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Science 2 February 2007:
Vol. 315. no. 5812, p. 581
DOI: 10.1126/science.315.5812.581d
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Newsmakers

Figure 1
CREDIT: AP PHOTO
FORGOTTEN GENIUS. Percy Julian's synthesis in 1935 of physostigmine, used to treat glaucoma, has been called one of the 25 most important achievements in chemistry of the 20th century. In 1973, Julian became only the second African American to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). But his accomplishments didn't stop racists from fire-bombing his home when Julian moved to the all-white Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, shortly after World War II. Although his neighbors decried the attacks, a greater deterrent may have been Julian's decision to spend night after night perched in a tree, shotgun in hand. Julian used the time to teach his then-10-year-old son about bigotry and intolerance.

Julian's story, "Forgotten Genius," will air 6 February on many PBS stations (pbs.org/wgbh/nova/julian). As Catherine Hunt, president of the American Chemical Society, said last week at an NAS screening of the show, "Percy Julian heard the word 'no' many times in his career and in his life, … and yet he persevered."




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