From Fuel Chemistry to Quantum Chemistry: Kenichi Fukui and the Rise of the Kyoto School (2016)
Kenichi Fukui (1918–1998) was the first Japanese Nobel laureate in chemistry. He received the 1981 Nobel Prize for his frontier orbital theory, which clarified the mechanism and course of chemical reactions in terms of quantum mechanics. Roald Hoffmann who developed the principle of the conservation of orbital symmetry or the so-called “Woodward-Hoffmann rule” shared the award. Their joint award was the third Nobel Prize in the field of quantum chemistry, following the award received by Linus Pauling (1954) and Robert Mulliken (1966). The frontier orbital theory is considered by many chemists to be one of the most important conceptual advances in the 1950s in the field of chemical sciences.2 Despite its historical significance, the literature on the history of quantum chemistry has long been silent about Fukui and his work. Kostas Gavrogru and Anna Simões’ recent book, Neither Physics Nor Chemistry: A History of Quantum Chemistry (2012), deals with the history of quantum chemistry from the 1920s to the 1970s, but contains no mention of Fukui at all.3 Today, I would like to talk about Fukui and his quantum chemistry from one perspective, namely, the rise of pure science in an applied academic setting.
...MoreBook Masanori Kaji; Yasu Furukawa; Hiroaki Tanaka; Yoshiyuki Kikuchi (2016) Transformation of Chemistry from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Similar Citations
Article
Eberhart, Mark;
Travis, Jones;
(2013)
The Two Faces of Chemistry: Can They Be Reconciled?
(/isis/citation/CBB001321114/)
Article
Henderson, Douglas;
(2010)
Henry Eyring: Quantum Chemistry, Statistical Mechanics, Theory of Liquids, and Significant Structure Theory
(/isis/citation/CBB001232510/)
Article
Causá, Mauro;
Savin, Andreas;
Silvi, Bernard;
(2014)
Atoms and Bonds in Molecules and Chemical Explanations
(/isis/citation/CBB001321116/)
Article
Ostrovsky, Valentin N.;
(2005)
Towards a Philosophy of Approximations in the “Exact” Sciences
(/isis/citation/CBB000630299/)
Article
Matta, Chérif F.;
(2013)
Special issue: Philosophical Aspects and Implications of the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM).
(/isis/citation/CBB001321113/)
Article
Simões, Ana;
(2004)
Textbooks, Popular Lectures and Sermons: The Quantum Chemist Charles Alfred Coulson and the Crafting of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB000500780/)
Article
Park, Buhm Soon;
(2003)
The “Hyperbola of Quantum Chemistry”: The Changing Practice and Identity of a Scientific Discipline in the Early Years of Electronic Digital Computers, 1945--65
(/isis/citation/CBB000330689/)
Article
Sukumar, N.;
(2013)
The Atom in a Molecule as a Mereological Construct in Chemistry
(/isis/citation/CBB001321115/)
Book
Patrick Forterre;
(2016)
Microbes from Hell
(/isis/citation/CBB896878206/)
Book
Schmitt, Michael;
(2013)
From Taxonomy to Phylogenetics: Life and Work of Willi Hennig
(/isis/citation/CBB001321148/)
Thesis
Smeenk, Christopher Joel;
(2003)
Approaching the Absolute Zero of Time: Theory Development in Early Universe Cosmology
(/isis/citation/CBB001560789/)
Book
Kearney, Michael;
(2004)
Changing Fields of Anthropology: From Local to Global
(/isis/citation/CBB000470204/)
Book
Alexander Blum;
(2016)
Shifting Paradigms: Thomas S. Kuhn and the History of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB226022591/)
Article
Alan R. Rushton;
(2021)
Counting human chromosomes before 1960: Preconceptions, perceptions and predilections
(/isis/citation/CBB393170437/)
Article
Riordan, Michael;
(2000)
The Demise of the Superconducting Super Collider
(/isis/citation/CBB000110055/)
Chapter
Mary Jo Nye;
(2016)
Kuhnian and Post-Kuhnian Views on How Science Evolves
(/isis/citation/CBB249086020/)
Article
Rachel Cooper;
(2015)
Why is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders so hard to revise? Path-dependence and “lock-in” in classification
(/isis/citation/CBB648630739/)
Article
S.-I. Akasofu;
(1996)
Search for the “Unknown” Quantity in the Solar Wind: A Personal Account
(/isis/citation/CBB618618139/)
Article
James Justus;
Samantha Wakil;
(2021)
The algorithmic turn in conservation biology: Characterizing progress in ethically-driven sciences
(/isis/citation/CBB088304027/)
Article
Mayoral, Juan Vicente;
(2012)
Five Decades of Structure: A Retrospective View
(/isis/citation/CBB001450883/)
Be the first to comment!