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ensure accuracy. Biographical Memoirs: Volume 90 GEORGE CLAUDE
PIMENTEL May 2, 1922–June 18, 1989 BY C. BRADLEY MOORE GEORGE
PIMENTEL WAS AN INTENSE man with a contagious enthusiasm for
science, teaching, sports, and all things new and challenging.
He was a master of empirical physical models. Pimentel was
always looking for the biggest challenges and for truly new
phenomena. He was not easily discouraged. When a small spot on
his retina kept him from becoming one of the first scientist
astronauts, he built a new kind of infrared spectrometer to go
look at Mars. In every aspect of his professional life he
attacked the big problems head on, and yet at the personal level
he always made time to bring along a student or help a friend.
He was an enthusiastic and competitive sportsman. His level of
exertion and commitment was at least