Sir Cyril Hinshelwood
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1956
Born: 19 May 1897, London, United Kingdom
Died: 9 October 1967, London, United Kingdom
Affiliation at the time of the award: University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Prize motivation: “for their researches into the mechanism of chemical reactions”
Prize share: 1/2
Work
During chemical reactions, atoms and molecules regroup and form new constellations. When molecules formed during a reaction readily react with molecules present from the beginning, a chain reaction can occur. Explosions and fire are examples of chain reactions. During the 1930s Cyril Hinshelwood analyzed conditions and sequences of events involved in chain reactions from a theoretical standpoint. Among other things, he found that the theoretical results corresponded with observations of the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
