Dick Zare: ‘I got into big fights with my science teacher’
The Stanford physical chemist recounts his eventful childhood in Cleveland, and how his first chemistry experiment led to a spanking
I am the eldest child of three, born into a dysfunctional family in Cleveland, Ohio. My father wanted to be a chemist, but he failed out of graduate school. There were books around the house involving chemistry, and I was told by my parents: ‘Leave them alone, they only lead to unhappiness.’ Being the rebellious child that I was, I decided that this must be really interesting. So, I would take them and read them at night with a flashlight, under the covers of my bed.
My first chemistry experiment was at the age of three or four. I had received a spanking from my father, and then to take revenge on him I urinated into his aquarium of tropical fish. This ended up killing the fish, which led to another spanking. But I was impressed with the power of chemistry, right then and there. I didn’t know that would happen.
I nearly failed kindergarten. They had only one requirement to pass, and it was to be able to tie your shoes – this is before the age of Velcro. I didn’t tie my shoes because I discovered that if you didn’t tie your shoes and waited, other people would tie them for you. Under duress, I did manage to scrape by the last week of kindergarten, to the great relief of my parents.