Have you ever been reading through the literature and found a paper that you like? You decide to go into the lab and try out this radical new cobalt-catalyzed oxidation (or whatever) and you try it, it works and you decide to tell your lab buddy about it. And she asks, "Whose paper is it?"
And you say... "Uhhh, some Japanese group."
Before I come off as some complete bigot and/or buffoon, let me assure you (as much as I can), that I can easily capture the last names of Japanese chemists in my head. But they're a little tough to remember, and I don't seem to have the 'name capture' that I have for English-derived names where I can usually remember first, middle initial and last name, geographical area of institution, etc. It's even possible for me to do this for European groups (especially German ones).
I'm not quite sure I could tell you Japanese full names other than Akira Suzuki and Ryoji Noyori. Where do they work? Uhhhhhhhhh....
Similarly, it's relatively easy to keep in my head the different names of Chinese chemists in US academia (Yu at Scripps, Shi at Colorado State, Pu at Virginia among others), but I don't really know the names of any prominent Chinese chemists (other than Shengming Ma at SIOC).
I suppose that I should 1) just try harder to remember the names and look up the geography and 2) try to learn the structure of Japanese and Chinese academia. That's probably the correct answer.
Readers, got any handy mnemonics? Please feel free to castigate me in the comments.
And you say... "Uhhh, some Japanese group."
Before I come off as some complete bigot and/or buffoon, let me assure you (as much as I can), that I can easily capture the last names of Japanese chemists in my head. But they're a little tough to remember, and I don't seem to have the 'name capture' that I have for English-derived names where I can usually remember first, middle initial and last name, geographical area of institution, etc. It's even possible for me to do this for European groups (especially German ones).
I'm not quite sure I could tell you Japanese full names other than Akira Suzuki and Ryoji Noyori. Where do they work? Uhhhhhhhhh....
Similarly, it's relatively easy to keep in my head the different names of Chinese chemists in US academia (Yu at Scripps, Shi at Colorado State, Pu at Virginia among others), but I don't really know the names of any prominent Chinese chemists (other than Shengming Ma at SIOC).
I suppose that I should 1) just try harder to remember the names and look up the geography and 2) try to learn the structure of Japanese and Chinese academia. That's probably the correct answer.
Readers, got any handy mnemonics? Please feel free to castigate me in the comments.
You're still a step ahead of me: I can't remember *any* names worth a darn. I mostly remember papers by university and journal, not authors.
ReplyDeleteI'm Chinese :)
ReplyDeleteChinese names are usually hard for American to remember and spell mainly because we put short family name at last. XD
Good point -- the one character last name problem is very different from English-derived names.
ReplyDeleteI thought Ma moved to ECNU!
ReplyDeleteIs this any different than non-chemists confusing rubidium and ruthenium? If it's important, you'll find a way to remember it.
ReplyDeleteI think that's true. I guess I'm pointing out that I more or less grok the ecology of the academic chemistry of the Western world, but don't really understand the ecology of the Asian academic chemistry world yet.
ReplyDeleteI think it depends on what your area/subfield is. In my area there are a number of Chinese and Japanese groups that do some of the most interesting work and I've seen awesome seminars by them. So I know their names, just as I'd know US/European chemists in the same area. But I am shoddy on names of big famous Asian chemists - I could string off a list of famous old US organic chemists, but would struggle to do the same for other countries.
ReplyDeleteCare to share what your subfield is? I'd be terribly interested.
ReplyDelete>Chinese names are usually hard for American to remember and spell >mainly because we put short family name at last.
ReplyDeleteUnless of course, as is common in Singapore, they switch in around to make it more Western-friendly.... As soon as you think you have handle on things, your head explodes.... pooof!
...in my sub-field too. (And it easy to remember, when those awesome cationic biopolymers come from a dude named Kazunori Kataoka)
ReplyDeleteUnless of course, as is common in Singapore, they switch in around to make it more Western-friendly.... As soon as you think you have handle on things, your head explodes.... pooof!
ReplyDeleteSorta like blogger pseudonyms.