About two years ago I posted the following:   I am planning to write a new book called "Great Canadian Scientists." Please forward your nominations to me: shell@cs.sfu.ca   The rules are that the person must be a Canadian citizen. They don't have to be born in Canada or even live in Canada, but they must have (or have had, if they are dead) Canadian citizenship while they are/were great Canadian scientists.   About 70 people have been nominated already and they are listed at the end of this posting.   I'm not quite sure what should constitute greatness, and there may be a gray area here. If you have any ideas on criteria for greatness, I would be pleased to hear them. In any event, please nominate people even if you are not sure they are great. I would like as big a list as possible.   Please give me a name and email address, phone number or mail address, so that I can contact the person. If you don't know any of the above, then give me their last known whereabouts. Also please give your reason for why you think the person should be considered a great Canadian scientist.   After I have the list, I will choose about six of the most interesting ones and do in-depth biographies of those individuals in the style of Tracy Kidder's "Soul of a New Machine" or some other dramatic technique. The rest of the great Canadian scientists will appear in an appedix with  one paragraph biographies.   If you have any other ideas about this project, I am interested to hear them.   So far, I have received 68 nominations as follows:     First Name     Last Name      Nominator            Famous For ----------     ---------      ---------            ---------- Sid            Altman         Kuszewski, John      Catalytic RNA(Nobel Chem 89) Frederick      Banting        me                   Insulin (Nobel U23 medicine) Davidson       Black          Stanley, Robert      Discovered Peking Man James R.       Bolton         Warden, Joseph       chemistry? Raoul          Bott           Smith, Steven        Math: algebraic topology. Willard        Boyle          Chamm, Craig         Co inventor of CCD Gerard         Bull           Stanley, Robert      Ballistics and gunnery Dennis         Chitty         Galindo-Leal, Carlos First animal ecologist Brian C.       Conway         Tellefsen, Karen     Electrochemistry Stephen        Cook           Mendelzon, Alberto   NP-completeness, complexity ?              Copp           Kuch, Gerald         biochem aspects of physiol H.S.M.         Coxeter        Calkin, Neil J.      Regular polytopes (math) P. N.          Daykin         Palmer, Bill         Chem, mosquito repellant H. E.          Duckworth      anonymous            Mass Spectroscopy,  admin Jack           Edmonds        Snoeyink, Jack       Math, Operations research Reginald       Fessenden      Johnsen, Hans        Wire insulation, light bulb Ursula         Franklin       McKellin, William    Physics archeol. materials J. A.          Gray           Gray, Tom            Nuclear physics, The Gray E. W.          Guptill        Chamm, Craig         Slotted array radar Donald         Hebb           Lyons, Michael       Learning (Hebbian synapses) Gerhard        Herzberg       me                   Optical spectr Nobel 71 James          Hillier        me                   Electron Microscope (Can/Am) Crawford S.    Holling        Galindo-Leal, Carlos Ecology, predators and prey David          Hubel          Lyons, Michael       Visual cortex (Nobel med ?) Kenneth        Iverson        Dare, Gary           Invented APL J. D.          Jackson        Austern, Matt        Elementary Particle Theory Andre          Joyal          Pananagden, Prakash  Category theory, categ Logic Martin         Kamen          me                   Carbon-14 (Canadian/Amer.) Irving         Kaplansky      Knighten, Bob        Algebra, functional analysis George S.      Kell           Kell, Dave           Hot water freezing T. E.          Kellogg        Palmer, Bill         Chem, mosquito repellant Geraldine      Kenney-Wallace Siegman, Anthony     Chemistry ? Administration Brian          Kernaghan      Brader, Mark         C programming language Michael L.     Klein          Marchi, Massimo      Theoretical Chemistry Charles J.     Krebs          Galindo-Leal, Carlos Ecology, Krebs effect K. J.          Laidler        Tellefsen, Karen     Chemical Kinetics G. C.          Laurence       Palmer, Bill         Physics ???? Raymond        Lemieux        Smith, Earl          First synthesized glucose Martin         Levine         Meunier, Robert      Computer vision Edward S.      