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Slow science

Nature Chemistry volume 4, pages 588–589 (2012)Cite this article

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Jean-François Lutz wonders whether chemists should slow down.

In 1844, Charles Goodyear described in a succinct patent the preparation of vulcanized rubber, which remains, more than 150 years after its discovery, one of the most produced materials in the chemical industry1. This major discovery was not the result of sudden inspiration; it came after more than 10 years of repeated experiments and unsuccessful results. This famous example is obviously not an isolated case in the history of chemistry. Many breakthroughs of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were made by one researcher — or a small group of dedicated researchers — after many years of patient investigation punctuated by rare, but meaningful, publications.

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References

  1. Goodyear, C. Improvement of india-rubber fabrics. US patent 3633 (1844).

  2. http://slow-science.org/

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  1. Jean-François Lutz is in the Institut Charles Sadron, 67034 Strasbourg, France,

    Jean-François Lutz

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  1. Jean-François Lutz
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Correspondence to Jean-François Lutz.

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Lutz, JF. Slow science. Nature Chem 4, 588–589 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1415

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1415

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