15 Most Famous Chemists in History

15 Most Famous Chemists in History

We must understand the people behind science and the emergence of something so that we can get a clearer perspective when looking at a particular theory or topic. In the field of chemistry, there have been many notable figures that have discovered elements that made us understand the make-up of the universe better. Therefore in this article, we are going to explore the 15 most famous chemists in history to appreciate the work they have done in ensuring that we are aware of our universe and the components found in it.

1 Antoine Lavoisier

A coloured photo of Antoine. Jacques-Louis David , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The chemist born in 1743 is famously known as The Father of Modern Chemistry.  His ground-breaking contributions earned him the nickname. As a boy growing up in France, Antoine loved experimenting and he grew up to be a great theoretician with his work laying the foundation for most theories in modern chemistry.

The chemist established the law of conservation of mass by conducting experiments that clearly depicted the mass of a substance before a reaction and the mass after the reaction. His breakthrough allowed other chemists to understand chemical reactions. Furthermore, the chemist also created a chemical naming system which brought order when it came to chemical terminology and it is still being used to date.

2 Marie Curie

Marie Curie. Henri Manuel , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The celebrated chemist and physicist is recognized for her work in the field of radioactivity. Marie who worked alongside her husband is famed for discovering elements of radium and polonium. Her discovery led to her being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for the exceptional work that she had done thus making her the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize. She then went on and received a second Nobel prize this time in physics for her work in studying radium and its components. Her work with radium was instrumental to the development of X-ray machines which revolutionised the field of medicine.

3 Dmitri Mendeleev

The Russian chemist is another notable figure in the field of chemistry. He is responsible for the creation of the periodic table of elements.  The table which was published in 1869 was a good discovery in chemistry as it arranged chemical elements in terms of atomic mass and chemical properties. This made it easier for elements to be categorised and also revealed that there were some elements that were yet to be discovered. His work earned him the nickname The Father of the Periodic Table.

4 Linus Pauling

Chemist Linus Pauling. US-Gov., Library of Congress, biographical file, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The chemist is often referred to as the most influential chemist of the 20^th century having been born in 1901 and lived up to 1994. The chemist was critical in laying the foundation for the concept of atoms and molecules and how they are held together when he published a book titled The Nature of the Chemical Bond in 1939. His work was exceptional and he earned a Nobel Prize for it.

He was also big on advocacy when it came to raising awareness on the dangers of nuclear weapons a cause that earned him another Nobel Peace Prize. Pauling is one of the important figures in chemistry who had a large impact on the field.

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5 Robert Grubbs

The American chemist is celebrated for his work in organic chemistry. The chemist developed the metathesis method which is a chemical reaction that results in the rearrangement of carbon-carbon double compounds in organic compounds. His discovery led to him being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2005. Grubbs went further and designed catalysts that would promote metathesis thus giving chemists a chance to synthesize intricate organic compounds with precision.

6 Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin with a microscope. MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

She was a British chemist who pioneered the work in the field of X-ray crystallography.  Her work was critical in understanding the structure of the DNA which turned out to be one of the most useful discoveries in the field of medicine. The chemist’s work involved the study of different DNA fibres and when she captured an image using a high-resolution X-ray, it gave clues to the helical structure

7 Robert Woodward

The American chemist is known for his phenomenal contributions to the field of organic chemistry. His work involved the synthesis of organic molecules and focusing on natural products.  His work was life-changing in that it allowed for precise methods of organic synthesis which in turn made it possible for complex elements like cholesterol, quinine and Vitamin B12 to be synthesised. His work earned him a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1965. His work continues to inspire chemists who are following in his path.

8 Glenn Seaborg

Atomic pioneer Glenn Seaborg.Atomic Energy Commission. (1946 – 01/19/1975), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 

He is another 20^th-century chemist who was influential in the field of chemistry.  He majored in nuclear chemistry where he was acknowledged for his work in identifying and synthesising transuranium elements like curium, berkelium, plutonium and californium. His discoveries expanded the periodic table where the actinide series which comprises radioactive elements became part of the table. His discoveries were critical in the advancement of nuclear science and technology as his discoveries were used to develop nuclear weapons used in the Second World War. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1951. Interestingly, he has an element named after him, seaborgium (sg)

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9 Robert Boyle

He is one of the most notable figures in the field of chemistry and physics. The chemist is responsible for Boyles Law which is a law that explains the inverse relationship between the volume of a gas and its pressure when the temperature is constant. His law was the foundation of gas law concepts. Boyle also wrote a book titled The Sceptical Chymist which took on a different perspective on prevailing alchemical views at that time. His views laid a foundation in modern chemistry in that it created a distinction between alchemy and chemistry.

10 Ahmed Zewali

Egyptian chemist Ahmed Zewali. Science History Institute, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Egyptian chemist was born in 1946. He was a pioneer in the field of femtochemistry as he made immense contributions to the study of chemical reactions on femtoseconds. His work enabled scientists to comprehend the ultrafast chemical processes that when there are chemical reactions. His research not only improved our understanding of chemical reactions on a fundamental level, but it also had real-world applications in pharmacology, materials science, and catalysis.

11 Gertrude Elion

She was an American biochemist and pharmacologist who was instrumental in the field of pharmaceuticals. Her work on the rational design of drugs to be used on specific ailments earned her a Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1988. One of her greatest contributions was the creation of purine analogues, which served as the foundation for medications like azathioprine and mercaptopurine, which are used to inhibit the immune system and treat cancer and autoimmune illnesses. Furthermore, her involvement in the field of science is a great inspiration to girls who want to get into the fields of medicine and chemistry.

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12 Gilbert Lewis

Chemist Gilbert Lewis. es una imagen de licencia libre, no tiene autor, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Gilbert Lewis was an American chemist who was in the field of chemical bonding. His contributions to the field involved the creation of theories and concepts that made it easy to understand the nature of chemical reactions and molecular structures. His most significant contribution was the development of Lewis Dot Structures. The structures are diagrams that show the arrangement of valence electrons that are found around atoms in a molecule. His contribution was critical in understanding chemical bonding.

13 Alice Ball

The African-American chemist focused her work on the field of medicine. She is responsible for finding the cure to leprosy which was a disfiguring disease. The disease did not have a cure in the early 20^th century and thus left many people disabled. Ball worked on finding a cure for the disease by making chaulmoogra oil which was a traditional way to cure the disease. The chemist isolated the active chemicals in the oil and made it injectable thus making it a cure.

14 Fritz Haber

The German chemist was responsible for the development of the Haber-Bosch process. He developed the process with his colleague Carl Bosch. The process allows for the synthesis of ammonia from atmospheric hydrogen and nitrogen on a large scale. Their discovery was revolutionising the field of agriculture as it allowed for the production of fertilizers on a large scale. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1918 for his outstanding work

15 Paul Flory

Paul Flory in 1973. Unknown (Associated Press), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

He was an American polymer scientist who made significant contributions to the study of macromolecules, specifically in the area of polymer chemistry. Paul received the Chemistry Nobel Prize in 1974 for his key contributions to our comprehension of how big molecules and polymers behave. Flory’s work revolutionised the study of polymers by revealing important structural and functional details. His work on “Flory-Huggins solution theory” was helpful in elucidating the thermodynamics of polymer solutions.

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