Cyril Norman Hinshelwood facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cyril Hinshelwood
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Cyril Norman Hinshelwood
19 June 1897 London, England
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| Died | 9 October 1967 (aged 70) London, England
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| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Known for | Chemical kinetics Chemical reaction network theory Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanism Lindemann–Hinshelwood mechanism |
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| Fields | Physical chemistry |
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| Doctoral advisor | Harold Hartley |
| Doctoral students | Sydney Brenner Alan Eddy |
| Other notable students | Keith J. Laidler (postdoc) |
Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood (born June 19, 1897 – died October 9, 1967) was a famous British scientist. He was a physical chemist, which means he studied how chemical reactions work using ideas from physics. He became an expert in chemical kinetics, which is all about how fast chemical reactions happen.
His important work on how chemical reactions take place earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1956. He shared this award with another scientist, Nikolay Semenov.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Cyril Hinshelwood was born in London, England. His father was Norman Macmillan Hinshelwood. Cyril first went to school in Canada.
In 1905, after his father passed away, he moved back to London. He lived in a small apartment in Chelsea for the rest of his life. He continued his education at Westminster City School and then at Balliol College, Oxford.
His Scientific Career
During the First World War, Hinshelwood worked as a chemist. He helped in a factory that made explosives. After the war, he became a teacher at Trinity College, Oxford, starting in 1921.
Later, in 1937, he became a special professor of chemistry at the University of Oxford. He also advised the British Government on important science topics.
Understanding Chemical Reactions
Hinshelwood spent a lot of time studying how molecules react. He wrote books like Thermodynamics for Students of Chemistry and The Kinetics of Chemical Change in 1926. These books helped explain how energy affects chemical reactions and how fast they happen.
He worked with another scientist, Harold Warris Thompson. They studied how hydrogen and oxygen react explosively. They helped explain something called a chain reaction, where one reaction starts another, and it keeps going.
Work on Bacterial Cells
Cyril Hinshelwood also researched how chemical changes happen inside tiny living things called bacterial cells. This work became very important for understanding antibiotics and other medicines.
He published a book called The Chemical Kinetics of the Bacterial Cell in 1946. Later, in 1966, he wrote Growth, Function and Regulation in Bacterial Cells. These books showed how chemistry plays a role in how bacteria grow and work.
He also wrote The Structure of Physical Chemistry in 1951. This book was later re-published because it was so important.
Reactions on Surfaces
A special way reactions happen on surfaces is named after him. It's called the Langmuir-Hinshelwood process. This happens when chemicals stick to a surface, and that's the slowest step in the reaction.
From 1964 to 1967, he was a senior researcher at Imperial College London.
Awards and Honours
Sir Cyril Hinshelwood received many awards for his scientific work. He was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1929. This is a very high honour for scientists in the UK. He even served as the president of the Royal Society from 1955 to 1960.
In 1948, he was made a knight, which means he could use "Sir" before his name. In 1960, he received the Order of Merit, another very special award.
The biggest award he received was the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1956. He won it for his deep studies into how chemical reactions work. He was also a member of important science groups in the United States.
He was also the president of several other important scientific groups, like the Chemical Society and the Faraday Society.
Personal Life
Cyril Hinshelwood never got married. He had many interesting hobbies outside of science. He was very good at languages and could speak seven different ones, both old and new.
He also loved art. He enjoyed painting scenes around Oxford and even painted portraits of people from Oxford University. Some of his paintings are still owned by the Royal Society and Trinity College. He also collected Chinese pottery and enjoyed reading foreign literature.
Sir Cyril Hinshelwood passed away at his home on October 9, 1967. His Nobel Prize medal was later sold at auction.
See also
- Balliol-Trinity Laboratories
- List of presidents of the Royal Society
In Spanish: Cyril Norman Hinshelwood para niños
