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)
Famous saying: Save the ozone, save ourselves.
Interview quote: I never imagined my research would ban a whole industry.
Comeback to skeptics: Data doesn't lie; denial does.
From major work: The polar vortex amplifies ozone loss dramatically.
Letter excerpt: Urgency in science is measured in decades, not days.
Speech: International cooperation is chemistry's greatest reaction.
Reflection: Aging in science means mentoring the next guardians.
Witty: Ozone holes are nature's way of saying 'peek-a-boo' with UV.
Professional: Spectroscopy revealed the chlorine monoxide culprit.
On meaning: My Nobel was for prevention, not just discovery.
Aphorism: One molecule's journey affects the whole world.
Testimony: Regulations based on science save lives unseen.
Personal: Family inspired my commitment to a sustainable Earth.
Joke: Chemists don't die; they just lose their catalysts.
Observation: Climate models must include stratospheric dynamics.
Excerpt: The recovery timeline is 50 years, patience required.
Reflection: Doubt from industry fueled my determination.
Speech: Education is the antidote to environmental ignorance.
Comeback: Science isn't political until politicians ignore it.
Key passage: Fluorocarbons persist for over a century in the air.
Contemporaries of F. Sherwood Rowland
Other Chemistrys born within 50 years of F. Sherwood Rowland (1927–2012).