Later Life
In 1999 Smalley was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which later became chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
In his later years, Smalley was very outspoken about the need for cheap, clean energy, which he described as the number one problem facing humanity in the 21st century. He felt that improved science education was key, and went to great lengths to encourage young students to consider careers in science. His slogan for this effort was "Be a scientist, save the world."
Skeptical of religion in general for most of his life, Smalley became a Christian shortly before his death. (See the Wikiquote for his personal statement in May 2005.)
In some of his later presentations, he presented a list entitled "Top Ten Problems of Humanity for Next 50 Years". His list in order of priority is:
- Energy
- Water
- Food
- Environment
- Poverty
- Terrorism & war
- Disease
- Education
- Democracy
- Population
Compare to Ten Threats formulated by the U.N.'s High Level Threat Panel in 2004.
Smalley died of leukemia on October 28, 2005, at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, at the age of 62. Upon his death, the US Senate passed a resolution to honor Smalley, crediting him as the “Father of Nanotechnology.”
Read more about this topic: Richard Smalley
Famous quotes containing the word life:
“It is a momentous fact that a man may be good, or he may be bad; his life may be true, or it may be false; it may be either a shame or a glory to him. The good man builds himself up; the bad man destroys himself.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“His life itself passes deeper in nature than the studies of the naturalist penetrate; himself a subject for the naturalist. The latter raises the moss and bark gently with his knife in search of insects; the former lays open logs to their core with his axe, and moss and bark fly far and wide. He gets his living by barking trees. Such a man has some right to fish, and I love to see nature carried out in him.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)