Hubert Alyea
{{Short description|American professor of chemistry}}
Hubert Newcombe Alyea (October 10, 1903 – October 19, 1996)Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014. Social Security Administration. was an American professor of chemistry at Princeton University. His explosive chemistry demonstrations earned him the nickname "Dr. Boom". He was known for his frequent public lectures on science, which he gave around the world, including "Lucky Accidents, Great Discoveries and the Prepared Mind". His talks were described as "zany, eccentric" and "as much performance as professorship".{{cite web|url=https://www.princeton.edu/~images/courseware/audio/archives/alyea/hubertalyea.html |title=@princetonCourseware - Lucky Accidents, Great Discoveries and the Prepared Mind - Hubert N. Alyea |publisher=Princeton.edu |date=1903-10-10 |accessdate=2012-02-21}} Alyea served as inspiration for the title character in the 1961 film The Absent-Minded Professor after Walt Disney was present at one of his demonstrations.
In 1984, Alyea received the Joseph Priestley award.{{cite web|url=http://paw.princeton.edu/memorials/52/59/index.xml|title=Princeton Alumni Weekly: Hubert Alyea |publisher=Paw.princeton.edu |date=1996-10-19 |accessdate=2012-02-21}}
Career at Princeton
The New York Times described his Princeton lectures as follows:
{{blockquote|Dr. Alyea had a genius for bringing science to life in the classroom. With his 'armchair chemistry', he endowed chemical principles with the drama and verve of a sound-and-light show, which now and then burned his suits beyond repair. His hands flew above test tubes and Bunsen burners. Amid explosions and swishing clouds of carbon dioxide he explained the mysteries of chemistry with contagious enthusiasm.{{cite news|last=SAXON|first=WOLFGANG|title=Hubert Newcombe Alyea, 93; Made Chemistry a Lively Art|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/27/nyregion/hubert-newcombe-alyea-93-made-chemistry-a-lively-art.html|work=Obituaries|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=22 January 2013|date=27 October 1996}}}}
=Public lectures=
According to Time magazine, he "lectured with an animated, dynamic style that drew enthusiastic audiences of all ages".
Life magazine reported "Grimacing with fiendish delight{{nbsp}}... he sets off explosions, shoots water pistols and sprays his audience with carbon dioxide in the course of 32 harrowing experiments dramatizing complicated theory".{{cite news|last=Thean|first=Tara|title=LIFE With Hubert Alyea: The Science Teacher You Wish You Had|url=http://life.time.com/culture/hubert-alyea-the-science-teacher-you-wish-you-had/#1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219182210/http://life.time.com/culture/hubert-alyea-the-science-teacher-you-wish-you-had/#1|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 19, 2012|publisher=Life Magazine|accessdate=22 January 2013}} A shortened version of the lecture was featured on a 1955 NBC TV series Princeton '55: An Exploration into Education through Television; it won an Emmy.
"Lucky Accidents, Great Discoveries, and the Prepared Mind" was a lecture he gave frequently about the nature of scientific discovery.{{cite web|title=Lucky Accidents, Great Discoveries and the Prepared Mind|url=https://www.princeton.edu/~images/courseware/audio/archives/alyea/hubertalyea.html|work=Princeton Courseware|publisher=Princeton University|accessdate=22 January 2013}}
Retirement
After his retirement, Alyea continued to deliver lectures at Princeton reunions. His memoir, My Life as a Chemist, was published in 1991.{{cite book|last=Alyea|first=Hubert N.|title=My Life as a Chemist: Hubert N. Alyea, Princeton University, As Recorded for The Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry [Hardcover]|date=January 1991 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Life-Chemist-Princeton-University-Chemistry/dp/B0006OXMLE|publisher=Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry 1991|accessdate=22 January 2013}}
Alyea died in his sleep at his home in Hightstown, New Jersey, on October 22, 1996, at the age of 93.{{cite web |title=Hubert Alyea, Innovator in Science Teaching, Dies at 93 |url=https://pr.princeton.edu/news/96/q4/1022alye.html |publisher=Princeton University |date=October 22, 1996}}
Awards
- New Jersey Science Teachers Award (1954)
- New Jersey Education Citation (1957)
- Chemical Manufacturers Association Award (1964)
- Award from the New Jersey Chapter of the American Institute of Chemists{{Vague|date=November 2020}} (1966)
- Award in Chemical Education from the American Chemical Society (1970)
- James Flack Norris Award from the Northeast Section of the American Chemical Society (1970)
- Robert H. Carleton Award from the National Science Teachers Association (1991)
- Joseph Priestley Award (1984){{cite web|author=Center for Oral History| title= Hubert N. Alyea |url=https://oh.sciencehistory.org/oral-histories/alyea-hubert-n|website= Science History Institute }}{{cite book|first1=Jeffrey L. |last1=Sturchio|first2=Ron |last2=Doel|title=Hubert N. Alyea, Transcript of Interviews Conducted by Jeffrey L. Sturchio and Ron Doel at Princeton, New Jersey on 22 and 30 May 1986 |date=30 May 1986 |url=https://oh.sciencehistory.org/sites/default/files/alyea_hn_0010_suppl.pdf|place=Philadelphia, PA|publisher=The Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry }}
References
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External links
- {{YouTube|jSw7cHfxbu8|Princeton Archives video about Hubert Alyea}}
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Category:20th-century American chemists
Category:People from Clifton, New Jersey
Category:People from Hightstown, New Jersey
Category:Princeton University faculty