Lives in Chemistry

This series of autobiographies provides insights into the lives and thoughts of outstanding research scientists in the context of the times they lived in. What role does the continuous sequence of hypothesis, experiment, and interpretation play in top chemical research? What is the role of impulses from mentors, students, colleagues, and competitors? Successful scientists describe authentically and in a very personal way how innovation is created.

Directory of Names:
4,000+ Directory of Key Modern Chemists

The complete directory of names for the first 15 autobiographies in the series “Lives in Chemistry” is now available for free use. This provides immediate and convenient access to 4,234 pages and 3,095 illustrations.

Across the globe—especially after the Second World War—international collaborations developed worldwide. Follow how chemists, chance events, national and international research policy, and renowned conferences catalyzed the interdisciplinary development of modern chemistry.

doi: 10.47261/licdir

Flyer

Latest LiC flyer (pdf) available for download.

Preface

Major goals in chemical research often take a long time to achieve. In chemistry, the research process—from the hypothesis to experiments and interpretation—often consists of many rapid steps that proceed more quickly than those in neighboring disciplines. The works in the present series show how such a process can translate into major scientific achievements.

The series is steered by an Advisory Board that has been appointed by the Executive Committee of the History of Chemistry Division of the German Chemical Society (Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, GDCh). The project is sponsored by Dr. Karl Reuter (RCA, Freiburg, Germany). In the first volume of ‘Lives in Chemistry’, Guenther Maier describes how the series was born. Like chemistry, the series is international, and chemistry is broadly defined, thus incorporating many neighboring disciplines.

In science, life and work are often closely interwoven. The series consists of important, contemporary documents that are stimulating, instructive, and entertaining—and as diverse as people can be.

Thanks go to all those who contributed to the realization of this idea.

Berlin, Summer 2021
Carsten Reinhardt, Chairman Advisory Board

Members of the Advisory Board: