19 Quotes by John Pople

My contribution to quantum chemistry has depended hugely on work by others. The international community in our field is a close one.

I found a discarded textbook on calculus in a wastebasket and read it from cover to cover.

Like many other Laureates, I have benefit immeasurably from the love and support of my wife and children.

I had to leave Cambridge and take up industrial employment for a period. This was with the Bristol Aeroplane Company. There was little to do there.

I developed an interest in nuclear magnetic resonance, which was then emerging as a powerful technique for studying molecular structure.

I was approaching the age of 40 with a substantial publication record, but had not yet held any position in a chemistry department.

Leaving England was a painful decision, and we still have some regrets about it. However, at that time, the research environment for theoretical chemistry was clearly better in the U.S.

Life with a scientist who is often changing jobs and is frequently away at meetings and on lecture tours is not easy. Without a secure home base, I could not have made much progress.

I was a close observer of the developments in molecular biology.