So why do we live in a right-handed universe (iirc -- the only organic
chemistry I had was in 2nd year high school chemistry...oh, and I almost
forgot, a semester of bonehead chem in university)? Are there
left-handed versions of even simple organics like, say, dextrose?
I do remember impressing friends in Gr. XII a few times, though. I had a
small bedroom in my Dad and step-Mom's basement, and next to it was my
Dad's study/studio (he's a writer and artist), which came complete with
stove and kitchenette, as the basement had been fitted out as a rentable
suite. Anyway, that was back in the days that most of you weren't around
for, la grande dactylographe! The manual typewriter! And one of my
chores was to clean the keys from time to time. First step was to dab
them with this putty-like substance, and then you gently washed them
with 1,1,1 trichlorethane, which has a common name (it's a toluene, and
is dangerous to use in confined spaces and near open flames, so you
probably can't buy it anymore -- too many kids tried to sniff it, I
guess, and it would be even "better", if that's the operative word, than
airplane glue). Anyway, that's the only half-fancy organic compound
whose name I memorized (well, along with deoxyribonucleic acid, but I
digress .
Another one of my chores (this was before my Dad was a member) once, was
to clean out the area behind the sink in the study, and an adjacent
cupboard area. My Dad had tried to brew his own beer (which is legal
here, as is wine-making for personal consumption) and a couple of the
bottles ("stubbies" for those Canadians who remember that old icon of
Canadian beer) had burst and turned the whole place into a mess. I had
to literally chisel one of the beer bottles out.
My Own Attempt at Being a Sorcer's Apprentice
This chapter comes after an earlier one, when I was about 12 or 13 and
dropped what I originally thought was a blown-out match (which I'd been
using to light a my Bunsen burner) into what I thought was a large empty
tin (2 Imperial gallons, iirc)). The boom almost made me give up my own
private chemical research career. could have gone into yes, I am dating
myself once again. I don't think you can get the fancy chemical sets
anymore -- most of the substnces are now tightly controlled
Interestingly enough, in those days, while I didn't like second-hand
smoke (and my step-Mom made him confine his smoking to the study
anyway), I remember watching him roll his own, using a gadget that's
kind of difficult to describe. However, you put a long (about a foot)
piece of paper, gummed along one edge, onto the bottom of this machine,
and then you'd add Player's tobacco from a can (that's a Canadian brand
-- one of the stronger ones that gives "old tar" a new meaning in the
Navy. Then you'd pull this lever, and a rubber sheet would turn this
into a foot-long, perfectly rolled (unlike yer typical rolling of
British Columbia's finest). It had cut marks along the lenth of the
tube-making part, which indicated where to cut the tube while it was
held fast. My Dad used an ordinary razor blade (the old Gillete style
double-edged, thin blades you put into your shaver) I was fascinated by
the device and once tried to make a "candy" cigarette once by putting
those teensy-weensy little candy balls (the best-known variety came in
silver and was hard, like a micro-ball bearing. It was just a goofy
experiment (I was either 15 or 16 at the time), and lifted one
out....Yup, all these little silver 'ball bearings" spilled out across
the study floor. I tried sweeping them but they just got knocked about I
got to the step where -- that is, until it occurred to me to get a
vacuum to clean them up. I was exploring.
By the time I was Grade VIII I had narrowed my interests to mathematics
or astronony. I ended up in mathematics. Officially my degree's is in
computer science, but when I took it, besides classes which were
actualknown as BSc
Stephen Beecroft wrote:
> -Marc-
> > Oh, NOW you've opened a can of worms. Ronn -- a short lecture on
> > chemical nomenclature if you don't mind. What *do* those numbers
> > before a chemical compound's name mean?
>
> I'm not Ronn, nor to I play him on TV, but I did take organic chemistry
> a couple of decades ago at BYU. Organic molecules are named by the main
> "backbone" or "ring" molecule -- in this case, xanthine -- with prefixes
> indicating the atoms or molecules/groups attached. Each atom or
> molecule/group named also has a number preceding it that identifies its
> position on the backbone molecule. If you have two of the same kind of
> group, you precede the identifier with "di" and give both numbers
> separated by a comma. Three of the same kind merits you a "tri" and all
> three numbers separated by commas, and so forth.
>
> Test Monday.
>
> Stephen
>
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>
--
Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland
“Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he
will pick
himself up and continue on” – Winston Churchill
Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the
author
solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s
employer,
nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated.
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