In Search Of Comfortable Shoes

Filed by Linda Wang

I thought I had brought my most comfortable pair of dress shoes to Boston, but they’ve in fact turned into my worst enemy. My size 7 ½ black flats have now stretched to a size 12 to accommodate my poor swollen feet.

One of the things you learn real fast at these national meetings is that, no matter what they tell you, comfort should be your number one priority. After all, it’s pretty distracting listening to a talk when all you can think about are your feet.

To find out which shoes offer the best combination of style and comfort, I decided to consult my fellow meeting-goers.

Roald Hoffmann: Chemist And Poet

Filed by Ivan Amato

They began showing up one by one almost an hour before the premier literary event at the Boston meeting of ACS. By the time Roald Hoffmann had begun reading his first poem at 11 AM in the cavernous Boston Convention & Exposition Center, the sizable booth of the ACS Publications Division—the venue for the event—had transformed into a standing-room-only poetry event. In the din and vastness of the exposition hall, Hoffmann and his rapt audience managed to encase themselves, for a short time, in what seemed like a small bistro in what might have been the artsy part of a city. A podcast of Roald Hoffmann’s poetry reading can be found here.

Known mostly for his lifelong work in theoretical chemistry for which he was awarded, among other honors, the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (with Kenichi Fukui) and the Priestley Medal in 1990, Hoffmann has also been making his way in the literary world. Over the years, he has written books, plays, and poems. (For a full portfolio and biography, go to roaldhoffman.com.)

For more that 40 years, his professional home has been Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y., where he is a professor of chemistry and, since 1996, the Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Human Letters. To acknowledge his lifelong devotion and record of achievement in the chemical world and beyond, Hoffmann is also being honored at the meeting during an all-afternoon presidential session on Tuesday titled “Celebrating a Craftsman of the Art of Understanding: Roald Hoffmann at 70.”

Hitting The Boston Streets

Filed by Celia Arnaud

This week, the ACS meeting includes thematic programming on health and wellness. The program includes a symposium on the genomics of obesity, and many ACS divisions have organized complementary symposia in their own programs. Did ACS plot to make its thematic programming part of an integrated experience for all attendees? I had plenty of time to ponder this question this morning as I hoofed the 2.4 miles from my hotel in Back Bay to the convention center in South Boston. (View a map of hotel locations on the Boston National Meeting website.)

Chemistry Is Everywhere

Filed by Ivan Amato

When I go to a national meeting of the American Chemical Society, I like to hunt around for signs of chemistry’s overt and unseen roles that would be apparent in the host city anyway, even if thousands of chemists were not converging on the city for a celebration of all things chemical.

I found a few such signs on Saturday when I ventured into the city’s wonderful central public library on Boylston Street. Up and running were several fantastic exhibits, including one on miniature books—some smaller than a penny—and one on Alexandre Vattemare, a Frenchman touted as the most famous ventriloquist of the 19th century and whose gift of 50 books in 1841 to the people of Boston was an influential act in the creation of the library.

As I wandered through the exhibit titled ”United We Will Win: World War II Posters of Victory,” I found a few signs of chemistry. Amidst a frying pan with dripping fat and an ominous salvo of bombs, one 1943 poster commanded Americans to “Save waste fats for explosives—take them to your meat dealer.”

Lead Paint: We’ve Got You Covered

Filed by Carmen Drahl

I have vivid memories of visiting my great-grandma when I was a wee one. If I forgot to bring a book or a toy to entertain myself, I’d get to play with a box of toys that probably belonged to my great uncles, which contained blocks and toy soldiers. Now, keep in mind that these were the old-school toy soldiers, the kind that most likely contained lead. Delicious, delicious lead. But I digress.

The recent spate of toy recalls got me wondering whether any new research is going on in the lead paint detection arena. According to EPA, paint in houses can be analyzed by a portable X-ray fluorescence analyzer. Unfortunately, this technique can be inaccurate depending on the composition and curvature of walls.

Dispatches From The Boston Runway(s)

Filed by Carmen Drahl

While disembarking my flight to the meeting today, I realized I’d been sitting across the aisle from a chemist when I noticed the JACS papers in his hand. (Thanks for helping me navigate the “T,” Dave!)

At the risk of starting a tradition of posts about geek-chic apparel and accessories, I spotted this messenger bag while walking to my hotel and had to take a snapshot. It belongs to Shannon Schulte, a radiochemist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Sadly, she couldn’t tell me where to get one, because hers was a gift.