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Max Perutz

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Scientist

The Resume

    (May 19, 1914-February 6, 2002)
    Born in Vienna, Austria
    Founded the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) at Cambridge (1947)
    Co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for determining the structure of hemoglobin (1962)

Why he might be annoying:

    During World War II, he worked on Project Habakkuk, an attempt to build an aircraft carrier out of ice that (surprise!) proved to be impractical.
    He ate only soft foods, such as overripe bananas and cold boiled potatoes.
    After winning the Nobel Prize, he observed, 'Many call me a famous scientist, but few know what I am supposed to be famous for.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was married to Gisela Peiser for 59 years.
    He was an expert skier and mountaineer, which he put to scientific use as a member of a team studying how snow converted to ice in Swiss glaciers (1938).
    When he was detained as an enemy alien at the outbreak of WWII, Lord Mountbatten personally intervened to get his naturalization expedited.
    As head of the LMB, he minimized bureaucracy, saying that 'mountains of futile paperwork' killed creativity.
    He submitted his last scientific paper for publication less than two months before his death.
    He said, 'A discovery is like falling in love and reaching the top of a mountain after a hard climb all in one.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying