Week 34

Week 34: Aug. 20 – 26 (Archive)

August 20

  • Jöns Jakob Berzelius, born 1779; in 1817, discovered selenium (Se, 34); in 1824, discovered silicon (Si, 14); in 1828, discovered thorium (Th, 90); introduced term "halogen"; represented elements by their initial letter(s); introduced allotropy, catalytic action, and isomerism; composed first accurate table of atomic weights.
  • B. B. Cunningham and L. B. Werner isolated first macroscopic amount of plutonium (Pu, 94) at the wartime Metallurgical Laboratory, University of Chicago, in 1942.

August 21

  • Jean S. Stas, born 1813; in the 1960s, developed methods for determining atomic weights more accurately than J. Berzelius.
  • Charles F. Gerhardt, born 1816, researched theories of homologous series.
  • Warren K. Lewis, born 1882, chemical engineer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; conducted research on thermal properties of materials and colloids.

August 22

  • Willis R. Whitney, born 1868, director of GE research laboratories

August 23

  • Bradley Dewey, born 1887, known as the "czar" of synthetic rubber production during World War II.
  • Robert F. Curl, Jr., born 1933, conducted research in microwave and infrared spectroscopy; Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1996).

August 24

  • Morris S. Kharasch, born 1895, developed synthetic applications of free radical chemistry.
  • PPG Industries incorporated in 1883.

August 25

  • Nicolai N. Zinin, born 1812, discovered reduction of aromatic nitro compounds to amines; founded and first president of Russian Chemical Society (1868-1877).
  • Hans A. Krebs, born 1900, discovered urea cycle (1932), the citric acid or Krebs cycle (1937), and glyoxylate cycle (1957); Nobel Prize in Medicine (1953)
  • Frederick C. Robbins, born 1916, conducted research on growth of viruses in tissue cultures; Nobel Prize in Medicine (1954).

August 26

  • Antoine L. Lavoisier, born 1743, known as "founder of modern chemistry."; stated law of conservation of matter; determined composition of nitric and sulfuric acids; made "water-gas"; invented gasometer; introduced new chemical nomenclature.
  • Texaco incorporated as the Texas Corporation in 1926.