Oral history interview with Hubert N. Alyea
- 1986-May-22 (First session)
- 1986-May-30 (Second session)
Oral history interview with Hubert N. Alyea
- 1986-May-22 (First session)
- 1986-May-30 (Second session)
Hubert Alyea was an internationally known popularizer of chemistry. His public demonstrations and academic lectures won him numerous awards and imparted the beauty of chemistry to his students and interested laypeople alike. Alyea contracted polio in 1923, during his senior year at Princeton University. His interview covers his diagnosis and treatment and mentions the effects of post-polio syndrome in his later years.
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About the Interviewer
Jeffrey L. Sturchio is president and CEO of the Global Health Council. Previously he served as vice president of corporate responsibility at Merck & Co., president of the Merck Company Foundation, and chairman of the U.S. Corporate Council on Africa. Sturchio is currently a visiting scholar at the Institute for Applied Economics and the Study of Business Enterprise at Johns Hopkins University and a member of the Global Agenda Council on the Healthy Next Generation of the World Economic Forum. He received an AB in history from Princeton University and a PhD in the history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania.
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| Oral history number | 0010 |
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Interviewee biographical information
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Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Princeton University | AB | Chemistry |
| 1926 | Princeton University | AM | Chemistry |
| 2016 | Princeton University | PhD | Physical Chemistry |
Professional Experience
General Electric Company
- 1926 to 1927 American-Scandinavian Fellowship, Nobel Institute, Stockholm
Princeton University
- 1927 to 1928 Proctor Fellow
- 1930 to 1934 Instructor in Chemistry
- 1934 to 1940 Assistant Professor
- 1940 to 1954 Associate Professor
- 1954 to 1972 Professor
- 1972 to 1992 Professor Emeritus
University of Minnesota
- 1928 to 1929 National Research Felow
Kaiser Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften
- 1929 to 1930 International Research Fellow
Honors
| Year(s) | Award |
|---|---|
| 1949 to 1950 | Visiting Professor, University of Hawaii |
| 1954 | New Jersey Science Teachers Award |
| 1957 | New Jersey Education Citation |
| 1958 | Lecturer, International Exposition, Brussels |
| 1962 | Lecturer, International Exposition, Seattle |
| 1964 | Chemical Manufacturers Association Award |
| 1967 | Lecturer, International Exposition, Montreal |
| 1970 | Award in Chemical Education, American Chemical Society |
| 1970 | Honorary D. Sc. , Beaver College |
| 1970 | James Flack Norris Award, Northeast Section, American Chemical Society |
| 1984 | Priestley Award, Dickinson College |
| 1991 | Robert H. Carleton Award, National Science Teachers Association |
Cite as
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Begins with
ALYEA: Over there is a book--I made this "Eminent Chemists" series, you may have seen it.
Keywords American Chemical Society (ACS) • Chemical warfare • Dulles, Allen • Eminent Chemists series • Gas school • Goering, Hermann Wilhelm • Merck & Company • New Jersey • Nuremburg trials • Poison gas detectors • Princeton, New Jersey • Sabotage • Second World War (WWII) • Sharp & Dohme • United States Army • World War II (WWII)
Begins with
STURCHIO: I thought we could start--we'd like to ask you a little bit about what got you interested in science first...
Keywords Alyea, Edwin • Alyea, Ethan • Asbestos • Baskerville, Charles • Brothers • Carbon • Clifton, New Jersey • Curtman, Louis J. • Duke University • Fathers • Home chemistry lab • Johns Hopkins University • Mutual Life Insurance Company • Princeton University • Qualitative analysis • Smyth, Charles P. • Sodium nitrate • Sulfur • Sunday school
Begins with
ALYEA: Now, I'll jump ahead and tell you why I became a teacher.
Keywords American-Scandinavian Fellowship • Arrhenius, Svante • Frick Chemistry Laboratory • Graduate school • Great Depression • Harvard University • Nobel Institute for Physical Research • Nobel Prize in Chemistry • Princeton University • Richards, Theodore W. • Richards, William T. • Sweden • Taylor, Hugh S. • Teaching
Related URL
Begins with
DOEL: Was your mother also ... ?
Keywords Alyea, Edwin • Alyea, Ethan • Amsterdam, The Netherlands • Antioch College • Back Bay • Boston, Massachusetts • Clifton, New Jersey • Family history • Fathers • Football • Handball • Hawaii • Johns Hopkins University • Lovett, Robert • Mann, Horace • Mothers • Polio • Princeton Theological Seminary • Roosevelt, Franklin D. • Swimming • Taylor, Hugh S.
Begins with
STURCHIO: I wonder if we could go back to ask you some questions about the professors you had during your years at Princeton as an undergraduate.
Keywords Analytical chemistry • Catalysis • Electrochemistry • Furman, N. Howell • Hulett, George • Inorganic chemistry • Jones, W. Lauder • Major, Randolph • McCay, LeRoy • Menzies, Alan • Physical chemistry • Taylor, Hugh S. • Turkevich, John • Wallis, Everett
Begins with
ALYEA: [McCay] studied with Bunsen--Robert Bunsen--in Heidelburg,and everybody knew it.
Keywords Analytical chemistry • Beryllium • Bunsen, Robert • Butter • Freiburg School of Mines • Gallium • Glucinium • Margarine • McCay, LeRoy • Mineralogy • Winkler, Clemens A.
Begins with
STURCHIO: How about--before we get to Taylor, who we want to talk about a good deal, there were also...
Keywords Alkaloids • Beatty, Harold • Berlin, Germany • Catalysis • Dougherty, Gregg • First World War (WWI) • Frick Chemistry Laboratory • Frick, Henry Clay • Grand Canyon • Hibben, John G. • Jones, W. Lauder • Natural products • Pacsu, Eugene • Sugar chemistry • Taylor, Hugh S. • Wallis, Everett
Begins with
ALYEA: Now that takes care of until we get to Sweden.
Keywords Arrhenius, Svante • Backström, Hans L.J. • Haber, Fritz • Mercaptan • Nobel Institute for Physical Research • Nobel laureates • Nobel Prize • Northern lights • Pauling, Linus • Prohibition • Stockholm, Sweden
Begins with
ALYEA: Now the second one was Fritz Haber.
Keywords Ammonium nitrate • Apatite • Arrhenius, Svante • Belgium • Berlin, Germany • Black Friday • bromine lachrymators • Chemical warfare • Chiang Kai-Shek • chlorine gas • Cyanide • Explosives • Eyring, Henry • Farkas, Adalbert • Farkas, Lasoslas • First World War (WWI) • Franck, James • Freundlick, Herbert • gas warfare • Haber, Fritz • Haber-Bosch process • Halifax explosion • Harteck, Paul • Hitler, Adolf • Kaiser Wilhelm Institute • Kistler, Samuel S. • Korean War • Ladenburg, Kurt • Lind, Samuel C. • MacDougel, Henry • Nernst's third law • Nernst, Walther • North Korea • Oppau, Germany • Phosphorus • Polanyi, Michael • Second World War • Smith, Lee I. • South Korea • Stock market crash • Suicide • Taiwan • Taylor, Hugh S. • tear gas • Texas City explosion • University of Minnesota • Wigner, Eugene • World War I (WWI) • World War II • Ypres, Frances
Begins with
ALYEA: Well, this is an entirely different story.
Keywords Bodenstein, Max • Bohr, Niels • Chess • Curie, Marie • Dirac, Paul • Einstein, Albert • Hoyle, Fred • Kaiser Wilhelm Institute • Mathematics • Max Planck Institute • Meredith, Burgess • Music • Nobel laureates • Planck's constant • Planck, Max • Princeton University • Robertson, Howard P. • Science communication • Taylor, Hugh S. • Unified field theory • Von Neumann, John • Wheeler, John • Wigner, Eugene
Begins with
ALYEA: Now, the second meeting in '48 was even more famous; this was the conception of the computer.
Keywords Black Plague • Diodes • Dirac, Paul • ENIAC • Forrestal Center • Los Alamos National Laboratory • Manhattan Project • MANIAC • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) • Mechanical computers • Nobel Prize • Princeton University • Robertson, Howard P. • UNIVAC • University of Pennsylvania • Von Neumann, John
Begins with
STURCHIO: Well, we should get on to your lecturing career.
