/oss/taxonomy/term/4369/all en /oss/article/health-general-science/can-you-picture-some-people-cant <p>A daydream solved an important problem in the 19<sup>th</sup> century. Chemists were trying to elucidate the molecular structure of benzene, a petrochemical that is now used in the production of styrene and nylon fibres. It was in front of a fireplace that<a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ed035p21"> chemist Friedrich August Kekulé dozed off</a> and was rewarded with a vision of a serpent biting its own tail, a mental image that nudged him in the direction of benzene’s ring-like structure. This image was not voluntarily conjured up by Kekulé; rather it came to him in a dream.</p> Fri, 17 Apr 2020 17:22:50 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8220 at /oss