National Science & Technology Medals Foundation / August 2019
It was more than three decades ago, but chemist Geraldine Richmond still remembers it clearly: the first time she felt like her research had really failed. As a young researcher fresh out of graduate school, Richmond was setting up her own laser lab. She had spent days on end using a brand-new laser to collect data on a molecule that a biochemist collaborator had given her to study. It felt like things were finally falling into place. Then, she found out the sample he’d given her had gotten contaminated… read more at the National Science & Technology Medals Foundation.