My Experiments With Light
The universe around me, captured one frame at a time
« -:- Story | EXIF | |
Comments (6)
-:-
| X Close |
Who Is John Fenn?
He was/is an American research professor of analytical chemistry who won (a share of) the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Fenn shared half of the award with Koichi Tanaka for their work in mass spectrometry. Prof. Fenn's contributions specifically related to the development of electrospray ionization, now a commonly used technique for large molecules and routine liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.Born in New York City, and moved to Kentucky with his family during the Great Depression, he did his undergraduate work at Berea College, and received his PhD from Yale University. He worked in industry at Monsanto and at private research labs before moving to academic posts including Yale University and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Nobel Work
Prof. Fenn did not start his Nobel research until later in his career. He was semi-retired when he first published his research on electrospray ionization for mass spectrometry. He felt that his work in electrospray ionization received "a kick in the pants" when proteomics emerged. In 2001, more than 1700 papers on proteomics were published, many using electrospray ionization.
Electrospray ionization provides a way to get accurate information about the mass of a large molecule very quickly, even when it is in a mixture of other molecules. The liquid sample is introduced into an electrospray source (at atmospheric pressure) and desolvated with a flow of heated nitrogen gas. This forms small droplets which evaporate in a region under vacuum, which increases the charge on the droplets. For large molecules like proteins, this often results in multiply charge species. Increasing the charge on the molecules, decreased the mass to charge ratio, which allows the mass to be more easily determined.
Citing NobelPrize.org, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2002 was awarded for the development of methods for identification and structure analyses of biological macromolecules with one half jointly to John B. Fenn and Koichi Tanaka for their development of soft desorption ionisation methods for mass spectrometric analyses of biological macromolecules and the other half to Kurt Wüthrich for his development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for determining the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules in solution.
I had the honor and privilege of interacting with him (and by interaction, I mean: he talked and I listened) during the 25th Army Science Conference held in Orlando, FL. A classic Gentle Giant, he not only agreed to take a picture with me (and several other members of his Nobel fraternity), he also posed for this shot. I'll never forget his last words:
Son, it looks like I'm staring into a cannon!
Citing NobelPrize.org, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2002 was awarded for the development of methods for identification and structure analyses of biological macromolecules with one half jointly to John B. Fenn and Koichi Tanaka for their development of soft desorption ionisation methods for mass spectrometric analyses of biological macromolecules and the other half to Kurt Wüthrich for his development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for determining the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules in solution.
I had the honor and privilege of interacting with him (and by interaction, I mean: he talked and I listened) during the 25th Army Science Conference held in Orlando, FL. A classic Gentle Giant, he not only agreed to take a picture with me (and several other members of his Nobel fraternity), he also posed for this shot. I'll never forget his last words:
Son, it looks like I'm staring into a cannon!
Also In The Neighborhood
- Jasmine (763.6 mi)
- Flying Across The Potomac (769.4 mi)
- Great Blue Heron (769.8 mi)
- Lotus Bud Pearls (769.8 mi)
- Lotus (769.8 mi)
- In Search of Calder Cup (870.3 mi)
- Pink Lady's Slipper (883.4 mi)
- Swing (905.3 mi)
- Princeton Theological Seminary (909.8 mi)
- Holder Hall, Princeton University (910.1 mi)
EXIF Information |
X Close |
|
Archive ID Date/Time Camera Lens Focal Length Exposure Program Shutter Speed Aperture ISO Exposure Bias Flash Filters Light Value Hyperfocal Distance Focus Distance Depth of Field Field of View Tripod Notes/Remarks |
dsc_101-2952 2006.11.30 12:37:41 EST NIKON D70s AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED 70.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 105.0 mm) Aperture-priority AE 1/100 second(s) f/3.5 400 0 No None 8.3 69.89 m 2.00 m 0.11 m (1.94 - 2.05) 18.8 deg (0.66 m) No -- |
| Histogram |
|
Share Your Thoughts |
X Close |
Comments (6)
Harry Hunt
2009-03-10 12:01:25
Double Wow!
2009-03-10 12:01:25
Air Debby
2009-03-10 17:41:17
Wonderful shot of an outstanding man
2009-03-10 17:41:17
Larry Gallier
2009-03-18 00:04:07
Outstanding portrait!!! Nice shot!2009-03-18 00:04:07
--
Seen on your photo stream. (?)
Jeremy
2009-03-20 23:42:07
Man, looks like you fratrenize with some real intellectuals! Alot of brain power in this set of portraits!
2009-03-20 23:42:07
Gowtham
2009-03-21 00:00:55
@remy_fauxtog:2009-03-21 00:00:55
I must thank the Army Research Labs for organizing the conference, inviting all living Nobel Laureates that they had funded in some form or the other in the past 50 years and my graduate advisor for sending me to that conference.
I had seen/met a couple would-be Nobel Laureates while studying in India but 'hanging out' [I use that phrase very loosely] with 7 of them under one roof at once for 5 straight days was a mind blowing experience. Most of them were known to me as the 'science text book characters' and I used to [still do] worship them. Each one turned out to be a personification of humility, mingling with lesser mortals like me and heeding to photographic requests.
|
[Florida] [Nikkor_70-200mm] [Nikon] [Nikon_D70s] [NobelPrize] [Orlando] [Portrait] [Science] [USA] |

2009-03-10 10:32:08