Keywords Arsenic • Foster, William • Hawaii • Home precepts • Ihrig, Judd • Industrial research • Inventions • McCay, LeRoy • Mead, Brian • Princeton University • Slide projector • Surface potentials • Teaching • University research
Begins with
DOEL: In looking through the records, Princeton's--some of the science departments were attempting to begin cooperative research within the departments.
Keywords Biochemistry • Biology • Conklin, Edwin Grant • Eyring, Henry • Johnson, Frank • Microscopes
Begins with
STURCHIO: Your comment earlier about how your future in-laws wondered why you were going into teaching when a lot of people were going into industry was interesting, especially since I noticed that your fellow PhD's in 1928 all had industrial careers or government careers.
Keywords Baker, William • Chemical industry • Great Depression • Morgan, Stanley • Niederhauser, Wendell • Plexiglas • Princeton University • Rohm & Haas Company • Smyth, Charles P. • Teaching
Begins with
STURCHIO: Let's see. I wonder if we could talk to you a little about your time at Minnesota.
Keywords Analytical chemistry • Chain reactions • Chlorine • Eyring, Henry • Furman, N. Howell • Kolthoff, Izaak M. • Lind, Samuel C. • Mathematics • University of Minnesota • Wigner, Eugene
Related URL
Begins with
DOEL: Edward Condon was out there for one year during that time.
Keywords Gurney, Ronald Wilfred • Quantum mechanics
Begins with
ALYEA: Now there's another story connected with Sputnik in the same plane where there was [Pyotr] Kapitza.
Keywords Chain reactions • Gurney, Ronald Wilfred • Kapitsa, Pyotr Leonidovich • Khrushchev, Nikita S. • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • Nobel Prize • Petroleum • Semyonov, Nikolay N. • Sputnik • Turkevich, John
Begins with
STURCHIO: Was it after you were at Minnesota that you got married? It was 1929.
Keywords Alyea, Evelyn • Coeducation • Princeton University
Begins with
ALYEA: LIFE came down and took pictures—
Keywords Alyea, Evelyn • Churchill, Winston • Dietrich, Marlene • Frost, Arthur A. • Green, Ted • Ihrig, Judd • Karsh, Yousuf • LIFE magazine • Northwestern University • Polio
Begins with
STURCHIO: You said that by, I guess by the mid 30s, you were spending more and more time on teaching—
Keywords Atom bomb • Atomic energy • Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) • Belgium • Bethe, Hans A. • Camden, New Jersey • Condon, Edward • Consulting • Department of State (US) • Fulbright scholars • Hawaii • Laboratory accidents • New Haven, Connecticut • New Jersey • Pearl Harbor, Hawaii • Princeton University • Princeton, New Jersey • Rochester, New York • Second World War (WWII) • Smyth, Charles P. • Teaching • UNESCO • Wigner, Eugene • World War II (WWII) • World's fairs
Related URL
Begins with
STURCHIO: Well why not tell us about Wendell Wilkie—
Keywords Albion, Robert G. • Luce, Clare Boothe • Moses, Robert • Nuclear power plants • Princeton University • Wilk, Edith • Willkie, Philip H. • Willkie, Wendell • Willkie, Wendell L.
Begins with
STURCHIO: Well, you wanted to tell us about Wood—
Keywords American Chemical Society (ACS) • Bonhoeffer, Karl F. • Deuterium • Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands • Glassblowing • Harteck, Paul • Heavy hydrogen • Hydrogen • Hydrogen bomb • Langmuir, Irving • Minneapolis, Minnesota • Nobel Prize • Urey, Harold C. • Wood, Robert Williams
Begins with
ALYEA: Now at that meeting was Bodenstein from the University of Berlin.
Keywords Arrhenius, Svante • Avogadro's law • Bodenstein, Max • Debye, Peter J. W. • Eyring, Henry • Haber, Fritz • Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin • Nernst's third law • Nernst, Walther • Taylor, Hugh S.
