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Portrait of Sidney Altman

Sidney Altman

(1939–2022) Chemist

17 quotes in 155 categories

Sidney Altman was a chemist, best known for Ribonuclease P.

Quick Facts About Sidney Altman

Born: May 7, 1939
Died: April 5, 2022
Profession: Chemist
Notable works: Ribonuclease P

About Sidney Altman

Sidney Altman was a Canadian-American molecular biologist, who was the Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Chemistry at Yale University. In 1989, he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas R. Cech for their work on the catalytic properties of RNA.

Biography source: Wikipedia

Quotes by Sidney Altman

We are very fortunate to be recognized here in such an extraordinary manner for work that we enjoy.

Enjoy

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My intention was to enroll at McGill University but an unexpected series of events led me to study physics at the Massachusetts…

Events

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Eight months later, having left Columbia, I was studying physics in a summer program and working in Colorado when I decided to…

Colorado

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I was born in Montreal in 1939, the second son of poor immigrants.

Born

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For our immediate family and relatives, Canada was a land of opportunity.

Canada

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We are united in the hope that every individual will someday enjoy at least the intellectual privileges we have had, if not…

Advantages

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The mystique associated with the bomb, the role that scientists played in it, and its general importance could not fail to impress…

Associated

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I should mention that while I was growing up, Einstein was presented as a worthy role model for a young boy who…

Boys

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The RNA World referred to an hypothetical stage in the origin of life on Earth.

Earth

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By the time I reached high school my father's grocery store had made our life adequately comfortable and I was able to…

Able

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“All the people who do well work very hard. Nobody who has a record of achievement has been lazy about it.”

Success

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It was from them that I learned that hard work in stable surroundings could yield rewards, even if only in infinitesimally small…

Could

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Nevertheless, as is a frequent occurrence in science, a general hypothesis was constructed from a few specific instances of a phenomenon.

Hypothesis

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Indeed, we are privileged to have been afforded the opportunity to study Nature and to follow our own thoughts and inspirations in…

Generous

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Furthermore, neither of our research groups set out in search of RNA catalysis.

Furthermore

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About seven years later I was given a book about the periodic table of the elements. For the first time I saw…

Beauty

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I spent eighteen months as a graduate student in physics at Columbia University, waiting unhappily for an opportunity to work in a…

Columbia

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