Science as an intellectual exercise enriches our culture, and is in itself ennobling. ... Though to the layman, the world revealed by the chemist may seem more commonplace, it is not so to him. Each new insight into how the atoms in their interactions express themselves in structure and transformations, not only of inanimate matter, but particularly also of living matter, provides a thrill.
Henry TaubeMy own interest in basic aspects of electron transfer between metal complexes became active only after I came to the University of Chicago in 1946.
Henry TaubeThis joy of discovery is real, and it is one of our rewards. So too is the approval of our work by our peers.
Henry TaubeUndeveloped though the science [of chemistry] is, it already has great power to bring benefits. Those accruing to physical welfare are readily recognized, as in providing cures, improving the materials needed for everyday living, moving to ameliorate the harm which mankind by its sheer numbers does to the environment, to say nothing of that which even today attends industrial development. And as we continue to improve our understanding of the basic science on which applications increasingly depend, material benefits of this and other kinds are secured for the future.
Henry TaubeBecause a child of one doubles its age after the passage of a single year, it can be said to be aging rapidly.
Henry Taube