About Chemistry

Explore the rich history and remarkable people who shaped chemistry

Our Mission

The Chemistry Education Portal aims to make chemistry accessible to everyone, from students just starting their journey to advanced learners seeking deeper understanding. We provide comprehensive, interactive, and engaging educational resources covering all branches of chemistry.

Our goal is to inspire curiosity, facilitate learning, and demonstrate the importance of chemistry in our daily lives and the future of our planet.

History of Chemistry

🏛️ Ancient Chemistry

Early Beginnings (4000 BC - 1000 AD)

  • Metallurgy: Extraction of metals (copper, iron, gold)
  • Pottery: Ceramic technology
  • Medicine: Herbal preparations and remedies
  • Alchemy: Attempts to transform base metals into gold

Ancient civilizations in Egypt, China, India, and Greece laid the foundations for chemical knowledge through practical applications.

🔬 The Scientific Revolution

17th-18th Centuries

  • Robert Boyle (1627-1691): "The Sceptical Chymist," defined element
  • Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794): "Father of Modern Chemistry"
  • Conservation of mass
  • Systematic naming (modern nomenclature)
  • Oxygen theory of combustion
  • John Dalton (1766-1844): Atomic theory
⚛️ Modern Chemistry (19th Century)

Key Developments

  • Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907): Periodic table
  • Jöns Jakob Berzelius: Chemical symbols, atomic weights
  • Marie Curie (1867-1934): Radioactivity, discovery of radium and polonium
  • Friedrich Wöhler: Synthesized urea (organic from inorganic)
  • August Kekulé: Benzene structure, organic chemistry
🌌 Quantum Era (20th Century)

Revolutionary Changes

  • Erwin Schrödinger: Quantum mechanics for atoms
  • Linus Pauling: Chemical bonding theory
  • Dorothy Hodgkin: X-ray crystallography
  • Rosalind Franklin: DNA structure
  • James Watson & Francis Crick: DNA double helix
  • Polymer chemistry, biochemistry, materials science

Famous Chemists

Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794)

"Father of Modern Chemistry"

  • Law of conservation of mass
  • Oxygen theory of combustion
  • Systematic chemical nomenclature
  • Quantitative analysis

Marie Curie (1867-1934)

Pioneer of Radioactivity

  • First woman to win Nobel Prize
  • Only person to win Nobel in two sciences
  • Discovered radium and polonium
  • Developed X-ray technology

Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907)

Creator of Periodic Table

  • Organized elements by atomic mass
  • Predicted existence of unknown elements
  • Periodic law foundation
  • One of chemistry's greatest achievements

Linus Pauling (1901-1994)

Quantum Chemistry Pioneer

  • Nature of chemical bonds
  • Electronegativity concept
  • Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1954)
  • Nobel Peace Prize (1962)

Robert Boyle (1627-1691)

"The Sceptical Chymist"

  • Defined chemical element
  • Boyle's law (gas pressure)
  • Separated chemistry from alchemy
  • Experimental method advocate

Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-1994)

X-ray Crystallographer

  • Determined structures of insulin, penicillin, vitamin B12
  • Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1964)
  • Pioneered protein crystallography
  • Advanced medicinal chemistry

Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually to scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the field. Here are some notable recent winners:

🏆 Recent Nobel Laureates

2023 - Quantum Dots

Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, Alexei I. Ekimov

For the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots - nanoparticles that emit different colors based on size.

2022 - Click Chemistry

Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, K. Barry Sharpless

For the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry - methods to build molecules efficiently.

2021 - Asymmetric Organocatalysis

Benjamin List, David W.C. MacMillan

For the development of asymmetric organocatalysis - a new way to synthesize molecules using small organic catalysts.

2020 - CRISPR-Cas9

Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jennifer A. Doudna

For the development of a method for genome editing - the CRISPR-Cas9 "genetic scissors."

2019 - Lithium-Ion Batteries

John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, Akira Yoshino

For the development of lithium-ion batteries - powering the modern world.

Notable Historical Wins

  • Marie Curie (1911): Discovery of radium and polonium
  • Linus Pauling (1954): Nature of chemical bonds
  • Dorothy Hodgkin (1964): X-ray crystallography of biomolecules
  • Roald Hoffmann (1981): Orbital symmetry in reactions

About This Website

This Chemistry Education Portal is a comprehensive, static website built with HTML5, CSS3, and vanilla JavaScript. It requires no backend server or database, making it easy to host and deploy.

Features

Adding More Content

To add more chapters or topics:

  1. Edit the relevant branch HTML file in the branches/ folder
  2. Add new collapsible sections using the existing structure
  3. Add quiz questions to js/quiz.js in the appropriate topic array
  4. Add flashcards to the flashcard container in HTML