F. Sherwood Rowland
He shared the Nobel Prize for his work on the depletion of the ozone layer by chlorofluorocarbons.
Most quoted
"Isn't it a responsibility of scientists, if you believe that you have found something that can affect the environment, isn't it your responsibility to actually do something about it, enough so that action actually takes place?"
— from Nobel Prize Lecture, 1995
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Especially if you made them feel wrong."
— from Attributed/Paraphrased
"What's the use of having developed a science well enough to make predictions if, in the end, all we're willing to do is stand around and wait for them to come true?"
— from Interview/Speech
All quotes by F. Sherwood Rowland (415)
Curiosity is the driving force of basic science.
The atmosphere is a shared resource, and its protection requires shared responsibility.
We were not popular with the chemical industry, to put it mildly.
Science provides the facts, but society must provide the action.
Each chlorine atom can destroy 100,000 ozone molecules before it is finally removed from the stratosphere.
The Montreal Protocol is a testament to what the world can accomplish when it acts on sound science.
There is no 'away' in which to throw things on a finite planet.
The real challenge is to get people to understand that an invisible problem can be a deadly one.
We altered the chemistry of the entire atmosphere without even knowing it.
The pursuit of knowledge sometimes leads to uncomfortable truths.
Our paper was a call to action, not just an academic exercise.
The time between discovery and action was far too long.
We must be stewards, not just users, of our planet.
A single scientific idea can change the world, but only if people listen.
The connection between a spray can and the sky over Antarctica was not obvious, but it was real.
Ignorance is not a sustainable policy.
Chemistry is not just something in a test tube; it is the fabric of our environment.
The evidence was like a detective story, with chlorine as the prime suspect.
We have only one atmosphere.
The future is not a spectator sport.
Contemporaries of F. Sherwood Rowland
Other Chemistrys born within 50 years of F. Sherwood Rowland (1927–2012).