Lowry          himself              Computer programming Pere           Marie-Victorin Meunier, Robert      Jardin Botanique de Montreal Colin          MacLeod        Turner, Steven       Nobel (?) DNA discovery? Marshall       McLuhan        Clamen, Stewart      Social sci, communications Ben            Morrison       Willson, David       Aurora Borealis Lawrence       Morley         Strome, Murray       Plate Tektonics/Remote sense Farley         Mowat          Abbott, John         Northern Animal rights? Kevin          Ogilvie        Kendrick, Kelly      Genetics, cure for herpes? Sir William    Osler          Lyons, Michael       Medicine P.J.E.         Peebles        Vishniac, Ethan      Most important cosmologist Wilder         Penfield       Perri, Marie         Anatomical basis for memory John           Polanyi        me                   chemiluminescensce Nobel86 Denis          Poussart       Meunier, Robert      Computer Vision Anatol         Rapoport       Lloyd-Jones, David   conflict theory, game theory Howard         Rapson         Sutherland, Russell  Pulp chemistry Hans           Selye          Goel, Anil K.        Psychology of stress. William        Stephenson     Wilkins, Darin       WW2 Enigma code, Wire photo Boris          Stoicheff      Siegman, Anthony     Raman Spectroscopy David          Suzuki         Meister, Darren      Science communication Henry          Taube          Parker, Wiley        Physical Chemistry Nobel83 Richard        Taylor         Manuel, John         Verified Quark model Nobel90 David          Thompson       Eisler, Michael      Mapped western Canada Endel          Tulving        Green, Christopher   Psychology of memory Bill           Tutte          Royle, Gordon        matroid theory (math) I              Uchida         Palmer, Bill         Down's syndrome J. Tuzo        Wilson         Collier, John        Continental Drift theory R. H.          Wright         Palmer, Bill         Chem, mosquito repellant J.L.(Allen)    Yen            Leone, Pasquale      VL baseline interferometry Walter         Zinn           me                   Breader Reactor (Can/Amer.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------   The list is growing nicely. It's amazing to see just how much was discovered by Canadians. Actually there are many more who were born in Canada, but became Americans after graduate school.   Please note: a lot of people have nominated Alexander Graham Bell but I feel he was really a Scottish/American with a summer home in Canada. Now I know this is debatable, but please don't nominate him again.   If anyone can fill in some of the question marks on the list, please drop me a line. ==================================================   That was two years ago. Since then, I have received a grant from Science Culture Canada, a division of Supply and Services Canada to research the book. Since my old posting the book has evolved into an educational book for kids aged 9 - 14 (though this may change again) It will have about 40 two-page spreads with a large graphic in the middle and text/graphic boxes all around on the following subjects: Vital statistics and photo of the scientist, Personal statement from the scientist, Narrative of a few moments in the life of the scientist, "What I was doing when I was 12", So you want to be a <insert kind of scientist>, Experiment you can do. There  will be an appendix with 100 - 200 more scientists with one paragraph biographies who didn't quite make it to the double spreads. The whole thing will then be published on CD-ROM with video and sound clips for added richness. I am looking for a CD-ROM publisher as well. The text part may also be available on the CANARIE electronic highway being developed in Canada as well.   I am still looking for a publisher though Penguin Canada came close  to being it. Hope to find one soon.    I would like to again ask for more nominations, especially in the pure sciences of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Also criticisms of  the list are welcomed. Also women and French-Canadian scientists are needed.   I hope this posting will get others to nominate more Great Canadian Scientists, and to discuss what is "great" what is "Canadian" and what is "scientist".   Please respond to: shell@sfu.ca   or Barry Shell   604-876-5790   4692 Quebec St. Vancouver, B.C.  V5V 3M1 Canada