Tetsuo Nozoe: The World Traveler, On a Determined Trajectory

Tetsuo Nozoe embarked on many grand tours during his lifetime. The Grand Tours of late 1966 are among his most impressive, spanning Europe and North America with short trips back to Japan in between. Jeffrey I. Seeman takes us along these tours, showing how Nozoe was able to squeeze in a breathtaking number of visits into his “wish list” of organic chemistry, at a time before internet and mobile phones. This Essay and the interactive website that accompanies the Nozoe Autograph Book project are available free-access for at least a three-year period at http://www.tcr.wiley-vch.de/nozoe. Who has not wanted to see the world? The Great Pyramids of Giza. Stonehenge. The Great Wall of China. The Taj Mahal. Not to mention the natural wonders: The Aurora. The Grand Canyon. The Great Barrier Reef. Mount Everest. Imagine sitting down with a travel agent and planning a route around the world, stopping at all the greatest sights imaginable. Even more, imagine having the world's expert for each site, waiting, to personally escort you. Perhaps even the Pharaoh himself, or the Queen of England, or the Last Emperor … they would be your escort. Well, Tetsuo Nozoe did just that. And he did it several times during his lifetime. Now, of course, please don't take me literally. Yes, Nozoe may well have visited some or even all of those sights. But I refer to the wonders of the world of Organic Chemistry. Between 1953 and 1994, Nozoe traveled extensively. His travels were to international meetings, especially the ISNA meetings1-3 where, subsequent to his death in 1996, the establishment of the Nozoe Lectureship and the display of a larger-than-life portrait demonstrate the affection his colleagues had for this gentleman. In addition, Nozoe fashioned multi-month grand tours that took him to tens of cities in many countries where he would visit old friends, make new associations, give lectures, and talk-and-talk chemistry. During his travels, Nozoe brought with him his autograph books in which he collected 1179 pages of autographs from well over 4000 chemists and their students and even their families.4-6 These autograph books are now being published in their entirety in 15 consecutive issues of The Chemical Record. The first segment of 68 pages from 1953 appeared in the October 2012 issue of this journal along with a specially designed web presence (see: http://www.tcr.wiley-vch.de/nozoe). The purpose of this article is to look in some detail at the nature of these grand tours and the nature of the planning that preceded them. In particular, I wish to provide some understanding and documentation of the social and communicative norms of the chemical community in the second half of the 20th century. In fact, the entire Nozoe Autograph Books along with many of their accompanying essays1-5, 7-11 are intended to do just that, as well. In 1966, Tetsuo Nozoe went on two Grand Tours, using this author's designation for a multiple-month lecture and chemical-social tour. The first, to Europe, was from mid-August, 1966 to mid-October, 1966. The second, to North America and Hawaii, was from November 1, 1966 to the second week of December. Documentation of the dates and places and people Nozoe visited can be found in the Nozoe Autograph Books.4, 6 Nozoe preceded his nearly two month trip to Europe with a short visit in Canada (see the Nozoe Autograph Books, pages 177 to 2536). The dates and cities he visited are listed in Table 1 and an illustrative map is shown in Figure 1. Nozoe first spent several days (August 22–23 or 24) in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, a seemingly unlikely intermediary stop between Sendai and London, until one recognizes that one of Nozoe's three daughters, Takako, was married to Nozoe's former student Satoru Masamune who was then teaching at the University of Alberta.7 Illustrative map of Tetsuo Nozoe's first Grand Tour from August 22 to October 15, 1966 (not counting the travel time from and to Japan). This map, designed and prepared by Brian Johnson and colleagues (Wiley-VCH), is reproduced from The Chemical Record with thanks. “editorial work of Tetrahedron [and Tetrahedron Letters, in his ‘job of honorary regional editor for Japan and adjacent areas’] [and to attend the] Autumn General Meeting of Japan Science Council and Annual General meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.”12 Tetsuo Nozoe's July 16, 1966 letter to E. J. Corey,12 informing Corey that Nozoe is planning a trip that will include a stop at Harvard and requesting assistance. Tetsuo Nozoe's July 16, 1966 letter to Paul D. Bartlett,15 informing Bartlett that Nozoe is planning a trip that will include a stop at Harvard and requesting assistance and offering to present a lecture at Harvard. A copy of this letter was sent to Professors Paul Bartlett, Ronald Breslow, George Büchi, George Hammond, John D. Roberts, Gilbert Stork, and Saul Winstein. Illustrative map of Tetsuo Nozoe's second Grand Tour from November 1 to December 12, 1966 (not counting the travel time from and to Japan). This map, designed and prepared by Brian Johnson and colleagues (Wiley-VCH), is reproduced from The Chemical Record with thanks. “be glad to help in any way in the planning for your stay here and any part of your travel …”13 Paul D. Bartlett's August 1, 1966 letter to Tetsuo Nozoe,13 informing Nozoe is planning that he is eager to provide whatever assistance