Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Thesis
  • Published:

Zen and the art of molecules

Nature Chemistry volume 4, pages 142–144 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Michelle Francl wonders what it is that makes a molecule elegant.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Wang, W. et al. J. Phys. Chem. A 110, 3954–3960 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. http://www.siobhandavies.com/dance/dance-works/past-works/in-plain-clothes/video.html

  3. Dunkel, E. Philadelphia Inquirer http://go.nature.com/l7e8jE (7 Oct 2006).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Johnson, G. The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments (Knopf, 2008).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Glynn, I. Elegance in Science: The Beauty of Simplicity (Oxford Univ. Press, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Ball, P. Elegant Solutions: Ten Beautiful Experiments in Chemistry (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2005).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Aldersey-Williams, H. The Most Beautiful Molecule: The Discovery of the Buckyball (Wiley, 1995).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Kirwan, J. Beauty (Manchester Univ. Press, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Parkes, G. Japanese Aesthetics. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2011 edition) (ed. Zalta, E. N.); http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2011/entries/japanese-aesthetics/

  10. Proust, M. Remembrance of Things Past Vol. 1 (Random House, 1981).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Paquette, L. A. & Stowell, J. C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 93, 2459–2463 (1971).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Hoffmann, R. J. Aesthet. Art Critic. 48, 191–204 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Náray-Szabó, G. Symm. Cult. Sci. 19, 415–423 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Hoffman, R. in Beyond the Finite: The Sublime in Art and Science (eds Whyte, I. B. & Hoffmann, R.) Ch. 9 (Oxford Univ. Press, 2011).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Brannigan, J. A. & Wilkinson, A. J. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 3, 964–970 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michelle Francl is the Herdegen Fellow at the Chemical Heritage Foundation and is in the Department of Chemistry at Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 19010-2899, USA,

    Michelle Francl

Authors
  1. Michelle Francl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michelle Francl.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Francl, M. Zen and the art of molecules. Nature Chem 4, 142–144 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1279

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1279

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing