As a scientist, I seek for truth, and as a believer in Jesus Christ and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I seek for truth. I believe that these two efforts are not exclusive of one another, but should come together when absolute truth becomes known. In fact, I have found that one enhances the other in a number of ways. For instance, the allegory of the seed told by Alma in the Book of Mormon (Alma 32) follows the pattern of the scientific method. The manner in which one searches for spiritual truth is pretty much the same as how one searches for scientific truth. The difference is in how the answer becomes known. Scientific observations become theories and eventually laws if the results from experimentation or testing always remain consistent. The more consistent the results are, the more believable is the law. Gaining spiritual truth also requires effort involving observations, testing, and consistency, but absolute verification comes by a manifestation of the Spirit. One can know a truth with certainty if it is verified by the Spirit.
I have performed many scientific experiments in my career as a university chemistry professor and researcher, and I have observed the results of many more experiments done by graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and other scientists. Some of these observations have led to what would be considered truths in the scientific world. They look right, they behave right, they feel right, and they are believable. I have also read, made observations, and been on my knees in prayer many times during the same period of time, searching for spiritual truths. These truths also look right, behave right, feel right, and are believable, but they eventually become known with more surety than any scientific truth I believe.
With this understanding, I testify with a surety that Jesus Christ lives and true religion is available for anyone and everyone to embrace. I have found truth in the doctrines taught in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is restored from the original church established by Jesus Christ in the old world (i.e., area around Jerusalem) and in ancient America as related in the Book of Mormon. These truths have become known to me by manifestations of the Spirit after study, testing, and prayer. Knowledge of these truths has brought me more satisfaction and happiness than any truths I have learned in scientific pursuits. In fact, they have enhanced my scientific career. There have been many times that I felt a divine influence in a scientific decision I made. I know without a doubt that I would not have been able to realize my scientific achievements without the guidance that comes from a sure knowledge of spiritual truth and the promptings of the Spirit.
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Milton L. Lee received a B.A. degree in Chemistry from the University of Utah in 1971 and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Indiana University in 1975, after which he spent one year (1975-76) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. Upon leaving MIT, he accepted a faculty position in the Chemistry Department at Brigham Young University, where he is presently the H. Tracy Hall Professor of Chemistry. Dr. Lee is an author or co-author of over five hundred scientific publications. Since 1980, he has given over seven hundred presentations on various aspects of his research, of which approximately one-third were invited lectures at major conferences and symposia. He is a member of the Scientific Committee for the International Symposia on Capillary Chromatography.
Dr. Lee is best known for his research in capillary separations and mass spectrometry detection. Among the scientific awards that he has received for his achievements in research and professional activities are the M. S. Tswett Chromatography Medal (1984), the Keene P. Dimick Chromatography Award (1988), the American Chemical Society Award in Chromatography (1988), the Russian Tswett Chromatography Medal (1992), the Martin Gold Medal (1996), the Latin-American Chromatography Congress (COLACRO) Medal (1998), the M. J. E. Golay Award (1998), the American Chemical Society Award in Chemical Instrumentation (1998), a Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa, from Uppsala University in Finland (1998), the Dal Nogare Award (1999), the Eastern Analytical Symposium Award for Achievements in Separation Science (1999), the California Separation Science Society Award (2005), the Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award (2008), and the EAS Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Fields of Analytical Chemistry (2008).
Professor Lee is also an entrepreneur and has been involved in transferring technology from his university research laboratory to the private sector. In 1984, he co-founded Lee Scientific to manufacture and market supercritical fluid chromatographic instrumentation and, in 1991, he co-founded Sensar Corporation to manufacture and market unique time-of-flight mass spectrometric instrumentation. Most recently, he is a co-founder of Torion Technologies, which is developing novel ion-trapping devices. In addition, Dr. Lee acquired ownership of the Journal of Microcolumn Separations in 1991, and became the publisher as well as an editor for the next eight years. He is listed as a co-inventor on twenty issued or pending patents.
Posted August 2010