Nozoe requires and inviting Nozoe to visit Harvard University. This essay will not focus on Nozoe's European grand tour, other than to mention that he visited at least 34 cities and even more universities and institutions in at least eight countries over that two-month period. One can estimate that he gave over 30 lectures during that time, as well. Recall, Nozoe began this trip in Edmonton, Alberta on August 22nd, and with nearly constant travelling, he was in Köln, Germany on October 15, 1966. He then returned to Japan for two weeks, leaving immediately thereafter on his second grand tour. Nozoe was in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on November 1st, beginning what was to be a (at least) 26-city, two-country second Grand Tour ending in Hawaii on December 12th. Thus, within four months (including two weeks and two additional trans-oceanic flights when he returned to Japan), Nozoe visited some 50 cities, gave perhaps 50 lectures, and collected over 165 signed autograph book pages! What is remarkable, even spectacular, about Nozoe's trip to North America and Hawaii—and the same for the European trip—is the way in which his itinerary was planned and actualized. In his very detailed letter to Corey (Figure 1) and “a letter similar to this to the persons listed in the itinerary asking for their help,” both sent before he departed on his European trip, Nozoe proposed “a brief plan” shown in the table that accompanied his letter (Table 2). Nozoe recognized and clearly indicated in his letter to Corey that “there will be necessary alterations” and that “it is possible to cut some part of the visits or there will be some addition by special invitation.” And then came Nozoe's request, “I will then be more than pleased if someone or several persons would kindly make the itinerary for me.” Apparently, Nozoe was asking for help from a number of friends around the United States, with the hope that they, somehow, would magically coordinate and make both his travel and accommodation reservations. From a distance, this seems more like a “hope and a prayer” than a highly organized and coordinated plan—for a trip that is intense with location changes nearly every day for weeks. “I was so impatient being pressed by lack of time that I sent out to everyone the revised itinerary on August 2nd before I received the answer to my first letter, and after I sent out the revised itinerary, the letter of formal invitation (according to 1st itinerary) arrived one after another, even during my trip to Europe … “Receiving the information and advice from many colleagues I learned that my preliminary itinerary was too tight and it would be difficult to carry on with the reasons of traffic situation and others …”14 Tetsuo Nozoe's September 26, 1966 letter to J. D. Roberts14 from Nottingham, England, updating Roberts on the revisions of his trip. This letter was accompanied by a “Third Preliminary Itinerary” shown in Table 2. Table 3 accompanied the September 26, 1966 letter to Roberts. It was Nozoe's “Third Preliminary Itinerary.”14 This table clarifies who was responsible for Nozoe's arrangements in six regions: Robert C. West and Paul de Mayo (Pacific Northwest and North Midwest); de Mayo (Ontario); E. J. Corey (Northeast); Charles Price (New York, Pennsylvania); Nelson Leonard (Washington, D.C. and Illinois); J. D. Roberts (California and Hawaii). “I am so sorry that I could not answer many letters, which were waiting for me everywhere in Europe, because I was moving so fast …”14 “our great honor and pleasure that we could welcome you and four colleagues and their family to Japan on the occasion …”15 Tetsuo Nozoe, center right with a visible nametag, welcoming Gilbert Stork and his daughter Diana (to his right) and others to Japan on the occasion of the IUPAC Natural Products Symposium, April 1964. “Mrs. Bartlett and I speak often of the wonderful time that we had on our trip last year and of the three-fold hospitality that we enjoyed from you: at Kyoto, at Sendai, and through your great kindness in introducing us in Taipei.”13 The Nozoe Autograph Books for 1966 provide a nearly daily diary for Nozoe for both his European and American travels. As the complete Nozoe Autograph Books will eventually be available in The Chemical Record by January 2015—they are being published in fifteen consecutive issues of The Chemical Record beginning from October 2012—the enthusiastic reader or interested scholar can follow Nozoe's travel progress through these pages of autographs. A summary of these days for the Americas Grand Tour is presented in Table 4. An illustrative map is shown in Figure 4. It is interesting to compare the reality of Nozoe's travel (Table 4) with his initial plan (Table 2) and his third revised plan (Table 3). There are several major differences. First, he visited Seattle immediately after his first stops, in Vancouver and Burnaby, rather than at the end of his six weeks, after Berkeley and the San Francisco Bay area. And second, there were some institutions he visited that were not on his original itinerary and there were several that were not visited, mostly pharmaceutical companies. Simon Fraser University University of British Columbia F. Daniels, S. M. Kupchan H. E. Zimmerman, H. Goering J. A. Berson S. M. Kupchan, H. E. Zimmerman J. A. Berson G. F. Cartland, J. Pike W. P. Schneider E. Warnhoff, J. B. Stothers P. de Mayo National Research Council University of Ottawa