The Economist on the April 4th, reported that Paul Lauterbur (6/May/1929 - 27/Mar/2007) passed away. Lauterbur discovered ...
'... how to get spatial information about atoms (showing the difference b/w heavy water & ordinary water) in a magnetic field, was scribbled on a paper napkin over dinner in a Big Boy restaurant in Pittsburgh, between two bites of a hamburger ...'
Hands up those who have had an MRI? It fits into this site about startups because of the nature of his creativeness. Doing things that would by todays standards label him as A) a terrorist (can't go mucking about with dangerous chemistry sets) and B) dosed up on Ritalin (because of the low boredom threshold).
'... as a teenager he built his own lab in the basement of his house, entranced by the strange vials in his chemistry set and by the stink of burning sulphur. ...'
Hmm I remember doing that, burning sulphur. Had a lab under the house. My dads vice held an old bent spoon where I could mix things up and burn them. It was the first time I found a noxious gas burning sulphur, looking at the small blue flame. Taking a small breath of the stuff gave me a bit of a fright as the gas (SO2 or sulphur dioxide) literally sucked my breath away.
'... how to get spatial information about atoms (showing the difference b/w heavy water & ordinary water) in a magnetic field, was scribbled on a paper napkin over dinner in a Big Boy restaurant in Pittsburgh, between two bites of a hamburger ...'
Hands up those who have had an MRI? It fits into this site about startups because of the nature of his creativeness. Doing things that would by todays standards label him as A) a terrorist (can't go mucking about with dangerous chemistry sets) and B) dosed up on Ritalin (because of the low boredom threshold).
'... as a teenager he built his own lab in the basement of his house, entranced by the strange vials in his chemistry set and by the stink of burning sulphur. ...'
Hmm I remember doing that, burning sulphur. Had a lab under the house. My dads vice held an old bent spoon where I could mix things up and burn them. It was the first time I found a noxious gas burning sulphur, looking at the small blue flame. Taking a small breath of the stuff gave me a bit of a fright as the gas (SO2 or sulphur dioxide) literally sucked my breath away.
Reference
[0] wikipedia, 'Paul Christian Lauterbur'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lauterbur