The Nature of the Chemical Bond -- Revisited
May 2016
The Nature of the Chemical Bond — Revisited
I gave a talk on "The Nature of the Chemical Bond — Revisited" at the Princeton American Chemical Society Meeting. This was my first chance to give more of an A to Z presentation. I had anticipated that I'd have had an hour to talk from 6:30-7:30, however, there were several honors and awards preceding my talk, so I didn't get to start until 7 pm. The audience looked tired with several members sleeping during my talk. I cannot say it was due to my boring them, their age, or the time of day (I too can find it difficult to stay awake at certain times of day). Given the starting time with a dinner to follow, I tried to go through my talk as quickly as I could. I had honed down my slides to a minimum, yet still make my points.
I received a variety of comments afterwards. I had expected some very flattering comments, but I don't learn from these. On the other had, I heard a, "I didn't understand it." This was probably the most useful comment. In writing my manuscript, I acknowledge that the book would be the kind that one would have to read it two times. The first time through, one would learn of topics, but without context. The second time through, one would become reacquainted, but with a better grasp of how an idea fit into the larger scope of chemistry.
Even though I knew how the ideas fit together, I could understand that it may have been difficult for listeners to grasp the point as easily. This was my first time of presenting the entire concept. I feel I need to repeat this presentation to a more critical group so I can get more in depth feedback.