Used with permission of Maiken Naylor, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA, http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/sel/exhibits/stamps

The following profiles of chemistry Nobel laureates are not chronologically arranged but follow the order of the stamps in this very attractive booklet from Sweden. All were Swedish nationals, though some were foreign-born.

Arne Tiselius (1902-71) was proficient not only in physical chemistry, but biochemistry and some areas of medicine as well. He developed methods of analysis by adsorption particularly of colorless substances, and was awarded the 1948 Nobel prize in chemistry "for his research on electrophoresis and adsorption analysis, especially for his discoveries concerning the complex nature of the serum proteins."

Born in Hungary, George de Hevesy (1885-1966) worked and studied with many notable scientists, among them Haber and Rutherford. He discovered the element hafnium with Coster while at the Institute for Theoretical Physics (Niels Bohr Institute) in Copenhagen. His most important work was "on the use of isotopes as tracers in the study of chemical processes." These processes were both in chemical reactions and also in living tissue, human and animal. Following the lead of Irene Joliot-Curie, he produced radio isotopes of phosphorus and sulfur by alpha bombardment. The Nobel prize in chemistry was awarded to him in 1943.

Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927) received the 1903 Nobel prize in chemistry "in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered to the advancement of chemistry by his electrolytic theory of dissociation." This theory (Berzelius' electrochemical theory revisited) dealt with the dissociation of salts in solution into positively and negatively charged ions which were able to conduct a current over a potential drop. The extent of dissociation of a substance determines its value as an electrolyte.

Theodor Svedberg (1884-1971) developed the ultracentrifuge by which colloidal dispersions could be evaluated for particle size. The progressive distribution of increasingly large particles within the extremely rapidly whirling solution could be observed and recorded photographically. For this research on dispersions he received the 1926 Nobel prize in chemistry.

Hans von Euler-Chelpin (1873-1964) shared the 1929 Nobel prize in chemistry with Sir Arthur Harden of Great Britain "for their investigations on the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes." The fermentation process had already been investigated by Liebig and Pasteur but the contribution of enzymes in the creation of alcohol was here recognized. On the stamp, a large sugar molecule results in a smaller ethanol molecule.