Historical Figure
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
1852–1911
Dutch physical and organic chemist (1852–1911)
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Biography
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff Jr. was a Dutch physical chemist. A highly influential theoretical chemist, in 1901 Van 't Hoff won the first the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "[for his] discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure in solutions". His pioneering work helped found the modern theory of chemical affinity, chemical equilibrium, chemical kinetics, and chemical thermodynamics. In his 1874 pamphlet, Van 't Hoff formulated the theory of the tetrahedral carbon atom and laid the foundations of stereochemistry. In 1875, he predicted the correct structures of allenes and cumulenes as well as their axial chirality. He is also widely considered one of the founders of physical chemistry as the discipline is known today.
Timeline
The story of Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, told in moments.
Published a pamphlet proposing that carbon atoms arrange themselves in three-dimensional space. He was 22. The idea of the tetrahedral carbon atom was the foundation of stereochemistry. Most established chemists dismissed it.
Published Studies in Chemical Dynamics. He described how chemical reactions proceed and what determines their speed. It laid the groundwork for physical chemistry as a distinct field.
Won the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry ever awarded. The committee cited his work on solutions, osmotic pressure, and chemical equilibrium. He was the starting line for every chemist who won after him.
Artifacts (15)
You know what it looks like, now go and find it.
xt delivery for 6, straight out of the stadium and into a nearby river. Turning back to the bowler, he commented: "You know what it looks like, now go and find it." == Autobiographies == Richards,...
at best undignified and unsightly. At worst, it was calculated gamesmanship
ng to the incorrect dismissal of England batsman Rob Bailey in the Barbados Test in 1990, which was described by Wisden as "at best undignified and unsightly. At worst, it was calculated...
Studien Zur Chemischen Dynamik: Nach J. H. Van 't Hoff's Études De Dynamique Chimique
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of...
I behaved very badly and I am not proud of it. But those in authority, who were ...
supporters, who were almost rioting. In his second bat in the innings, he was again out for a duck. Richards said of the incident: "I behaved very badly and I am not proud of it. But those in...
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