Oct 17, 2011

Pressing forward

"I must inform you with regret that we cannot accept the paper for publication." That sentence in my email inbox this morning really cut to the bone. For the whole last year I've been working hard on a set of experiments. This was different from other experiments I've performed and papers I've written. This time it was a totally original idea that I came up with and I was really excited about our findings.
I guess I follow in the footsteps of one of my heroes, Dr. Henry Eyring, father of the apostle Henry B. Eyring, who in 1934 submitted a paper that radically challenged how chemists viewed kinetics of reactions.
 The paper was rejected and when he submitted it a second time, it was rejected again! Finally, his paper on "Absolute Rate Theory" was published in 1935. The theory presented in that paper went on to revolutionize chemistry. It nearly won him the Nobel Prize (many say it was his outspoken defense of his faith that held him back). The Nobel Prize website admits that he should have won the prize but didn't because the Nobel Committee didn't understand his theory at the time. 
As for me, I guess all I can do is frame this rejection letter and just keep going. 

2 comments:

  1. True genius is never appreciated in it's own time. Keep on keepin on. You know where you would be appreciated? That's right buddy, new Mexico is calling.

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  2. Bah. I'm sorry.

    I tried to come up with a sarcastic but somehow uplifting comment but I'm drawing a blank. Let's just go to the cabin and snowmobile our sorrows away.

    jj

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