Bernhard Wunderlich grew up in Hitler's Germany and Communist East Germany before he fled to the United States and became a leading chemistry professor. This autobiography chronicles his passionate pursuit of science during the random turbulence of his life.

Today is Sunday, June 17, 2007. Father's Day. Naturally, the obligatory, carefully selected cards, phone calls, and small gifts arrived from the children and grandchildren. Best wishes for Father's Day were also the first words in the morning from Heidel, my wife of 54 years, although for many years I had made the comment: I am not your father. But, in the frame of my life's experiences th th in the 20 century, as I intend to summarize them over the next few years, the 17 of June has much deeper significance. This was the day in 1953 when we finally fled from our life of oppression which had lasted 20 years. Two successive dictatorships, one of Hitler and the other of Stalin, caused the most horrific slaughter of civilians and soldiers, eclipsing all prior history. During these first years of my life, I was plainly lucky to survive. After this day, I had a much better chance to experience the freedom needed to lead a life of creativity, satisfaction, and ultimately prosperity, all directed largely by our own decisions. th The 17 of June 1953 was a Wednesday. I stayed in the apartment of my parents in my hometown of Brandenburg, in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the former Russian occupied zone of Germany. The summer vacation of the Humboldt University in East Berlin, some 40 mi further east, had just started. But, I was alone with my father, Vati.

Intertwines the political circumstances in Europe before, during and after World War II and those later on in the USA with a scientific career Enough records were kept during all these years to reconstruct in this book the spirit of the times and, perhaps, show that many present day education and life experiences may be wanting Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Klappentext
This autobiography is written to follow the initially turbulent and seemingly random path of education and life experiences of the author in the 1930s and 40s during the oppressive 3rd German Reich. These early childhood insights made the author an undesirable student in the 1950s in the totalitarian German Democratic Republic, and ultimately brought him to the USA. Ideally prepared, he completed a first-rate education in record time, leading in 1965 to a tenured professorship in chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, specializing in research of the solid state of linear macromolecules (polymers, plastics). Early retirement in 1988 led to a new 20-year career as Professor and Distinguished Scientist at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A surprising requirement of this career was an extensive amount of travel within the US and worldwide. It rekindled an interest based on his father's love of the literature on explorations, led to a visit of many anthropological sites, and peaked with a trip around the world with Northwestern University Alumni. The unforeseeable results of writing this book were the many links between Bernhard Wunderlich's love of teaching and research to the earliest experiences in his life. He would not want to miss or change anything. The complete list of publications and lectures is available online as electronic supplementary material on extra.springer.com

Inhalt
Early Childhood, 19311939.- Years of War, 19391945.- Final Years in Brandenburg, 19451949.- Humboldt University in Berlin, 19491953.- Goethe University, Frankfurt, Federal Republic of Germany, 19531954.- Study in the US, 19541958.- Cornell University, 19581963.- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 19631988.- University of Tennessee & Oak Ridge National Lab, 19882001.- Epilogue.- A Brief Genealogy.