Scaling Mount Impossible: A Festschrift for Dudley Herschbach

Abstract

The title of this Festschrift is intended to reflect threedicta that the jubilarian has invoked with collegiatespirit throughout his career, and has passed on to hisscientific progeny: ‘‘The difficult we do immediately.The impossible takes a little longer’’ (adopted from theSeabees [1]); ‘‘Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny’’(amplified in Richard Dawkins’ masterpiece on evolu-tion, Climbing Mount Improbable [2]); and the‘‘scaling laws and form factors’’ (includingDimensional Scaling) that Dudley has discovered inhis scientific work and that have revealed so muchabout why things molecular – and other – are the waythey are. The title also implies Dudley’s fourth dictum,‘‘Keep going!’’ by which he has lived with anunmatched vigour and fortitude.This Festschrift, comprised of papers written inDudley Herschbach’s honour by his colleagues andformer students and associates, celebrates his distin-guished career. In addition, it offers a rich collectionof prefatory material, including an extensive interview,a list of Dudley’s students and coworkers, as well asthe Eighty Papers, a list of his own favouritepublications that he has compiled for this occasion.The full list can be found at Dudley’s website atHarvard [3] or at Texas A&M [4], along with twodefinitive reviews of his scientific work [5,6], essayson issues ranging from teaching to science funding,and much more – including some of his treasuredlecture notes. The prefatory section closes with DanKleppner’s essay on aspects of the well-known‘‘Herschbach effect.’’Richard Feynman once asked himself ‘‘If we couldpass on to posterity only one short sentence, whatshould it be?’’ His reply was ‘‘There really are atoms[7]’’. Although a fervent believer in the immensevalue of science, Dudley offered a different answer:‘‘The most important thing really is love!’’ And here iswhy: ‘‘With love comes awe, reverence, and compas-sion. With love, you know that whatever disappoint-ments or struggles lie behind or ahead, you are blessed.Beyond talent and energy, you can bring passion,vision, commitment to whatever you undertake. Youcan foster in yourself and others the awareness ofopportunity, the fellowship of striving, the joy ofdiscovery, the satisfactions of genuine service’’. And headded ‘‘So I’m glad to confess unabashedly my love formy life in science and the many wonderful people,ideas, and molecules that have come with it [8]’’.We, in turn, likewise confess a similar affection,and on this special occasion of his grand personalanniversary it is all directed towards the jubilarian:Happy birthday, Dudley!Bretislav Friedrich (Berlin)Sabre Kais (West Lafayette)David Mazziotti (Chicago)References