Lives and Times of Great Pioneers in Chemistry

Chemical science has made major advances in the last few decades and has gradually transformed in to a highly multidisciplinary subject that is exciting academically and at the same time beneficial to human kind.

In this context, we owe much to the foundations laid by great pioneers of chemistry who contributed new knowledge and created new directions.

This book presents the lives and times of 21 great chemists starting from Lavoisier (18th century) and ending with Sanger.

Then, there are stories of the great Faraday (19th century) and of the 20th century geniuses G N Lewis and Linus Pauling.

The material in the book is presented in the form of stories describing important aspects of the lives of these great personalities, besides highlighting their contributions to chemistry.

It is hoped that the book will provide enjoyable reading and also inspiration to those who wish to understand the secret of the creativity of these great chemists.Contents:Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794) — Father of ChemistryJohn Dalton (1766–1844) — Proponent of the Concept of the AtomHumphry Davy (1778–1829) — The Great Discoverer and Showman)Jons Jacob Berzelius (1779–1848) — Swedish Pioneer Who Wrote the First Chemistry TextbookMichael Faraday (1791–1867) — The Greatest Scientist of All TimeFriedrich Wöhler (1800–1882) — The One Who Made the First Organic CompoundAugust Kekule (1829–1896) — First to Predict Organic StructuresDmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834–1907) — Designer of the Greatest TableJacobus Henricus van't Hoff (1852–1911) — First Nobel Laureate in ChemistryEmil Fischer (1852–1919) — A Multi-Faceted Organic ChemistWilhelm Ostwald (1853–1932) — High Priest of Physical ChemistrySvante Arrhenius (1859–1927) — Some Compounds Dissociate, and Some Cause Climate ChangeAlfred Werner (1866–1919) — Inorganic KekuleRichard Willstätter (1872–1942) — Ecstasy and Agony of WillstätterGilbert Newton Lewis (1875–1946) — The 20th Century Chemical Genius who Did Not Get the PrizeRobert Robinson (1886–1975) — The Quintessential Organic ChemistChristopher Kelk Ingold (1893–1970) — Founder of Physical Organic ChemistryHenry Eyring (1901–1981) — A Simple Man with an Active MindLinus Pauling (1901–1994) — The Irrepressible Scientist and Crusader, with Two Unshared Nobel PrizesRobert Burns Woodward (1917–1979) — Artist in Organic SynthesisFrederick Sanger (1918–2013) — A Modest Man with Two Nobel Prizes in ChemistryReadership: Students and teachers of chemistry, young scientists and chemists.