Notable Chemists

Greek - Believed water was the element from which Earth formed; founded Greek science, math, and philosophy.

Greek - Beleived the Earth was formed from 4 elements: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire.

Greek - Developed idea that world consisted of tiny, indivisible atoms.

English - Laid foundation for experimental science and experimental method; wrote Opus Maius / Longer Work

Flemish - "Father of Biochemistry" ; used quantitative methods ; coined word "gas"

Irish - volume of gas is inversely proportional to temperature; "father of chemistry"; separated chem from alchemy; defined "element"; wrote Scyptical Chymist

Scottish - Defined specific and latent heat; showed CO₂ different from regular air

English- Discovered hydrogen and showed water is a compound of hydrogen and oxygen

English- Discovered hydrochloric acid, laughing gas, and oxygen, and prepared carbon dioxide and ammonia

Swedish- Discovered oxygen, tungsten, chlorine, molybdenum, manganese, and a whole ton of other things.

French- "Father of Modern Chemistry"; wrote Elements of Chemistry; discovered role of oxygen in combustion/respiration and disproved Stahl's theory.

German- "Father of Analytic Chemistry"; discovered uranium and zirconium.

English- discovered sodium, potassium, magnesium, barium, calcium, and strontium.

French- isolated boron; introduced terms pipette and burette; independently discovered Charles' law (gas volume directly proportional to temperature).

English- discovered law of partial pressures and pioneered work in early atomic theory.

Italian- discovered that equal volumes of gases contain equal numbers of molecules; coined "molecule"

French- discovered iodine.

Swedish- discovered cerium, selenium, and thorium; originated modern system of chemical symbols/formulae

German- founded organic chemistry; synthesized organic compounds from inorganic reactants and refuted "vital force" theory

Scottish- founded colloid chemistry and known for a law of diffusion

English- discovered relationship between electricity and valence of elements; laws of electrolysis; pioneered liquefaction of gases

German- pioneered spectroscopy with Kirchoff; developed a namesake piece of lab equipment; discovered caesium and rubidium

English- discovered thallium and invented the radiometer

Russian- developed the periodic table and wrote Elements of Chemistry

German- developed a 57-element periodic table independently of Mendeleev

German- suggested molecular structure of benzene; founded the structure theory of organic chemistry

French- developed rayon

American- founded chemical thermodynamics; developed a namesake phase rule applicable to equilibria

French- founded microbiology and germ theory of disease; developed pasteurization, vaccine against rabies, and preventative medicine

English- determined the relationship between elements' atomic numbers and properties; put elements in correct places on table

French- known for a principle concerning the shifting of equilibria.

French- shared 1903 Physics Nobel with the Curies for discovering natural radioactivity.

Polish-French- Discovered radium and polonium with husband; shared 1903 Physics Nobel; won 1911 Chem Nobel for the study of radium

Swedish- Developed theory of electrolytic dissociation (ionization); won 1903 Chem Nobel

Russian- Developed chromatography

English- Won 1906 Physics Nobel for researching gases' conductivity of electricity; discovered electron

English- developed the theory of the atom; discovered protons and alpha and beta radiation; "Father of Nuclear Science"; won 1908 Chem Nobel for work on radioactive substances

German- pioneered X-ray crystallography

Danish- developed theory of atomic structure

American- first American chemist to win Nobel; determined atomic weights

English- used X rays to determine crystal structures, for which they won 1915 Physics Nobel

German- invented a process to produce ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen, for which he won the 1918 Chem Nobel

German-American- developed relativity and showed mass-energy equivalence with E=mc²

American- developed the modern theory of valence, thermodynamics, and acid-base theory

German- won the 1920 Chem Nobel for his formulation of the 3rd law of thermodynamics (entropy --> 0 as temperature --> absolute zero).

English- invented mass spectrograph; received 1922 Chem Nobel for discovery of isotopes in non-radioactive elements

Danish- known for theory on acids and bases (1922)

English- developed acid-base theory independently of Bronsted.

Swedish- developed ultracentrifuge; won 1926 Chem Nobel for work on dispersion systems and colliod chemistry

German- shared 1931 Chem nobel with Bosch for high-pressure chemical methods

American- won 1932 Chem Nobel for discoveries of molecular films on surfaces; invented gas-filled electric lightbulb

American- discovered positron (anti-electron); won 1936 Physics Nobel; discovered mesons in cosmic rays

American- Won 1934 Chem Nobel for discovery of deuterium (heavy water) - rare hydrogen isotope

English- won 1935 Physics Nobel for discovering the neutron

American- Invented the cyclotron

German- won 1944 Chem Nobel for discovering fission in heavy nuclei

American- shared 1951 Chem Nobel with McMillan for transuranic elements; co-discovered elements 94-102 with a cyclotron: plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, and nobelium

American- Won 1954 Chem Nobel for work on the nature of the chemical bond

American- won 1960 Chem Nobel for discovering radiocarbon dating techniques.

American- won 1961 Chem Nobel for discoveries concerning photosynthesis