The Founders of Modern

Chemistry

“ Famous Chemists From the Eighteenth

Century ”
The eighteenth-century brought developments in all fields of
science, not only in chemistry. It was a time of experiments,
discoveries, and new theories abounded in many disciplines. In this
moment, the contribution and achievement of a number of
pioneering chemists provided the theoretical basis for all
discoveries that were to follow.
Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) was a
chemist, biologist, and victim of the French
Revolution.
His most famous discovery was the law of
conservation of mass, which states that
whilst substances may change their state or
form, they retain the same mass. This was
important because it allowed other
scientists to think about the differences
between substances in terms other than
differences in qualitative properties.

He was also the first person to identify

oxygen and hydrogen and was the first to
notice the role of oxygen in combustion –
something that is now fundamental to
understanding almost all chemical reactions.
To learn more about these pioneers in
science, you can get to find an
 Antoine Lavoisier
The Founders of Modern Chemistry: Famous Chemists
From the Eighteenth Century
The eighteenth-century brought developments in all fields
of science, not only in chemistry. It was a time
of experiments, discoveries, and new theories abounded
in many disciplines. In this moment, the contribution and
achievement of a number of pioneering chemists provided
the theoretical basis for all discoveries that were to follow.
Here are the big four, known as the fathers of chemistry as
we know it. They all deserve to be on our list of amazing
chemistry discoveries.
 John Dalton
Working on the basis of Lavoisier's theories, John
Dalton (1766-1844) is these days remembered for
proposing his atomic theory, which represents the
basics of chemistry today.
This theory suggested that every substance is made
of atoms and that the atoms of each element are
identical. Dalton's atomic theory also entails that
chemical compounds are the combination of atoms
of different elements and in chemical reactions these
atoms are rearranged and combined.

In his laboratory experiments, he also studied and

ultimately formulated a theory of atomic weight.
From this notion, we reached our realization of the
different molecular structure of different substances.
Amedeo
Avogadro
If you have studied chemistry at any level in your
life, you will have heard of Amedeo Avogadro
(1776-1856), who has named after him a scientific
law, chemical unit, mineral, and even a lunar crater.
As a chemist and a mathematical physicist, he was a
pioneer.

Avogadro's great discovery is what has come to be

known as Avogadro's Law, which states that, under
the same temperature and pressure conditions, the
same volumes of different gases will have the same
number of molecules.
Jöns Jacob Berzelius
The last of these pioneers of chemistry, is Jöns Jacob
Berzelius (1779-1848).
Berzelius is primarily known for
formalizing the language of chemistry. He invented
the system of notation by which we refer to different
elements, and he came up with fundamental terms in
physical chemistry such catalysis, polymer, and what
we now call ionic bonding. Not only this, but he also
discovered a number of elements himself: cerium,
thorium, and selenium.

However, perhaps most importantly, Berzelius is

credited with being the first person to measure
accurately the weight of atoms. Drawing on Dalton's
prior work, Berzelius' experimental success in this field
paved the way for everyone who came after.
Henry Cavendish
Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) was born in Nice,
France, and is considered one of the most famous
chemists from Europe. He was a chemist but did not
pursue a degree, abandoning his efforts after three
years. However, his discoveries make him one of the
most renowned scientists of his time.
Moreover, Cavendish discovered the composition
of air, proving that air is a compound, not an
element, and was the first one to recognize that
hydrogen gas was a unique substance on its own.
And alongside his efforts towards air composition,
he calculated the density of hydrogen gas and many
other gases.
Henry Cavendish
However, Cavendish is most recognized for
the "Cavendish experiment," which measures the
gravity forces between different masses, giving us the
value for the Earth's gravitational pull. His work on
gravity led other scientists to develop the gravitational
constant G and the mass of the Earth.
Among other works, he also came up with a version of
Ohm's law by comparing the electrical conductivity of
electrolytes.
Henry Cavendish
In addition, he devised the most mathematically
sound interpretation of the inverse square law for
electrostatic attraction.
Here he differentiated between the concept of
potential and the quantity of electricity,
compounding on dielectric properties. Cavendish
made some remarkable discoveries in physics and
chemistry, the standout achievements being:

•Physics: His work on electricity and gravity

•Chemistry: Study of fermentation

Henry Cavendish
In addition, he devised the most mathematically
sound interpretation of the inverse square law for
electrostatic attraction.
Here he differentiated between the concept of
potential and the quantity of electricity,
compounding on dielectric properties. Cavendish
made some remarkable discoveries in physics and
chemistry, the standout achievements being:

•Physics: His work on electricity and gravity

•Chemistry: Study of fermentation

Renowned Chemical Famous
Scientists

“ The Nineteenth Century ”

“
The discoverers and inventors that pioneered so much of what we
call chemistry today also prepared the way for the inventions of the
nineteenth century.
Robert Bunsen
Robert Bunsen (1811-1899), the inventor of
everyone's favorite piece of scientific apparatus. A
university lecturer in Germany and seemingly an all-
around lovely guy, in his spare time from writing
textbooks, he developed an antidote for arsenic
poison and discovered the element cesium.

