Week 40

Week 40: Oct. 1 – 7 (Archive)

• Wilder D. Bancroft, born 1867, made first systematic study of oxidation cells; founded Journal of Physical Chemistry and served as Editor (1896–1932); President of American Chemical Society (1910).
• Georg Bredig, born 1868, researched anomalous atomic weights of lead (Pb, 82) from different sources, catalytic action of colloidal platinum, "poisoning" of catalysts, and preparation of colloids by electrical means.
• Air Products & Chemicals incorporated in 1940.

• Alexis T. Petit, born 1791, studied specific heats of solids; discovered product of specific heat and atomic weight is constant for all elements (DuLong-Petit law).
• William Ramsay, born 1852; in 1894, codiscovered argon (Ar, 18); in 1898, codiscovered neon (Ne, 10), krypton (Kr, 36), and xenon (Xe, 54); isolated helium (He, 2); Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1904).
• Alexander R. Todd, born 1907, researcher on chemistry of nucleotides and coenzymes; Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1957).

• Long article on spontaneous combustion signed by A. S. (Adam Seyfert), second article submitted by Columbian Chemical Society, appeared in Philadelphia newspaper Aurora in 1811.
• Charles J. Pedersen, born 1904, found alkali metal ions could be bound by crown ethers in a rigid layered structure; Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1987).

• Kenichi Fukui, born 1918, developed frontier orbital theory of reactivity; Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1981).
• Sputnik I, first artificial Earth satellite, launched by USSR in 1957.

• Emil Votocek, born 1872, introduced concept of epimerism; researcher in sugars; classical music composer.
• Dirk Coster, born 1889; in 1923, codiscovered hafnium (Hf, 72).
• The Chemical Society of Union College, precursor of American Chemical Society, founded in 1861.

• Franåois Magendie, born 1783, performed classic studies in nutrition and experimental pharmacology; studied importance of proteins and effects of morphine, strychnine, and other chemical agents on human beings.
• Humphry Davy isolated potassium (K, 19) while working at the Royal Institution in 1807.
• William Remington of Boston received US patent 82,877 for nickel electroplating in 1868.
• Florence B. Seibert, born 1897, studied biochemistry of tuberculosis; Garvan Medal recipient (1942).

• Niels Bohr, born 1885, proposed "solar system" model of atom (1913); Nobel Prize in Physics (1922).
• Neil E. Gordon, born 1886, founder and editor of Journal of Chemical Education; founder of Gibson Island Conferences (later known as Gordon Research Conferences).
• Harold W. Kroto, born 1939, researched carbon chain molecules by using combination of synthesis, spectroscopy, and radioastronomy; Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1996).