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Henry Eyring
(20 Feb 1901 - 26 Dec 1981)
Mexican-American physical chemist who developed a theory of the rates of chemical reactions through what he called 'activated complexes' as an intermediate state between the reactants and the products.
studied study of the rates of chemical reaction and intermediates. He was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1966 and the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 1980.
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Science Quotes by Henry Eyring (3 quotes)
A scientist's accomplishments are equal to the integral of his ability integrated over the hours of his effort.
— Henry Eyring
J. O. Hirschfelder, in essay on Eyring, 'A Forecast for Theoretical Chemistry', Journal of Chemical Education, 1966, 45, 457.
As I look back over my efforts, I would characterize my contributions as being largely in the realm of model building. ... I perceive myself as rather uninhibited, with a certain mathematical facility and more interest in the broad aspect of a problem than the delicate nuances. I am more interested in discovering what is over the next rise than in assiduously cultivating the beautiful garden close at hand.
— Henry Eyring
'Men, Mines and Molecules', Annual Review of Physical Chemistry, 1977, 28, 13.
The ingenuity and effective logic that enabled chemists to determine complex molecular structures from the number of isomers, the reactivity of the molecule and of its fragments, the freezing point, the empirical formula, the molecular weight, etc., is one of the outstanding triumphs of the human mind.
— Henry Eyring
'Trends in Chemistry', Chemical Engineering News, 7 Jan 1963, 5.
See also:
- 20 Feb - short biography, births, deaths and events on date of Eyring's birth.
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
(1987) -- 
