K. Peter C. Vollhardt (in photo, on right) was born in Madrid, raised in Buenos Aires and Munich, studied at the University of Munich, received his Ph.D. with Professor Peter Garratt at the University College London, and was a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Bob Bergman (then) at the California Institute of Technology. He moved to Berkeley in 1974, when he began his efforts toward the development of organocobalt reagents in organic synthesis, the preparation of theoretically interesting hydrocarbons, the assembly of novel transition metal arrays with potential in catalysis, and the discovery of a parking space. Among other pleasant experiences, he was a Studienstiftler, Adolf Windaus medalist, Humboldt Senior Scientist, ACS Organometalic Awardee, Otto Bayer Prize Awardee, and A. C. Cope Scholar. He is the current Chief Editor of SYNLETT. Among his more than 230 publications, he especially treasures this textbook in Organic Chemistry, translated into six languages. Peter is married to Marie-Jose' Sat, a French artist, and they have two children, Paloma (b.1994), whose picture you can admire in Chapter 5, and Julien (b. 1997), who refused to pose.
Neil Schore (in photo, on left) was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1948. His education took him through the public schools of the Bronx, New York, and Ridgefield, New Jersey, after which he completed a B.A. with honors in chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in 1969. Moving back to New York, he worked with Professor Nicholas Turro at Columbia University, studying photochemical and photophysical processes of organic compounds for his Ph.D. thesis. He first met Peter Vollhardt when he and Peter were doing postdoctoral work in Professor Robert Bergman's laboratory at Cal Tech in the 1970s. Since joining the U. C. Davis faculty in 1976, he has taught organic chemistry to over 10,000 nonchemistry majors, winning three teaching awards, and published over 70 papers in various areas related to organic synthesis. Neil is married to Carrie Erickson, a microbiologist in the U. C. Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. They have two children, Michael (b. 1981), and Stefanie (b. 1983), both of whom carried out experiments for this book.
Vollhardt & Schore, Organic Chemistry: Structure and Function, 3rd Edition, 1998
W. H. Freeman & Co. and Sumanas, Inc.