As you can imagine, he was interested in burning

things and particularly concerned with the different
colors (emission spectra) that different elements
produced when they are heated.
That's why he produced his famous burner so that
these colors weren't ruined by the color of the flame
itself!
 Alfred Nobel
Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), is known in all fields, due to
the Nobel Prize – the award for excellence in literature,
science, and economics.
However, this man's biography is not as nice as you might
expect. In his career, he specialized in the sale of
explosives, particularly in the field of chemistry. His
primary contributions revolved around the invention of the
explosives he marketed. Nobel's main achievement was
the invention of dynamite. Intended as a tool for
construction – for roads, industry, and canals – this
chemical discovery was to have a sordid history, as we
know.

In his later years, as the story goes, he felt a little guilty

about producing one of the most destructive chemical
substances ever devised. He donated his massive fortune to
inaugurating the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Physics,
Medicine, and Peace.
Dimitri Mendeleev
The work of Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907)
is something that we have all encountered in
our lives and it remains the most iconic
symbol of chemistry: the periodic table. Not
just a chemistry genius, but also interested in
geology, meteorology, and other disciplines,
he's probably had the most significant impact
on what we understand to be chemistry.

He apparently came up with the idea of the

periodic table of elements in a dream, in
which he saw patterns between different
chemicals that could allow them to be
arranged in a certain order.
Emil Fischer
•Emil Fischer (1852-1919) was a German chemist
responsible for discovering caffeine and the
synthesis of purine. His other significant works
include the synthesis of -

•Glucose
•Fructose
•Mannose

Originally the son of a thriving lumber trader, he

obtained his doctorate at Strasbourg under Adolf von
Baeyer. He then rose to become a chemistry
professor at the University of Berlin, where he
established the Kaiser Wilhelm Society.
His efforts paid off in 1902 as he won the Nobel
Prize in Chemistry.
Emil Fischer
Fischer discovered and identified purines as a family of
bases early in his career. He found two common purines
in tea and coffee:

•Caffeine
•Theobromine

Later, he discovered some important purines found in

DNA. In addition, he also studied the structure of
sugars, working on the reactions and byproducts of
sugars and their molecular structures. Furthermore, he
tried his hand at synthesizing these products and came
to an exciting realization:
Emil Fischer
Many sugars are spatial isomers that can be
differentiated using the example of a tetrahedral carbon
atom. This helped him develop "The Fischer
Projection Method" to represent the bonds within such
isomers.
His study on sugars further led him to work on the
fermentation and the enzymes behind this process. And
if that wasn't enough, he came up with the precursor to
the lock and key hypothesis for enzymes.
Twentieth-Century Famous
Chemists
“
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling (1901-1994) has often been hailed as
one of the most important scientists ever to have lived –
and if you haven't heard of him, now is your opportunity.

Pauling essentially invented, single-handedly, what we now

know as molecular biology – the study of things like
proteins and acids in the body – and quantum chemistry, or
the study of the relationships between the smallest things in
the atom. And if at school, you've heard of covalent or ionic
bonds – you have Pauling to thank for understanding them
too.

As a lifelong activist for nuclear disarmament, Pauling was

not only a Nobel laureate in chemistry, but he won the
Nobel Peace Prize too. Finally, his research into proteins
also inspired the work of Francis Crick and James Watson,
who, without Pauling, would never have discovered
the structure of DNA.
Dorothy Hodgkin
Now time for a chemist that is often overlooked in the
histories of famous scientists: Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-
1994). Another Nobel laureate, Hodgkin, is the only
British woman to have ever won a Nobel Prize in a
science.

Hodgkin's main discoveries were in the structure of

molecules and proteins in the body, and her research had
a massive impact on biochemistry and medicine. She
and her team worked on the structure of penicillin,
vitamin B12, and, most importantly, insulin.
Her career was notable for her advocating for the
importance of knowledge of insulin, too – for its central
role in diabetes.
Kathleen Lonsdale
Another twentieth-century chemist that deserves to be
more famous than she is: Kathleen Lonsdale (1903-
1971). As a scientist, she was one of the first women to
be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and was
awarded numerous titles for her important work in
crystallography or the study of the arrangement of atoms
in crystals.
Alongside her work on diamonds and her profoundly
influential research into the structure of benzene, she
was an advocate for pacifism and an inspiration for
women scientists across the world.
Marie Curie
Marie Curie (1867-1934) was among the most famous
female chemists in history, popular for her work on
radioactivity. She is notable for receiving the Nobel Prize
twice, first in 1903 for radioactivity, which she shared with
her husband, and the second in 1911 for discovering
polonium and radium.

