One after the other, surviving anti-apartheid heroes got up on the rickety stage to pay tribute to this great human being. We were packed into this tiny white tent, and it was pouring rain so we were soaking wet, but there was this unbelievable electric current of energy in the tent. We were in South Africa, celebrating Mandela’s life about three months after he had passed. But there is one moment that stands out to me from our experiences exploring this achievement. Of course, when we think of the end of apartheid, we rightly think of the extraordinary Nelson Mandela. Another example is the end of apartheid in South Africa. JO: Yes, Plus Wonder started to study many other human achievements. SIC: So this is one example that helped kick off the research you’ve been working on around collaborations? Again, I really believe that's because it doesn't fit into that perfect superhero mentality. Yet it's oddly absent from our schools, from our universities, from our companies, from our conversations. That sparked the world to come together to create and implement the Montreal Protocol, one of the greatest collective achievements of humanity. He said, “Sherry and I were so close that we were never going to stop until the world listened.”Ī decade later, three lifelong friends and scientists in the UK proved that there was a hole near the South Pole. I was fortunate to meet Mario in 2020 before he passed away, and I asked him, “How on earth did you weather this attack on your whole life, your character, your work?” He looked at me, and he said one word: friendship. And this didn't last just for a week or a year. Suddenly, speaking engagements were pulled out from under them, doctorial students stopped coming to their classes. The $8 billion CFC industry started to attack their character, calling them Russian spies and trying to get their fellow scientists to undermine them. He and Mario felt so passionate about this looming disaster that they immediately published an article in Nature magazine, and they thought the whole world would react. But it may just be the end of the world.” She asked him, “How was work?” And he looked at her and said, “Work is great. Sherry’s wife, Joan, remembers the day he came back home from the discovery. In 1974 in a small lab in California, they discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (or CFCs, which at the time were in everything - deodorant, hairspray, refrigerators) were destroying the ozone layer. It all started with these two incredible scientists, Sherwood (“Sherry”) Rowland and Mario Molina. It was an extraordinary collective of friends. I believe the reason we can't raise our hand is that it wasn't one single superhero like we'd been led to believe it has to be. This is one of the greatest human achievements and everywhere I ask this question, no one can raise their hand. When I speak at events, I often ask if anyone knows who discovered the hole in the ozone layer and who was part of protecting it.
JO: Let’s take protecting the ozone layer.
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