Noble Prize Winners of 1998
Connor, Maria, Alyssa
John A. Pople Birthday- October 31, 1925 Born in Burnham-on-Sea, United Kingdom Died on March 25, 2004 Education- Mathematics degree from Trinity College of Cambridge Place of Work- Northwestern University, Evanston, IL Field- Theoretical Chemistry Pople was the first in his family to attend University. | Walter Kohn Birthday- March 9, 1923 Born in Vienna, Austria Education- 1948: Harvard University, Degree: Ph.D., Physics 1946: University of Toronto Degree: M.A., Applied Mathematics 1942: University of Toronto Degree: B.A., Mathematics and Physics Place of Work- The University of California at Santa Barbara as a professor Field- Theoterical Chemistry When Kohn was a young boy, he had to endure the Holocaust. |
John A. Pople
Born in Burnham-on-Sea, United Kingdom
Died on March 25, 2004
Education- Mathematics degree from Trinity College of Cambridge
Place of Work- Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Field- Theoretical Chemistry
Pople was the first in his family to attend University.
Walter Kohn
Born in Vienna, Austria
Education- 1948: Harvard University, Degree: Ph.D., Physics 1946: University of Toronto Degree: M.A., Applied Mathematics 1942: University of Toronto Degree: B.A., Mathematics and Physics
Place of Work- The University of California at Santa Barbara as a professor
Field- Theoterical Chemistry
When Kohn was a young boy, he had to endure the Holocaust.
Breakthroughs in Theoretical Chemistry
- John A Pople and Walter Kohn developed new methods that allowed scientists to have a more accurate understanding of theoretical properties and functions of a molecule.
- Pople invented the GAUSSIAN program (a computer program) which allowed chemists to explain theoretically why reaction paths moved the way they do in chemical reactions.
- Pople pulled from other computer programs and models to create his own program.
- Kohn developed the Density-Functional Theory which proves that knowing the average number of electrons in any given area around the nucleus in order to make calculations easier.
- Pople's program significantly helped kohn to develop and prove Kohn.
Impact on the Scientific Community
- The Density-Functional theory simplified the process of making calculations for molecular properties. Pople made it possible to use the computer to enhance the theoretical study of molecules.
- There were programs available at the time and Pople stripped them down and rebuilt them. The programs allowed scientists be able to visualize the the molecules. Kohn's density-functional theory made the process of calculating molecules easier than before.
- The program made by Pople is now being used by chemists in Unverisities and many commercial companies. The theory is being used in quantum chemistry.
- Other chemists could work off of Pople and Kohn and make the process of molecule calculations easier and help make the program represent the structures and molecules better.