Quitte ou Double

The young contestant from Paris was a chemistry whiz. Hot as a Bunsen burner, Pierre Poitrinal, 17, answered question after question on Radio Luxembourg's Quitte ou Double, the Gallic Double or Nothing that is Europe's most popular French-language radio quiz. When he was through talking of ekasilicon and the halides of uranium a fortnight ago, Pierre had won 2,048,000 francs ($4,876.19) and was still going strong.

Because Pierre is an apprentice welder with little classroom training in chemistry, the French press turned him into a national celebrity. "By what detour," thundered Brussels' Le Peuple, "did Poitrinal, incontestably gifted for the exact sciences, wind up working as an apprentice welder?"

The fault lay mainly in the tradition-bound French education system, which makes it nearly impossible for a worker to get university training. But Pierre was also partly to blame. In elementary school he was rather bored by his studies, drifted into the two-year "complementary course" that is supposed to end a student's academic schooling at 16, prepare him for further vocational or commercial training.

There Pierre discovered the excitement of chemistry. Fascinated, he was soon spending his weekends poring over the science exhibits in Paris' "Discovery Palace." Later, at the three-year Welding Institute of the Ministry of Education, he spent every spare moment cramming chemistry, texts, managed to sneak in 15 minutes of study before school and 15 minutes at lunchtime. With a near photographic memory, he had no trouble with his welding courses. Says he: "All I have to do is take the dictation down, and I remember it."

Last week Welder Pierre tried again to double his loot, and cracked. The question: "To prepare a substitute for chinawood oil, castor oil is submitted to a careful pyrolysis. What are the two volatile compounds that are formed as byproducts?"* Pierre stood in anguished silence as the seconds and his millions slipped away. But after the disaster came a pleasant surprise: a consolation check for 1,000,000 francs from the sponsoring soapmaker.

As if that were not consolation enough, Pierre was summoned by Quitte ou Double Listener Rene Billeres, Minister of National Education. Pierre showed up straight from his welding classes, a scarf and lumberjacket hiding his work shirt. The minister proposed a scheme to circumvent his own system, suggested that Pierre work with two specially assigned teachers to prepare for college entrance and practical lab work. Said Minister Billeres: "You are free to accept or not." Chemistry Whiz Pierre needed no time for qualitative or quantitative analysis. "I accept," said he. "This will allow me to catch up. Then I can pull ahead."

-Oenanthole and undecylenic acid.

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