Search Results
In 1971 Berg’s landmark gene-splicing experiment opened the door to the invention of recombinant-DNA technology.
By inventing recombinant-DNA technology, Boyer and Cohen jump-started the biotechnology industry, including Genentech, which creates important applications for a wide range of medical uses.
Through his inventions of nylon and neoprene in 1930, Carothers helped demonstrate the macromolecular theory of polymers and establish the field of modern polymer science.
Although the Fiesers undertook important chemical research, their real fame came from the books they wrote in the mid-20th century, especially their textbooks.
In the search for medications for mental illness Charpentier, Laborit, Courvoisier, Delay, and Deniker each contributed to the development of chlorpromazine, a pioneer antipsychotic drug.
A self-taught chemist and inventor, Davy became a leader in Lavoisier’s reformed chemistry movement of the late 18th century and a pioneer of electrochemistry. He discovered several new elements, including magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium.
Best known for his work on electricity and electrochemistry, Faraday proposed the laws of electrolysis. He also discovered benzene and other hydrocarbons.
After Alexander Fleming’s 1928 discovery of penicillin, Florey and Chain’s further research enabled the testing and production of the drug.
During the early stages of industrial development in the United States, Hamilton identified many workplace hazards and worked to improve the health of inner-city poor. She was also the first woman professor ever appointed at Harvard University.
In 1978 Harrison, an educator and a researcher, became the first woman to be elected president of the American Chemical Society.
In 1912 Michaelis and Menten published their seminal work on enzymes—almost all of which are proteins. Their research cast new light on these complex compounds that make possible the chemical reactions of life.
Pioneers of rational drug design, Hitchings and Elion produced effective drugs for such illnesses as leukemia, gout, and malaria.
Using X-ray crystallography, Hodgkin determined the structures of penicillin, insulin, and vitamin B12 and was the third woman ever to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
In 1897, in a two-week period while working at Bayer, Hoffmann synthesized both aspirin and heroin. Aspirin is still widely sold as an over-the-counter medication today.
In the late 19th century, Little, Walker, and Lewis worked to define chemical engineering as a distinct field with a special training method.
A pioneer of the technique of nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR, Cohn transformed the study of enzymes by aiming high-tech instruments at them.
In 1938 Hahn, Meitner, and Strassmann became the first to recognize that the uranium atom, when bombarded by neutrons, actually split. Hahn received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1944.
Considered the father of modern chemistry, Lavoisier promoted the Chemical Revolution, naming oxygen and helping systematize chemical nomenclature.
In the 1970s MacDiarmid, Heeger, and Shirakawa developed special “conductive polymers,” which had significant applications in microelectronics.
‘Conversations on Chemistry,’ written in 1806 by Marcet, was intended for girls, but it also introduced chemistry to boys like Michael Faraday, whose formal education was very limited.
In 1856 Perkin accidentally discovered mauvine—the first commercialized synthetic dye—and introduced a new era in the chemical industry.
When Plunkett was awarded the Scott Medal in 1951, every guest received a muffin tin coated in his invention—Teflon.
Winner of the 1904 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Ramsay helped establish the noble gases as a new group in the periodic table. He first discovered argon and then helium, followed by the other noble gases.
Through his inventive experimental work Rutherford made many new discoveries in both radioactivity and nuclear physics.
In 1897 Thomson discovered the electron and then went on to propose a model for the structure of the atom. His work also led to the invention of the mass spectrograph.
In 1909 Sørensen, a Danish chemist, introduced the concept of pH as a convenient way of expressing acidity.
In the early 1920s, Staudinger formulated a macromolecular theory of polymers, for which he later received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
After isolating the antibrowning agent in citrus juice, Szent-Györgyi and his colleague Walter Haworth were able to synthesize what they called hexuronic acid—today known as ascorbic acid, or vitamin C.
Winner of the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901, van’t Hoff was a pioneer in the field of stereochemistry and a founding father of physical chemistry.
In the early 1950s Ziegler and Natta discovered a new process for synthesizing polymers that made possible a lot of common plastics, including high-density polyethylene and polypropylene.