Biochemistry as Part of My Life

Abstract

Character, emotions, literary and artistic experience, philosophy, and political involvements form an integral part of a personality. Since scientists are human, all these factors determine their reactions, their way of thinking, and must be essential elements in the formation of scicntific ideas and views, motives, and attitudes. Knowledge alone of a special scientific field, however solid and profound, provides only the tools. What is achieved with these tools depends to a very large extent on the complex factors of a personality. When I was asked to write the prefatory chapter, I was thrilled. It seemed to me not only a great honor but a great challenge, an opportunity to describe my general views, my philosophy, the people who inspired me, the factors which influenced my scientific thinking, the background of my scientific theory. I wanted to omit as much as possible autobiographical data. But soon it became apparent to me, just as to some of my illustrious predecessors of these prefatory chapters, that a purely philosophical-historical essay would lose its special character and flavor and resemble some scientific abstracts without any experimental data. It would lose its attraction and vitality. It would fit into philosophical and historical books rather than into these chapters, where readers may like to know how a scientist who proposed a new concept found his particular way and what specific factors influenced his development and his theories. If one accepts the premise that science forms only a part of a personality, personal experience and background should be included.