Chemistry

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The second Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Emil Fischer, who showed how establishing key relationships in biology can be a matter of finding the right chemistry. Fischer showed how piecing together intricate chemical details about substances in Nature that are essential for life can reveal vital information about their functions and uncover unexpected…

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The history of organic synthesis starts with the German chemist Friedrich Wöhler who, in 1828, succeeded to make urea from simple materials. This was the first time when organic (=living) matter was produced from inorganic (=dead) matter. This was not believed to be possible, at the time.      By the end of the nineteenth century…

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Biographical

Translation from the German text I was born in Solln, near Munich, on 10 November 1918 as the third child of the Professor of Physics at the Technical College of Munich, Dr. Karl T. Fischer (died 1953), and his wife, Valentine, née Danzer (died 1935). After completing four years at elementary school I went on…

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Biographical

I was born on June 28, 1927, the second of three sons, in the small central Ohio town of Delaware, the home of Ohio Wesleyan University. My father and mother had moved there the previous year when he took the position of Professor of Mathematics and Chairman of the Department at Ohio Wesleyan. All of…

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Biographical

Hermann Staudinger was born in Worms on the 23rd of March 1881. His father was Dr. Franz Staudinger. Staudinger was educated in Worms, matriculated in 1899, and continued his studies first at the University of Halle, later at Darmstadt and Munich. He graduated at Halle in 1903 and qualified for inauguration as academic lecturer under…

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Award ceremony speech

In regard to von Baeyer’s work, Professor A. Lindstedt, President of , made the following statement, on December 10, 1905 A characteristic feature of chemical science is the close interaction between theory and practice, between pure science and technology, which is here assuming ever greater importance. This feature became especially prominent during the last decades…

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Award ceremony speech

Presentation Speech by Professor H.G. Söderbaum, Secretary of , on December 10, 1926 Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen. Around the middle of the 19th century the English scientist Graham put forward a new principle of subdividing matter by classifying all substances into one of the two great classes: crystalloids and colloids. A…

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