Never Lose Your Nerve! 9724hc_9789814704854_tp.indd 1 23/6/15 10:31 am August1,2014 10:17 9inx6in ScanningTransmissionElectronMicroscopy... b1683-fm TTTThhhhiiiissss ppppaaaaggggeeee iiiinnnntttteeeennnnttttiiiioooonnnnaaaallllllllyyyy lllleeeefffftttt bbbbllllaaaannnnkkkk Never Lose Your Nerve! Alan J. Heeger University of California, Santa Barbara, USA World Scientific NEW JERSEY • LONDON • SINGAPORE • BEIJING • SHANGHAI • HONG KONG • TAIPEI • CHENNAI • TOKYO 9724hc_9789814704854_tp.indd 2 23/6/15 10:31 am Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. NEVER LOSE YOUR NERVE ! Copyright © 2016 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. ISBN 978-981-4704-85-4 ISBN 978-981-4704-86-1 (pbk) Printed in Singapore SC - Never Lose Your Nerve.indd 1 16/9/2015 9:06:03 AM b2194 Never Lose Your Nerve! “9x6” Never Lose Your Nerve! Alan J. Heeger v bb22119944__FFMM..iinndddd vv 99//1188//22001155 11::0099::3388 PPMM August1,2014 10:17 9inx6in ScanningTransmissionElectronMicroscopy... b1683-fm TTTThhhhiiiissss ppppaaaaggggeeee iiiinnnntttteeeennnnttttiiiioooonnnnaaaallllllllyyyy lllleeeefffftttt bbbbllllaaaannnnkkkk b2194 Never Lose Your Nerve! “9x6” This Book is dedicated to Ruth, who “has filled my life with love and surrounded me with beauty” and made all things that were impossible — possible. vii bb22119944__FFMM..iinndddd vviiii 99//1188//22001155 11::0099::4400 PPMM August1,2014 10:17 9inx6in ScanningTransmissionElectronMicroscopy... b1683-fm TTTThhhhiiiissss ppppaaaaggggeeee iiiinnnntttteeeennnnttttiiiioooonnnnaaaallllllllyyyy lllleeeefffftttt bbbbllllaaaannnnkkkk b2194 Never Lose Your Nerve! “9x6” Prologue Professor Heeger shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in the year 2000 with his two colleagues, Hideki Shirakawa and Alan MacDiarmid, “for the discovery and development of conducting polymers.” This book is the story of his path from a small town in Iowa to receiving the Gold Medal that is the symbol of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It is not one story but a set of intertwined stories, parallel in time, that describe a rich and complex life: a love story; a description of his passion for science and the various stages from student to young Pro- fessor to the award of the Nobel Prize; his love of and involvement with the theater and how that involvement had direct impact on his science; his adventures as an entrepreneur; and his love for and his impact on his two sons, Peter and David. Throughout this quiltwork of love, passion for science, entrepreneurship, theater and the award of the Nobel Prize, he expresses a love of the mountains and of skiing, which he uses to illustrate many of the signifi cant events of his life. He tells us of a “miracle” that actually happened during his child- hood. The loss of his father when he was nine years old shaped his life and forced him to accept his own mortality at this early age. Consequently, his mother guided and pushed him toward advanced education all the way to the award of the PhD degree in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley. His love for his wife, Ruth, provides the foundation for the entire tale. “Ruth has fi lled my life with love and surrounded me with beauty. Throughout the 64 years that we have been together, our love carried us iixx bb22119944__FFMM..iinndddd iixx 99//1188//22001155 11::0099::4400 PPMM