A Life of Magic Chemistry

Book excerpt: The fascinating autobiographical reflections of Nobel Prizewinner George Olah How did a young man who grew up in Hungary between the two WorldWars go from cleaning rubble and moving pianos at the end of WorldWar II in the Budapest Opera House to winning the Nobel Prize inChemistry? George Olah takes us on a remarkable journey fromBudapest to Cleveland to Los Angeles-with a stopover in Stockholm,of course. An innovative scientist, George Olah is truly one of akind, whose amazing research into extremely strong acids and theirnew chemistry yielded what is now commonly known as superacidic"magic acid chemistry." A Life of Magic Chemistry is an intimate look atthe many journeys that George Olah has traveled-from his earlyresearch and teaching in Hungary, to his move to North Americawhere, during his years in industry, he continued his study of theelusive cations of carbon, to his return to academia in Cleveland,and, finally, his move to Los Angeles, where he built the LokerHydrocarbon Research Institute to find new solutions to the graveproblem of the world's diminishing natural oil and gas resourcesand to mitigate global warming by recycling carbon dioxide intohydrocarbon fuels and products. Professor Olah invites the readerto enjoy the story of his remarkable path-marked by hard work,imagination, and never-ending quests for discovery-which eventuallyled to the Nobel Prize. Intertwining his research and teaching witha unique personal writing style truly makes A Life of MagicChemistry an engaging read. His autobiography not onlytouches on his exhilarating life and pursuit for new chemistry butalso reflects on the broader meaning of science in our perpetualsearch for understanding and knowledge.