Keywords Alyea, Fred • Atomic energy • Einstein, Albert • Eisenhart, Luther P. • Haber, Fritz • Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.) • Kaiser Wilhelm Institute • Princeton University • Rahm, Barbara L. • Scientific apparatus and instruments
Begins with
ALYEA: When Eyring came and worked with Taylor a great deal in 32-33—
Keywords American Chemical Society (ACS) • Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute • Cavendish, Henry • Columbia University • Eyring, Henry • Faraday Society • Haber, Fritz • Kaiser Wilhelm Institute • Polanyi, Michael • Princeton University • Quantum mechanics • Taylor, Hugh S. • University of Hawaii • Urey, Harold • Wigner, Eugene
Begins with
STURCHIO: Kistiakowsky was at Princeton for a couple of years then too—
Keywords Bodenstein, Max • Dutton, Fred • Eisenhower, Dwight D. • Glassblowing • Harvard University • Ihrig, Judd • Journal of chemical education • Kistiakowsky, George B. • Kistiakowsky, Vera • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) • Mead, Brian • Moebius, Hildegard • Nobel Institute for Physical Research • Princeton University • Second World War (WWII) • University of Hawaii • World War II (WWII)
Begins with
ALYEA: Well, now we come to the tested overhead projection part of it—
Keywords American Revolution (1775-1783) • Atomic energy • Battle of Princeton (New Jersey: 1777) • Belgium • Century 21 Exposition • Davy, Humphry, Sir • Exposition universelle et internationale • Faraday, Michael • Henry, Joseph • India • Joseph Henry house (Princeton, N.J.) • Journal of chemical education • Kistiakowsky, George B. • Maclean House (Princeton, N.J.) • Maclean, John • Morse, Samuel F. B. • Nassau Hall (Princeton, N.J.) • Projectors • Rush, Benjamin • Silliman, Benjamin • Telegraph • University of Edinburgh • World's fairs
Begins with
STURCHIO: One thing you started to tell us about last week was the work you did for the state of New Jersey with gas defense in World War Two—
Keywords Civil defense • Engineering, Science, and Management War Training • New Jersey • Newark, New Jersey • Princeton University • Second World War (WWII) • World War II (WWII)
Begins with
STURCHIO: The only other thing that I wanted to ask you about or that I had in addition to anything else you'd like to tell us is—
Keywords Acropolis, Athens, Greece • American Philosophical Society • Ancient coins • Archaeological chemistry • Caley, Earle R. • Consulting • Dougherty, Gregg • Electrochemical Society • Eyring, Henry • Fink, Colin • Fink, Colin E. • Furman, N. Howell • Jones, W. Lauder • LIFE magazine • Organic chemistry • Pacsu, Eugene • Pease, Robert • Physical chemistry • Princeton University • Smyth, Charles P. • Taylor, Hugh S. • Turkevich, John • Wallis, Everett
Related URL
Begins with
ALYEA: How Princeton changed from 1920-1970
Keywords Alyea, Evelyn • Coeducation • Great Depression • Postwar generation • Princeton University • Reserve Officers' Training Corps • ROTC • Second World War (WWII) • World War II (WWII)
Begins with
ALYEA: I didn't tell you about the absent-minded professor.
Keywords Alyea, Evelyn • Alyea, Fred • Belgium • California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) • Carroll College (Waukesha, Wis.) • Disney, Walt • Disneyland • Exposition universelle et internationale • Haver, June • Hollywood, California • Huntington Hotel (Pasadena, Calif.) • MacMurray, Fred • Princeton University • Rheingold Beer • Walt Disney Productions
Begins with
ALYEA: Chemistry in the Far East.
Keywords Bangkok, Thailand • Campbell, J. Arthur • Chem. Bond Approach • Chemical Education Material Study (Chem Study) • Chulalongkorn University • Communist countries • Čhulālongkō̜nmahāwitthayālai • East Asia • Far East • High school teachers • Iron Curtain lands • Mayberry, Richard • Moscow, Russia • Nuffield Study • Strong, Leonard • UNESCO
Begins with
ALYEA: And I played the cello.
Keywords Anheuser-Busch brewery • Banjo Club • Cello • Ferrer, José • Logan, Joshua • McCarter Theater (Princeton, N.J.) • Music performance • Pabst, Augie • Princeton alumni • Smith, Wally • Stewart, James • Stewart, Jimmy • Triangle Club • White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
Complete transcript of interview
The published version of the transcript may diverge from the interview audio due to edits to the transcript made by staff of the Center for Oral History, often at the request of the interviewee, during the transcript review process.