Hoffmann, Roald
Permanent URI for this collection
Prof. Roald Hoffmann is the award winning Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters Emeritus, Chemistry.
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Mind and Memory: Explorations of Creativity in the Arts and SciencesHoffmann, Roald; West, Paul; McClane, Kenneth; DeVoogd, Timothy; Ackerman, Diane; Drell, Persis; Ambegaokar, Vinay; Stucky, Steven; Moon, Francis; Suber, Byron; Kord, Victor; Ammons, A. R.; McConkey, James; Eisner, Thomas (Internet-First University Press, 1996)English 301, "Mind and Memory: Explorations of Creativity in the Arts and Sciences," Spring 1996, M-W 2:55-4:10 p.m. (Lectures on Monday, 2:55-4:10 p.m.) Creativity is the attribute of the mind that enables us to make new combinations from often-familiar information, to perceive analogies and other linkages in seemingly unlike elements, to seek for syntheses. As is true of all learning, creativity is dependent upon memory—a memory that is genetic and social as well as personal and experiential. This course will explore the nature of creativity in science and art, indicating the differing requirements for discovery in the disparate disciplines while demonstrating the commonality that underlies the creative process and binds (say) physicist or mathematician to poet, composer, visual artist The opening sessions will be concerned with the crucial role of memory in learning, discovery, and spiritual insight for all humans, and will make reference to recent scientific research into the complex nature of the human brain, including its intimate connections with the rest of the body. Following this introduction, the course will rely on weekly guests from as many disciplines in the arts and sciences as possible, faculty members who will discuss (for interested undergraduates, whatever field they may be preparing to enter) the process underlying their research, or their work as creative or performing artists. The guests will be asked to speak of their goals, the problems they have faced, and what they have learned from their disappointments as well as their achievements. Members of the course are encouraged to enroll in another course or to be engaged in an activity (research or artistic production or performance) in which the insights gained in this class can be applied or tested. To further abet the active participation so necessary to learning, students will be asked to keep a journal, one that summarizes their understanding of, and response to, each presentation by a guest lecturer—a journal that will serve as a continuing record of their experiences as members of the course, and that will become the basic resource for an essay, to be submitted at the semester’s end, that will give their carefully considered assessment of the applicability of what they have learned in this course to that second course or activity, to their own mental processes, and to the future they propose for themselves.Item A Conversation with Art RuoffRuoff, Arthur L.; Hoffmann, Roald (Internet-First University Press, 2014-10-01)To supplement an oral history interview with Professor Ruoff (interviewed by Roald Hoffmann), additional background resources are included: List of publications (cv), and articles that appeared on the Cornell Chronicle and the Engineering Cornell Quarterly.Item Roald Hoffmann Symposium ConcertHoffmann, Roald (Internet-First University Press, 2014-07-21)Item A Conversation with Robert C. FayFay, Robert C.; Hoffmann, Roald (Interviewer) (Internet-First University Press, 2012-11-27)Robert C. Fay, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, describes the development of his interest in chemistry, his undergraduate education at Oberlin College, and graduate studies in inorganic chemistry at the University of Illinois. He discusses coming to Cornell in 1962, his NMR research on the stereochemistry and molecular rearrangements of metal chelate compounds, and x-ray crystallographic studies of their structures. He also recounts his early teaching experiences, including teaching general chemistry, learning group theory and teaching our department’s first course in that subject, and developing an advanced inorganic chemistry laboratory course. For the past 25 years, Fay has been engaged with his colleague John McMurry in writing successful general chemistry textbooks. He discusses various aspects of textbook writing in some detail. On another subject, Fay is asked about his Christian faith and the relationship between science and religion. The interview, conducted on November 27, 2012 by Roald Hoffmann, Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters Emeritus, concludes with Fay’s comments on why Cornell is such a wonderful place to teach and do research.Item A Conversation with Dotsevi Y. SogahSogah, Dotsevi Y.; Hoffmann, Roald (Interviewer) (Internet-First University Press, 2012-11-13)The research interests of Professor Dotsevi Y. Sogah, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, are in nanotechnology, biomaterials, electronic materials, biodegradable materials, and environmentally benign materials. He is best known for his discovery of a group transfer polymerization process – a fundamentally new method for polymer production. This process, which was listed among the inventions of the millennium in the US, has been commercialized by DuPont Company. It revolutionized the ink-jet printing system and found applications in the automotive industry and photoresists in the electronics industry.Item A Conversation with Roald HoffmannHoffmann, Roald; Widom, Ben (Internet-First University Press, 2006-09)Sponsored by the Oral History Project of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University, led by Charles Wilcox and Kelly Strickland, this presents an extended interview with a senior member of the faculty, Roald Hoffmann, in which he shares his life's journey, professional interests and reflections about the distinctive character of his department and its nurturing environment. Short biographies of interviewee and interviewer [Ben Widom] are included, in addition to a photo gallery and list of publications of the interviewee. Video Total Run Time: 1 hr and 25 minutes. Topics [m:s]: Early Years [17:02]; Coming to America [6:49]; High School and College [10:56]; Graduate School [4:31]; Extended Huckel Method [4:06]; Connection to Woodward [15:12]; Cornell [4:25]; Nobel Prize [7:23]; Current Research [8:13]; Poetry [5:13]; Conclusion [9:00]