Memory
A Lack of Timidity
His generosity with good-humored free advice to his colleagues and even casual acquaintances is well known, perhaps even legendary. It was he who counseled that I do a year of post-doctoral work (1960-1961) in Eigen’s Goettingen laboratory. This suggestion was very timely, and my exposure to Manfred Eigen, the disciplined perfectionist, provided an interesting contrast to Henry Eyring, the buoyantly optimistic, free-wheeling generalist. Qualities I particularly admire in Henry Eyring’s style of doing science are his complete lack of timidity in his choice of problems and his taboo against speaking critically in a personal way of the more modest achievements of others.