Lesson #619 - Chemistry

Did a biology-related comic last week, and so I figured I should follow up with a comic more related to my current scientific background. And, of course, that means a comic about K. Barry Sharpless.

Everything I said about him is true - he openly says that he'll sample anything he sees lying out on a lab bench (and figures as long as it doesn't have a nitrogen in it, he should be fine). My favorite story I heard was that he had been sampling chemicals all year long in his undergrad organic chemistry class, so when it came time for the final and he had to use the various techniques he had been taught to determine what an unnamed chemical was, he smelled it, then tasted it, and wrote down the answer and was done. And not only did he not die of toxic poisoning at a young age, but he actually has gone on to win a Nobel Prize. Just amazing, huh?