She was born to Polish parents and showed an early interest

in science. Leaving Poland for France in 1891, she enrolled
at Sorbonne University to study physics. Here, she met her
husband Pierre Curie and started her work on radioactivity.
The couple won the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics in
collaboration with Henry Becquerel. After her husband's
death, she continued her research in radioactivity, going on
to win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for discovering and
isolating radium and its compound.
Rosalinda Franklin
Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) was born in London to a
wealthy Jewish family in 1920 and showed an early interest
in science. She later went on to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry
from Cambridge University.
After completing her studies, she began working at
Cambridge until she moved to Paris to work with Jacques
Mering. They collaborated on developing X-ray
crystallography techniques to study the structure of atoms.
DNA was discovered in 1898 as a vital component in
genetic studies, but not much was known about its
structure.
Franklin later joined a team of scientists at King's College
who studied the structure of DNA. Her work was
instrumental in determining the structure of DNA
molecules. As a result, she continued working on DNA
molecules from 1951 to 1953, using X-ray crystallography
to photograph the B-version of DNA.
Rosalinda Franklin
Unfortunately, one of her co-workers, Maurice H.F
Wilkins, showed these photographs to James Watson
without her consent. Both Watson and Francis Crick
were also working on the DNA structure separately and
used these photographs to prove that DNA was a
double-strand helix molecule.
While Watson and Crick became world-famous chemists
and won the Nobel Prize for their work on DNA, the
credit goes to Rosalind Franklin. Although they largely
dismissed Franklin's vital role in their discovery, Crick
later admitted that Franklin's work was monumental in
determining their findings.
Gilbert N. Lewis
Gilbert Newton (1875-1946) was among the top 10
famous chemists from America. His work on electrons
was monumental in the modern understanding of
chemical bonds. In 1916, he published "The Atoms and
Molecules," where he proposed electron sharing in
atoms of non-ionic molecules.

Lewis suggested this sharing resulted from

covalent bonds produced within molecular
compounds; thus, giving it its name:
covalent bond. His proposal would go on to
form the crux of the electronic theory of
chemical bonds. He also made some
interesting observations about electron pairs
within acids and bases.
Gilbert N. Lewis
He found that acids were more likely to accept electron
pairs while bases favored donating electron pairs. This
proved essential in the study of acids and bases and
expanded the concept of acid to any compound or ion
capable of accepting electron pairs.
Fredrick Sanger
Fredrick Sanger (1918-2013) was a Nobel laureate, born in
Rendcombe, England, at the end of World War I. He
completed his doctorate from St John's College and went on to
win his first Nobel Prize in 1958 for his groundbreaking work
on the structure of insulin.
This was not his only Nobel Prize, though. He went on to
share a second Nobel Prize win for his work on the sequencing
of DNA. After his work on insulin, Sanger shifted base to
studying the structures of proteins, enzymes, and nucleic acids.

And by 1960, he started focusing his attention on RNA and

DNA, developing methods to identify their sequencing. This
culminated in the "dideoxy" technique of DNA sequencing in
1975.
Dideoxy allowed for rapid determination of DNA sequences,
such as the bacteriophage fx 174 of 5375 nucleotides and even
the human genome sequencing of over 3 billion nucleotides.
 “ Inspirational Chemists
and Their Legacies ”
Thеse еxtraordinary chеmists wе'vе еxplorеd together arеn't just namеs in
tеxtbooks; thеy arе individuals whosе passion, curiosity and dеdication havе
forеvеr altеrеd thе landscapе of sciеncе and our daily lives.
From thе mеticulous еxpеrimеnts of Antoinе Lavoisiеr to Mariе Curiе's rеlеntlеss
pursuit of knowlеdgе, еach chеmist was drivеn by a human dеsirе to undеrstand
thе world.
Mеndеlееv's crеation of thе pеriodic tablе and Linus Pauling's groundbrеaking
contributions arе not just sciеntific milеstonеs; thеy rеprеsеnt thе triumphs of
individuals who facеd challеngеs and ovеrcamе obstaclеs in thеir pursuit of
knowlеdgе. The way we live today is greatly influenced by their findings!
Question!
I. Identification
1.) He was a chemist, biologist, and victim of the French Revolution and his most
famous discovery was the law of conservation of mass, which states that substances
may change their state or form, they retain the same mass.

2.) Which scientist, building upon Lavoisier's work, developed an atomic theory that
forms the foundation of modern chemistry?

3.) Who is the renowned chemist and physicist known for having a scientific law,
chemical unit, mineral, and lunar crater named after him?

4.) Who is the scientist responsible for creating the iconic periodic table, a
fundamental tool in chemistry, and also known for his contributions to fields like
geology and meteorology?

5.) Which scientist is credited with inventing the Bunsen burner, a widely used tool in
scientific laboratories?
Question!
II. TRUE OR FALSE
6.) Linus Pauling was the responsible for creating the iconic periodic table of elements.

7.) Antoine Lavoisier was the first person who to identify oxygen and hydrogen and
was the first to notice the role of oxygen in combustion – something that is now
fundamental to understanding almost all chemical reactions.

8.) Dmitri Mendeleev was a renowned physicist who made significant contributions to
the field of quantum mechanics.

9.) Berzelius is primarily known for formalizing the language of chemistry Emil

10.)Fischer (1852-1919) was a German chemist responsible for discovering caffeine

and the synthesis of purine.
 Question!
III. ENUMERATION
1 - 5.) Name atleast 5 famous chemists in the
World of Science
FAMOUS MEN AND
WOMEN WHO SHAPED
THE HISTORY OF
CHEMISTRY