L. Marion, O. E. Edwards, B. Belleau F. Rameriz Harvard MIT G. Kistiakowsky, W. Lipscomb G. Buchi, J. C. Sheehan F. Westheimer, E. J. Corey L. F. Fieser, K. Bloch W. von E. Doering, J. White D. Dolphin, R. B. Woodward, P. D. Bartlett (see comment about TN “who circles the world faster than the speed of most acetolyses” (see Fig. 8D)) L. Sarett, N. H. Wendler, A. Patchett, D. Taub B. C. McKusick, B. C. Pratt, T. Fukunaga H. Simmons E. Ciganek, R. E. Bensen J. Raffouf, M. Gordon A. Nikon L. A. Paquette University of Pennsylvania Temple University Chemical Abstracts Service Hocking Hills State Park (50 miles SE of Columbus) J. K. Crandall, E. Campaigne, L. K. Montgomery, V. J. Shiner, Jr., E. Wenkert P. Beck, W. Pirkle, D. S. Gutowsky, J. C. Bailar, Jr., J. Baldwin, N. Leonard, K. Rinehart, R. Adams, J. C. Martin, R. M. Coates, D. Curtin, D. E. Applequist W. S. Trahanovsky, W. C. Wildman, O. L. Chapman D. J. Cram, T. A. Geissman, F. A. L. Anet, T. Jacobs C. H. Heathcock, D. S. Noyce, G. L. Kenyon, M. Calvin, A. Streitwieser, N. Vietmeyer Stanford Research Institute Stanford University R. M. Silverstein, M. Tanabe, W. S. Johnson, H. S. Mosher, C. Djerassi, J. Brauman It is also interesting to note the number of eminent scientists he had initially hoped to visit, as reflected by their names appearing in his plan and those he actually did visit. To do this comparison completely, one would have to compare Table 2 with the Nozoe Autograph Books themselves. This comparison has been made, and the highlights are shown in Table 2. While Table 2 lists only some of the individuals who signed Nozoe's book on this trip, the names in italics represent those individuals whose name appears in Table 2, that is, those folks who Nozoe specifically hoped to see and are cited in his proposed itinerary. Finally, Figure 8 includes the entries of several of those individuals who Nozoe had hoped to meet (Table 2; and italicized in Table 4) along with their structures, cartoons, and messages. In several instances, the entries of members of their family are included. Several autographs and their accompanying text and graphics from the Nozoe Autograph Books. These entries were chosen to illustrate that Professor Nozoe was, indeed, able to meet many of the individuals he had listed in his “wish list” itinerary (Table 2). (A) Y. L. “Joe” Chow and James P. Kutney (Vancouver); (B) Milton J. and Marjorie F. Vander Brook (UpJohn); (C) E. J. Corey and R. B. Woodward (Harvard); (D) Paul. D. Bartlett (Harvard); (E) George Büchi (MIT); (F) Ron Breslow and Tom Katz (Columbia); and (G) Hyp J. Dauben, Jr. (Washington). In those 40 days, Nozoe travelled countless miles not counting travel to and from Japan. In some respects, this grand tour, coupled with the grand tour to Europe only weeks earlier, was a nightmare of continuous travel, new hotels, and hardly time to relax. But it is also true, these trips were grand tours of a lifetime. It was surely a masterpiece in scheduling, almost certainly put together by individuals in each of these locations, at a time when there was neither texting nor the internet. How was transportation arranged? How was housing arranged? What did Nozoe do on the weekends? Of these questions, we have few details. We do know that on Saturday and Sunday,November 26th and 27th, 1966, he visited Hocking Hills State Park and the Ohio Caverns, both about an hour's drive outside Columbus (see Table 4). And there are numerous pictures and stories of Nozoe enjoying outdoor adventures (see, for example, Figure 9).7, 16 Thus, we can safely speculate that wherever he visited, he enjoyed the natural wonders and cultural heritages of the countries. The Nozoes, 1990. From the perspective of 2014, nearly 50 years distant from this whirlwind trip, one can only be amazed by the enthusiasm and expansive stamina and travelling visions of Tetsuo Nozoe. Only a person driven to connect with many people in many places could possibly conceive of such a trip and then experience it. Was this a trip as glorious as visiting the Pyramids? Just consider: Nozoe met eminent chemists and visited so many of the world's leading educational institutions. Indeed, one chemist he met—R. B. Woodward—had been declared “the pope of organic chemistry.”17-19 “I also admire greatly the energy which enables you to plan such a whirlwind trip around the U.S. Your trip is planned with such expert subtlety …”13 For a chemist, what could be better than Grand Tours such as those orchestrated and enjoyed by Tetsuo Nozoe? One can imagine the joy that Nozoe had on these adventures: meeting so many chemists, visiting so many locations, discussing so much chemistry. I wish I had been there with him. Likely, Nozoe never anticipated that his autograph books would be memorialized, treasured, and studied so intensely by chemists and historians of chemistry after his passing. In a true sense, Nozoe's joys continue to be vicariously shared by us, and in our reading these autograph books, we simultaneously honor Nozoe and those he visited, as well as the friendships and collegiality we all experience. Tetsuo Nozoe would have beamed in amazement. I thank Brian Johnson, Managing Editor of The Chemical Record, for his support in the preparation of this paper. I thank archivist Patrick Shea and the Chemical Heritage Foundation for hospitality during my use of the Paul D. Bartlett and John D. Roberts papers in the CHF archives.

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