Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff (30 August 1852 – 1 March 1911) was a Dutch physical and organic chemist and the winner of the inaugural Nobel Prize in chemistry. His research on chemical kinetics, chemical equilibrium, osmotic pressure and stereochemistry are among his most notable achievements. Through these achievements, Van 't Hoff helped found the discipline of physical chemistry as it is known today.
He was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the ...
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Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff (30 August 1852 – 1 March 1911) was a Dutch physical and organic chemist and the winner of the inaugural Nobel Prize in chemistry. His research on chemical kinetics, chemical equilibrium, osmotic pressure and stereochemistry are among his most notable achievements. Through these achievements, Van 't Hoff helped found the discipline of physical chemistry as it is known today.
He was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the son of a medical doctor. From a young age he was interested in science and nature; he frequently took part in botanical excursions, and his receptiveness for philosophy and his predilection for poetry were already apparent in his early school years. (Lord Byron was his idol.) Against the wishes of his father, he went to study chemistry, first at the Delft Polytechnic Institute, then at the University of Leiden, then to Bonn, Germany (where he studied with Friedrich Kekulé), then Paris (where he studied with C. A. Wurtz), finally receiving his...
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