He originally wanted to become a botanist, but his high school teacher advised him
to first study chemistry, the basis of plant and animal life, which we now call the
“life sciences.” I remember that at Easter time, when the daffodils and tulips
surrounding a small pond in the upper part of the garden were in bloom and
smelling wonderfully, we strolled around the garden and I listened to my grandfather’s stories. These were inspired by Nature, most of them dealing with wild
animals of the jungles and savannas: lions, giraffes, elephants, etc. They talked to
each other and to the people around them, like in the stories of Doctor Doolittle.
Fig. 1 Hermann Staudinger with grandson Urs in Zurich in 1948
vi
Foreword: Memories of Hermann Staudinger by one of his grandchildren
to first study chemistry, the basis of plant and animal life, which we now call the
“life sciences.” I remember that at Easter time, when the daffodils and tulips
surrounding a small pond in the upper part of the garden were in bloom and
smelling wonderfully, we strolled around the garden and I listened to my grandfather’s stories. These were inspired by Nature, most of them dealing with wild
animals of the jungles and savannas: lions, giraffes, elephants, etc. They talked to
each other and to the people around them, like in the stories of Doctor Doolittle.
Fig. 1 Hermann Staudinger with grandson Urs in Zurich in 1948
vi
Foreword: Memories of Hermann Staudinger by one of his grandchildren