Gerhard Herzberg
German Canadian 1904-1999
Gerhard Heinrich Friedrich Otto Julius Herzberg was a German-Canadian pioneering physicist and physical chemist, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1971, "for his contributions to the knowledge of electronic structure and geometry of molecules, particularly free radicals". Herzberg's main work concerned atomic and molecular spectroscopy. He is well known for using these techniques that determine the structures of diatomic and polyatomic molecules, including free radicals which are difficult to investigate in any other way, and for the chemical analysis of astronomical objects. Herzberg served as Chancellor of Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada from 1973 to 1980.
Famous for-
Electronic structure and geometry of molecules, particularly free radicals.
Alfred Nobel
Swedish 1833-1896
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist.Known for inventing dynamite, Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments. Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. After reading a premature obituary which condemned him for profiting from the sales of arms, he bequeathed his fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him. His name also survives in modern-day companies such as Dynamit Nobel and AkzoNobel, which are descendants of mergers with companies Nobel himself established.
Famous for-
Benefactor of the Nobel Prize, inventor of dynamite
Carl Bosch
German 1874-1940
Carl Bosch was born at Cologne on August 27, 1874, and grew up there. From 1894 to 1896 he studied metallurgy and mechanical engineering at the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg, but started reading chemistry at Leipzig University in 1896. He graduated under Professor Wislicenus with a paper on organic chemistry in 1898. He entered the employ of the Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik, Ludwigshafen, Rhine as a chemist in April 1899 and participated actively in the development of the then new industry of synthetic indigo under the guidance of Dr. Rudolf Knietsch.Kekulé's most famous work was on the structure of benzene. In 1865 Kekulé published a paper in French (for he was then still in Belgium) suggesting that the structure contained a six-membered ring of carbon atoms with alternating single and double bonds. The following year he published a much longer paper in German on the same subject.
Famous for-
Haber–Bosch process
Harold Urey
American 1893-1981
Harold Clayton Urey was an American physical chemist whose pioneering work on isotopes earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1934 for the discovery of deuterium. He played a significant role in the development of the atom bomb, as well as contributing to theories on the development of organic life from non-living matter.Born in Walkerton, Indiana, Urey studied thermodynamics under Gilbert N. Lewis at the University of California. After he received his PhD in 1923, he was awarded a fellowship by the American-Scandinavian Foundation to study at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. He was a research associate at Johns Hopkins University before becoming an associate professor of Chemistry at Columbia University. In 1931, he began work with the separation of isotopes that resulted in the discovery of deuterium.
Famous for-
Discovery of deuterium, Miller–Urey experiment, Urey–Bradley force field.
Glenn T. Seaborg
American 1912-1999
Glenn Theodore Seaborg was an American chemist whose involvement in the synthesis, discovery and investigation of ten transuranium elements earned him a share of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His work in this area also led to his development of the actinide concept and the arrangement of the actinide series in the periodic table of the elements.Seaborg spent most of his career as an educator and research scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, serving as a professor, and, between 1958 and 1961, as the university's second chancellor. He advised ten US Presidents – from Harry S. Truman to Bill Clinton – on nuclear policy and was Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission from 1961 to 1971, where he pushed for commercial nuclear energy and the peaceful applications of nuclear science. Throughout his career, Seaborg worked for arms control. He was a signatory to the Franck Report and contributed to the Limited Test Ban Treaty, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Famous for-
His contributions to the synthesis, discovery and investigation of ten transuranium elements.
Jean Fréchet
American 1944-
Professor Jean M.J. Fréchet , American chemist, is a Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is best known for his work on polymers including polymer-supported chemistry, chemically amplified photoresists, dendrimers, macroporous separation media, and polymers for therapeutics. Ranked among the top 10 chemists in 2021, he has authored nearly 900 scientific paper and 200 patents including 96 US patents. His research areas include organic synthesis and polymer chemistry applied to nanoscience and nanotechnology with emphasis on the design, fundamental understanding, synthesis, and applications of functional macromolecules. In addition, he is the head of Materials Synthesis, Materials Science Division,of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Director of the Organic and Macromolecular Facility for the Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Vice-President for research at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. He was a good friend of influential American chemist Linus Pauling and consistently mentions him in his organic chemistry lectures. As of March 2011, he is 16th on the Hirsch index rating of all living chemists with an H-index of 105.
Famous for-
Dendrimers, Contributions in the fields of polymer science, photolithography, molecular self-assembly, microfluidics, and nanotechnology.
Otto Hahn
German 1879-1968
Otto Hahn was a German chemist and pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1944 for the discovery and the radiochemical proof of nuclear fission.He served as the last President of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (KWG) in 1946 and as the founding President of the Max Planck Society (MPG) from 1948 to 1960. Considered by many to be a model for scholarly excellence and personal integrity, he became one of the most influential and respected citizens of the new postwar country West Germany.
Famous for-
Discovery of radioactive elements (1905–1921), Radiothorium (1905), Radioactinium (1906), Mesothorium (1907), Ionium (1907), Radioactive recoil (1909), Fajans–Paneth–Hahn Law, Protactinium (1917), Nuclear isomerism (1921), Applied Radiochemistry (1936), Rubidium-strontium dating (1938), Nuclear fission (1938)
William Ramsay
Scottish-British 1852-1916
Sir William Ramsay was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" (along with his collaborator, John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics that same year for their discovery of argon). After the two men identified argon, Ramsay investigated other atmospheric gases. His work in isolating argon, helium, neon, krypton and xenon led to the development of a new section of the periodic table.
Famous for-
Noble gases
Linus Carl Pauling
American 1901-1994
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, educator, and husband of American human rights activist Ava Helen Pauling. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topics. New Scientist called him one of the 20 greatest scientists of all time, and as of 2000, he was rated the 16th most important scientist in history.
Famous for-
Alpha sheet, Beta sheet, Bond order, Coiled coil, CPK coloring, Crystal structure prediction, Electronegativity, Elucidating chemical bonds and molecular structures, Ice-type model, Linear combination of atomic orbitals, Molecular clock, Molecular medicine, Orbital overlap, Pauling's rules, Pauling–Corey–Branson alpha helix, Quantum chemistry, Quantum graph, Resonance (chemistry), Space-filling model, Valence bond theory, Vitamin C megadosage, Xenic acid, Advocating nuclear disarmament.
Louis Pasteur
French 1822-1895
Louis Pasteur was a French biologist, microbiologist and chemist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of diseases, and his discoveries have saved many lives ever since. He reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax. His medical discoveries provided direct support for the germ theory of disease and its application in clinical medicine. He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization. He is regarded as one of the three main founders of bacteriology, together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch, and is popularly known as the "father of microbiology".
Famous for-
pasteurization
Michael Faraday
British 1791-1867
Famous for-
Faraday's law of induction, Electrochemistry, Faraday effect, Faraday cage, Faraday constant, Faraday cup, Faraday's laws of electrolysis, Faraday paradox, Faraday rotator, Faraday-efficiency effect, Faraday wave, Faraday wheel, Lines of force.
