a supreme patterner of chaos, was one of my teachers. I
dedicate this lecture to him, for it is our collaboration on orbital symmetry
conservation, the electronic factors which govern the course of chemical reactions,
which is recognized by half of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. From
Woodward I learned much: the significance of the experimental stimulus to
theory, the craft of constructing explanations, the importance of aesthetics in
science. I will try to show you how these characteristics of chemical theory may
be applied to the construction of conceptual bridges between inorganic and
organic chemistry.