, the United States and France. “I have a good capacity to assimi late to wherever I am,” he says. “In fact, when I retire, I want to he a sightseer.” Barton’s favorite city is Antibes, a very old Greek city dating back to 400 B.C. He has a second home there and says, “It is really the nicest place to live.” Antibes is on France’s southeastern coast, near Monaco. Barton also has a keen interest in Texas, especially its wildlife. A col league gave him a gift he is partic ularly proud of, and he has dis played it conspicuously on his desk. He refers to it lovingly as his “Texas ant,” which in reality, is a large scorpion mounted in Plexig lass. A small ■embroidered applique of the Alamo is glued to a corner. Barton has not seen the Alamo, but says he plans to. He also is im pressed with the state flower, the bluebonnet. He is eagerly waiting for them to reach full bloom. “I’ve heard that it’s simply beauti ful to see them in bloom,” he says. “My wife and I plan on taking a drive to see them.” Besides an appreciation for na ture, Barton likes music. His favorite artist is Gustav Mahler. He also likes Brahms and says he generally enjoys all classical music. “I like many kinds of music, ex cept the popular music,” he says. “I don’t really care for that too much.” Despite his varied interests. Bar ton’s first love is chemistry. He has published 725 papers and shows no signs of slowing down. Scott says it was a very pleasant surprise to have Barton join the staff. In France, Barton was at a point in his work where he couldn’t continue past the government retire ment age of 68. “Since he will go on working for the rest of his life, and he was avail able to receive an offer, Texas A&M had the opportunity to extend him that offer,” he says. “Within 48 hours, several members of the chem istry department had a meeting with Dr. Vandiver and things moved very rapidly from then on.” w ar ex- -ily if# 1 =ers W 3 uniqu® es value ~ Corp 5 -OFFICE 1 Jcohol vote I keep town Vef BUFFALO GAP (AP) — It was tore than 21 years ago that this est Texas town decided to allow he sale of alcohol, issuing in an |ra in which Buffalo Gap became regional watering hole. Voters decided to stay wet on iturday when they rejected a Challenge to the sale of alcoholic leverages by a 3-to-l margin. With almost every registered «>ter making his or her voice lieard, a measure to go dry failed by 210 votes to 70 votes. The town for years was a liquor oasis for Abilene residents after voting to allow alcohol sales in 1965 following more than 60 years of prohibition. Abilene, the egional capital to the north, voted along similar lines in 1978. When the prohibition election results were announced, “wet” supporters let out a cheer and aised their fists. Charges of ‘planting’ drugs force sheriff out of office RANKIN (AP) — Upton County officials said they were stunned after the sheriff was suspended without pay amid allegations that he ordered a deputy to plant marijuana in the home of a suspect. A grand jury was expected to hear evidence in an investigation this week. State District Judge Brock Jones issued a court order Friday night re moving Sheriff Glenn Willeford from office, Upton County District Attorney J.W. Johnson Jr. said. Willeford was also removed from his post as county tax assessor-collec tor. “We’re alleging he delivered that substance to (Upton County Sher iffs Deputy) Scott Taylor, and fur ther, that he instructed Taylor to plant that marijuana in a residence of a citizen of Upton County,” John son said. Johnson told the Odessa Ameri can that he accepted the resignations of Taylor and Upton County Chief Deputy Don Pennington Friday night. The marijuana was planted in an Upton County resident’s home Aug. 25, 1986, Johnson told the San An gelo Standard-Times. The resident, who Johnson would not identify, was later arrested and indicted on drug charges. Johnson would not say whether the case went to trial. Willeford could not be reached for comment. Jones appointed Upton County Jailer Danny Brown as temporary sheriff, Johnson said. Texas Ranger Capt. Gene Powell said a grand jury is scheduled to hear evidence in the case Wednes day. Johnson said Jones’ order sus^ pends Willeford until a hearing can be conducted, probably within the next month. Willeford took office in January 1985 after winning his first term in office in November 1984. Upton County Judge Peggy Gar ner said, “It’s an unfortunate situa tion. We’re just waiting to see what happens. I can truthfully say none of us heard about the incident that caused this. We’re all stunned.” To all recognized organizations MSC/SPO cubicle and storage applications are now available at the receptionists desk in Rm 216 of the MSG. Applications are due April 15 by 5 p.m. Spring Graduates: GET THE CREDIT YOU DESERVE Once again, we're proud to of fer the Allen Olds Cadillac Col lege Graduate Finance Plan. We want to give you the credit you deserve, and the keys to a new Oldsmobile or Cadillac. For this special Allen Olds Cadillac financing, all you need is your diploma, proof of a job, a low down payment, the ability to meet monthly pay ments and no derogatory credit references. You'll get $400 off the purchase price, or a 90-day deferral on your payments, as a graduation present from us. After all, graduating from college is no small achievement. We're proud to offer you one of your first rewards. Allen Olds Cadillac is an Equal Credit Opportunity Com pany. Come in and see us today. Allen Olds Cadillac 2401 Texas Ave. Bryan, TX 779-3516 “FREE BOOKS” You could win a $200 voucher to help buy next semester’s textbooks at The TAMU Bookstore, compliments of Lucky Leaf® Apple Sauce! look for entryblanks and the full details at participating Texas A&M campus snack bars. Rich, thick Lucky Leaf® Apple Sauce comes in handy single-serving packs that are just right for snacking, perfect for packing. When it comes to snack food, it’s a natural! No purchase necessary. 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