<p>Woodward used to say that he solved the synthesis of quinine when he was 12 or 13 (in his head.) For reference, the synthesis that Woodward would later perform in his lab was considered a milestone in organic chemistry.</p>
<p>Why did he do this? To prove that the rest of us our ‘insignificant meat-piles’, of course.</p>
<p>Sorry people.</p>