Albert Frey-Wyssling facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Albert Frey-Wyssling
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Albert Frey-Wyssling
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| Born | 8 November 1900 |
| Died | 30 August 1988 (aged 87) |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Known for | crystallography |
| Awards | Marcel Benoist Prize (1949) Fellow of the Royal Society |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | molecular biology |
| Institutions | Swiss Federal Institute of Technology |
Dr. Albert Friedrich Frey-Wyssling ForMemRS (born November 8, 1900 – died August 30, 1988) was a famous Swiss botanist. He was a pioneer in studying the tiny, tiny structures inside plants, which helped start the field of molecular biology. This is the study of life at a very small, molecular level.
Life Story of a Plant Scientist
Albert Frey-Wyssling was born in a town called Küsnacht in Switzerland. His father taught chemistry and other subjects at a teacher training college. Many of his family members were teachers, so Albert thought he would become one too.
He went to school in Zürich and finished in 1919. Then, he joined the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) to study plants. Even though Zürich had many great plant experts, Albert realized his special talent wasn't just naming plants. He wanted to understand them using science like chemistry, physics, and math.
For his main research project, he chose to study how plants work. His teacher helped him use methods from crystallography. This is a way to study how atoms are arranged in crystals. He used this to find common crystals inside plant cells. He earned his science degree in 1924.
After his studies, he worked to learn more about plant parts, how to use microscopes, and how plants function. In 1926, he returned to ETH as a research assistant. There, he was asked to study wood by Paul Jaccard, who was the head of the department.
Later, he accepted a job in Medan, Sumatra, at a rubber research station. Before leaving, he married Margrit Wyssling. Albert then added his wife's last name to his own, becoming Frey-Wyssling. He did this because the name Frey was very common in Switzerland. He lived in Sumatra for four years.
In 1932, he came back to Zurich. He became a lecturer at ETH in the Department of General Botany, taking over from Jaccard. Over the next six years, he started his own way of studying plants. He had many students who looked closely at the structure of plant cells. In 1937, he visited Vienna. There, he learned about X-ray diffraction techniques. He later used these powerful methods in his own research.
Frey-Wyssling taught many subjects about how plants are shaped and how they work. His teaching career reached its highest point in 1957. He was chosen to be the Rector (like a president) of the ETH. He held this important position for four years.
He also often attended the International Botanical Congresses, which are big meetings for plant scientists. He was often invited to be a guest professor. He gave lectures at famous universities like Harvard and Cornell. He retired from teaching in 1970. However, he continued to write scientific papers and attend meetings. He also stayed in touch with the scientists who followed in his footsteps.
See Also
- Albert Frey (disambiguation)
