Did Life Grind to a Start? Might Crystal Growth Explain How Life Became Left-Handed?; J. Michael McBride to Deliver the Jerry March Memorial Lecture at Adelphi University
(GARDEN CITY, NY) As part of the Jerry March Memorial Lecture, J. Michael McBride, Ph.D. will present his research on crystals and crystal growth. The lecture will be held on Wednesday, October 23, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in the Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom in the Ruth S. Harley University Center, 1 South Avenue, Garden City, NY. The event is free and open to the public.
The initial source of single-handed molecules in nature has been the object of lively discussion among chemists, physicists, biologists, statisticians, geologists, and theologians for 150 years. A recently recognized candidate is recrystallization with grinding, a phenomenon first reported in 2005 by Cristobal Viedma, which is known as “Viedma ripening.” Dr. McBride and his group are currently researching on the Viedma ripening and using optical and atomic force microscopy to study aspects of crystal nucleation, growth, and dissolution to elucidate the mechanisms of Viedma ripening.
Dr. McBride retired as Richard M. Colgate Professor of Chemistry in 2012 after teaching at Yale University for more than 40 years. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1966 for work in mechanistic free-radical chemistry under Paul D. Bartlett. He attended the College of Wooster at Wooster, Ohio and received his B.A. from Harvard College in 1962. Much of his group’s research involved using free-radical precursors to understand the factors that influence chemical reactions in rigid, structured surrounding. His research and teaching have been enriched by his interest in the history of chemistry-especially free radical chemistry, 19th Century Crystallography, the structural model of organic chemistry, and the polymath Robert Hooke.
His honors include delivering the Gerhardt Schmidt Lecture at the Weizmann Institute and receiving the Prelog Medal of the ETH. For more than 40 years he developed Freshman Organic Chemistry, a course for well-prepared freshmen that evolved from a standard course into an idiosyncratic introduction to university-level science, now freely available through Open Yale Courses (oyc.yale.edu).
For more information about upcoming lectures and events at Adelphi, please contact the Cultural Events Hotline at (516) 877-4555, or visit events.adelphi.edu.
About Adelphi University:
Adelphi is a world-class, modern university with excellent and highly relevant programs where students prepare for lives of active citizenship and professional careers. Through its schools and programs—College of Arts and Sciences, Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Honors College, Robert B. Willumstad School of Business, Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, University College, College of Nursing and Public Health and the School of Social Work—the coeducational university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as professional and educational programs for adults. Adelphi University currently enrolls nearly 8,000 students from 43 states and 45 foreign countries. With its main campus in Garden City and its centers in Manhattan, Suffolk County, and Poughkeepsie, the University, chartered in 1896, maintains a commitment to liberal studies, in tandem with rigorous professional preparation and active citizenship.
