As of 2024, Dan Shechtman’s net worth is estimated to be between $1.5 – $5 million USD.
Israeli chemist and Nobel Prize recipient Dan Shechtman was born on January 24, 1941, in Tel Aviv, Israel, and was raised in a Jewish family. Growing up, he was inspired to pursue engineering from reading the book The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne.
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He earned his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering in 1966 and M.Sc. in Materials Engineering in 1968, from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
Following the completion of his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from the same university, Shechtman undertook a three-year research position as an NRC fellow at the Aerospace Research Laboratories in Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio.
It was on April 8, 1982, during his sabbatical at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C., that he made the groundbreaking discovery of the icosahedral phase, leading to the emergence of the field of quasiperiodic crystals.
Linus Pauling, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954, gave Shechtman a hard time and openly rejected his findings, saying “There is no such thing as quasicrystals — only quasi-scientists.”
He also received criticism from the head of his research group, who told him to “go back and read the textbook” and even asked him to leave the group for “disgracing” them.
His perseverance paid off though, and the validity of his discovery was made known far and wide when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2011.
Quotes by the Israeli chemist and Nobel Prize recipient on what drives him, the importance of science, education, emotional intelligence and more:
“A humble scientist is a good scientist. I think the main lesson that I have learned is that a good scientist is a humble scientist who is open-minded to listen to other scientists when they discover something.”
“A true friend is someone who accepts your past, supports your present and encourages your future.”
“Category one is entrepreneurs who made it big-time, but who started out ‘bootstrapping.’ I was looking for role models that the students can identify with. The students want to see somebody who started in the kitchen, in the yard, in the garage and who made it big-time.”
“Develop your social skills. Social skills are as important as intellectual skills for succeeding in life.”
“Do not have fear of failure. If you fail you get a scar, okay, but people will be even more prepared to invest in you, because you have been through the process, and hopefully you will not make the same mistake again.”
“Great discoveries are stumbled on. If you are clever enough you will work hard on a problem and elucidate the answer.”
“I always say that people are like peanut shells on the ocean: the waves will take them everywhere.”
“I am a proud Zionist. I can tell you about every blossom that grows in this land. I know the history and the Bible.”
“I am a teacher. I like people to understand what I am talking about. I want people to understand what I’m talking about. I feel like I’m on a mission to advance the education of the younger generation, and by doing this to promote peace in the world. We live in a world full of serious — even dire — problems. We have to work hard to calm this world down and start working on doing good things.”
“I am almost never affected by what other people think. I repeated my experiments. I was an expert in electron microscopy, and I knew that my experiments were correct. I said to the others: ‘If you want to prove me wrong, repeat my experiments. Show me what is wrong in my experiments. Don’t tell me it can’t be true just because of what you read in your books.’”
“I believed in my own work and carried on with determination.”
“I fell in love with science and decided to continue for my Ph.D., and from there on, I was a scientist.”
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
“I know humanity has periods of ups and downs and we are not in a good period now, because of economic problems. But hopefully we will climb again and hopefully the distribution of wealth in the world will be more just and more people will be able to enjoy a prosperity. But in order to do that, each country has to develop. And start-up companies, hi-tech companies, small companies that will grow — this will lead us to a better future.”
“I know there is a stereotype that I am naive, but I know what I want, and I know what I’m doing to get there. ‘Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.’”
“I search for a problem to be solved or a need to be fulfilled.”
“I think I can change things for the better in this country. I’m doing it now as well, in many areas, mostly in education, higher education and technological entrepreneurship.”
“I told myself, ‘I am teaching entrepreneurship, so I should be an entrepreneur myself.’ Being a professor is far easier than being an entrepreneur.”
“I travel all over the world. I have endless invitations to many different places. I only accept a few, simply because, unlike an electron, I cannot be in two places at one time. I really try… let’s put it this way: I’m inspired to try to inspire young people.”
“If you want to succeed in your career, develop emotional intelligence. Learn to see the other and learn to relate to them. Learn to express your opinion and deliver your ideas eloquently.”
“In the forefront of science, there is not much difference between religion and science. People harbor beliefs. That’s what happens when people believe something religiously.”
“Let us advance science to create a better world for all.”
“Listen to other people, but if they talk nonsense, shut your ears. You have to be stubborn, not in a negative but in a positive sense… persistent. That’s it.”
“Me as president would not be like anybody else as president. Everyone does the job differently.”
“Money may not buy happiness, but it’s better to cry in a Lamborghini.”
“My childhood dream was to study mechanical engineering. After reading The Mysterious Island (which I read 25 times as a boy), I thought that was the best thing a person could do. The engineer in the book knows mechanics and physics, and he creates a whole way of life on the island out of nothing. I wanted to be like that.”
“Pay attention to details, especially surprising details that you don’t expect. And if you find something strange, don’t let it disappear. Study and find out what it is. So be like a Rottweiler: bite and don’t let go! Make sure you don’t make a mistake. But as an expert, trust yourself.”
“People should be interested in scientific advances because the body of knowledge generated by the scientific community improves our lives. Go back 100 years and see the difference, including life expectancy and life quality.”
“Read everything, familiarize yourself with the instrumentation and methodology so that when you see something different, you will realize and know that it is different.”
“Science is the ultimate tool to reveal the laws of nature, and the one word written on its banner is ‘Truth.’”
“Select a subject that interests you and make an effort to become an expert in that field. I promise you, if you make the effort, and you become an expert, you will have a wonderful career.”
“Start-ups fail…most start-ups fail, but the question is: Okay, so you failed once — what do you do next? Give up, go to work for somebody, or say, ‘I rise again?’ It’s a shame on you, shame on your family, maybe a shame on your city — and therefore people are afraid of failure. Fear of failure is the major obstacle to innovation.”
“Sustainable development requires human ingenuity. People are the most important resource.”
“The downsides to winning a Nobel Prize? The punishing schedule and living out of a suitcase are both mentally and physically stressful. But then again, because I feel like a missionary to promote education and science and technological entrepreneurship, for me, it’s one big celebration.”
“The dynamics of innovation these days to understand the concept of innovating innovation, let us look at what happened in the past. In the past innovation was done locally within the company; the arena of innovation is global now. You don’t look for innovators in your hometown or in your organization. You look for innovators around the world. And you go to places where innovating thrives; you look for the brightest minds and you ask them to tell us what’s new.”
“The frontiers of science, on the very small scale and very large scale, require large investments and international effort.”
“The good people look for challenges. When teaching becomes a prestigious profession, then you’ll get good people.”
“The second category… includes people who opened start-ups a couple of years ago and who are now struggling. Some have problems getting money, others have problems finding people to work with, others didn’t do the market survey properly and it turns out they made a product that is already made in Taiwan for one-tenth of the price.”
“There are around 10,000 engineers and scientists in the country that took my class. And the class helped change the atmosphere in the country — from socialist and anti-entrepreneurial to capitalist and pro-entrepreneurship.”
“We tell them which money not to touch. Never touch your own money. Never touch the money of your family. Don’t borrow from your grandmother because you will destroy your relationship with your family.”
“What is an expert? Somebody who can teach.”
“Wherever I go in the world, I’m treated like royalty.”
“You have to have broad knowledge of what’s happening. You have to understand the world around you but on top of it, develop one peak of expertise. Become an expert in something you like.”
“You see when you talk to me, you see my eyes. Many people when they talk to you, they don’t look at you. They look sideways, they preach to the wall; they talk to the wall, they talk to the sky. When I talk to someone, I always look at their eyes. That is a small part of social interactions. Another thing is that I listen. You tell me something, I try to remember things, to know who you are.”
“You will be so good that when you graduate, everyone will want to hire you.”
“Young people in Israel are encouraged to design, produce and sell their products from high school. Technical universities also matter. Teach and introduce entrepreneurship courses in technical universities.”