Otto Hahn (1879 – 1968)- The Father of Nuclear Chemistry
One of the greatest pioneers in radioactivity and radiochemistry, German chemist Otto Emil Hahn was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his...
Herbert C. Brown (1912 – 2004)
A few times in the history of chemistry have new synthetic methods been deemed so important that the originators have been awarded the Nobel...
Boron – Not boring, but complex and versatile
Boron, the fifth element of the Periodic Table, is one of its unsung heroes, but a hero all the same. Unfortunately, overshadowed by its...
Paul Karrer (1889 – 1971)- Pioneering research on the structure of vitamins
Paul Karrer, a Swiss organic chemist, was the first to unravel the chemical structure of several vitamins and plant dyes, and also the first...
Nitrogen – The life-essential element
Much like Oxygen and Carbon, the seventh element of the periodic table – Nitrogen – is also a crucial, life-supporting substance. Nitrogen is a...
Peter Debye(1884 – 1966)- Phenomenal Achievements in Physical Chemistry
When the Dutch physicist and physical chemist Petrus Debye first arrived from Europe at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, in 1939-1940 to deliver the...
Lithium – Powering today’s technology
Once an element with limited known uses, today lithium, the first metal of the periodic table and also its lightest metal (density around half...
Hans Fischer (1881 – 1945)
On November 13, 1930, the announcement for two of that year’s Nobel Prizes was made. The first was the Nobel Prize in Physics awarded...
Mercury – Shiny liquid metal with a dark side
Mercury, the only metal that is a liquid at room temperature, has fascinated people right from ancient civilisations and alchemists to the scientists of...
Silicon – High-tech element of the information age
First, we had the stone age. Then came the bronze age, followed by the iron age. And now, we’re in the information age. Or...