[The Typing Baker] The Elegant Chemist of the Happy Country

Is it possible to love something endlessly throughout one’s life? People change, and hobbies change too. Jean-Pierre Sauvage, a French scientist and Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, is such a person. His life can be summed up in one line: ‘a love for chemistry.’

In Sauvage’s book Elegant Molecules, his love for chemistry drips from every page. He discovers elegance in molecules viewed under a microscope. He does not bother to explain his complex and difficult chemical research. Instead, he confesses why he cannot help but love chemistry. He talks about when he started studying chemistry and the moments when he felt exhilaration. It is astonishing that one person can love a single field so deeply.

He was not an outstanding figure from childhood. He never received private education to attend a prestigious university, nor was he treated as a promising boy hailed as a genius. On the contrary, during his youth, he was evaluated as lacking in reading and writing French. Even as a university student, his grades were below the overall average, and he skipped classes all semester for subjects he disliked. The place where he conducted his research was far from France’s top universities. In his own words, he won the Nobel Prize at the “small” University of Strasbourg in the countryside. It was solely thanks to his tremendous love for chemistry.

The background to Sauvage’s deep immersion in chemistry was a free and lively childhood. He wandered through forests and collected plants in the rural village of Drac?nie, which had about 500 residents. He spent entire days distinguishing noticeable plants. When he suddenly wanted to know more about oak leaves, he bought a flask and some test tubes with his allowance. This was his first chemistry experiment, done 55 years before winning the Nobel Prize. What delighted Sauvage was not climbing grades for college entrance but the satisfaction of witnessing the wonders of nature.

Even as an adult, Sauvage did not change. He was not a researcher locked away in a lab staring only at chemistry. On weekends, he listened to jazz music by Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. He sought out works by Faulkner, Hemingway, and Caldwell. He also enjoyed watching films, going to see works by Jean-Luc Godard and Fran?ois Truffaut. His hobby was often carrying a notebook to record interesting discoveries, most of which were unrelated to his work or major. Thanks to a comfortable, leisurely, and free life, he was able to love chemistry for decades.

Sauvage’s Nobel Prize research topic was chosen in a characteristically ‘Sauvage’ way. While traveling often with his wife in northern Italy, he saw the Borromean family palace. The family emblem engraved on the palace was three interlinked rings. Later, Sauvage succeeded in creating molecular rings, which were considered virtually impossible among chemists, and won the Nobel Prize for this achievement. The Borromean rings, lingering in a corner of his memory, became the clue to his Nobel-winning research.

Of course, the research process was eventful. At every crisis, his family and colleagues supported him. Jean-Marie Lehn, his mentor and friend, encouraged him by saying, “If you stimulate your curiosity and devote time and energy to projects you want to accomplish, you will become a great scientist.” There were professors who brought cheerfulness whenever the research team became depressed, colleagues who managed projects, and team members who asked questions and offered criticism without reservation. Lunches with his wife, which he never gave up no matter how busy he was, became the driving force that allowed him to persevere for long hours.

Therefore, Sauvage’s book is not a chemistry textbook but a life story told by a chemist. Don’t exhaust yourself searching for ‘usefulness.’ You can simply immerse yourself in what you love. But don’t put your own life aside. Cherish the people you love. That is what Sauvage considers an ‘elegant life.’

Elegant Molecules | Written by Jean-Pierre Sauvage | ?colivre | 200 pages | 11,700 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.