wealth of its chemical scope, forming living matter. . . . In the light of this new
knowledge of macromolecular chemistry, the wonder of Life in its chemical aspect
is revealed in the astounding abundance and masterly macromolecular architecture
of living matter”. Going well beyond the scope of tailoring single macromolecules,
Hermann Staudinger has foreseen the unique opportunities of the emerging macromolecular systems engineering, which is not at all restricted to biosystems.
Advanced synthetic, biological, and biohybrid polymer systems can be tailored to
exhibit features typical for living organisms such as sensing, recognition, learning,
stimuli-response, adaptation, energy autonomy, self-assembly, self-healing, and
even self-replication. Although polymer sciences and engineering has more than
just one father, Hermann Staudinger has successfully created inspiring visions that
will continue to stimulate progress in science and technology for many years
to come.
8 The Days After Hermann Staudinger in Freiburg
The history of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry and polymer research in
Freiburg reflect the growth and paradigm shift in polymer science and engineering
and the impact of individual researchers. The gallery of the research directors and
today’s collaboration partners from other faculties is displayed in Fig. 6. Originally,
polymer properties were varied by tailoring single macromolecules through varying
monomeric units, chain length, and shape of polymer chains. In the second half of
the twentieth century, polymer properties were tuned via controlled nanostructure
formation in bulk and at surfaces, exploiting assembly of macromolecules at
interfaces, controlled nanostructure formation, and functional processing. In the
early days of polymer sciences, the search for surrogates of natural materials such
as silk, ivory and the strategically important natural rubber had claimed top priority,
exploiting predominantly biobased raw materials such as carbohydrates.
Under the leadership of Elfriede Husemann (1956–1974), whose special field of
research expertise was carbohydrate chemistry with a focus on starch and glycogen
research, Freiburg became an “Eldorado for polysaccharide chemistry” [20, 23]. As
an excellent organizer and manager, Elfriede Husemann substantially broadened
the horizon of polymer research in the Institute, bringing together the fields of
polymer chemistry with biopolymers, physical chemistry, and modern electron
microscopy. In 1962, the new building significantly improved the polymer research
facilities in Freiburg (Fig. 7). Her student and coworker Beate Pfannemu ¨ller
became a distinguished female scientist in starch research, well known for her
contributions such as the enzymatic synthesis of amylose [20]. Another student and
coworker of Elfriede Husemann was Walter Burchard, who in 1956 introduced
static light scattering and in 1978 dynamic light scattering. He made significant
progress towards a better understanding of the conformation of linear and branched
polymers as well as gelation [24].
32
H.-J. Cantow and R. Mu ¨lhaupt
knowledge of macromolecular chemistry, the wonder of Life in its chemical aspect
is revealed in the astounding abundance and masterly macromolecular architecture
of living matter”. Going well beyond the scope of tailoring single macromolecules,
Hermann Staudinger has foreseen the unique opportunities of the emerging macromolecular systems engineering, which is not at all restricted to biosystems.
Advanced synthetic, biological, and biohybrid polymer systems can be tailored to
exhibit features typical for living organisms such as sensing, recognition, learning,
stimuli-response, adaptation, energy autonomy, self-assembly, self-healing, and
even self-replication. Although polymer sciences and engineering has more than
just one father, Hermann Staudinger has successfully created inspiring visions that
will continue to stimulate progress in science and technology for many years
to come.
8 The Days After Hermann Staudinger in Freiburg
The history of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry and polymer research in
Freiburg reflect the growth and paradigm shift in polymer science and engineering
and the impact of individual researchers. The gallery of the research directors and
today’s collaboration partners from other faculties is displayed in Fig. 6. Originally,
polymer properties were varied by tailoring single macromolecules through varying
monomeric units, chain length, and shape of polymer chains. In the second half of
the twentieth century, polymer properties were tuned via controlled nanostructure
formation in bulk and at surfaces, exploiting assembly of macromolecules at
interfaces, controlled nanostructure formation, and functional processing. In the
early days of polymer sciences, the search for surrogates of natural materials such
as silk, ivory and the strategically important natural rubber had claimed top priority,
exploiting predominantly biobased raw materials such as carbohydrates.
Under the leadership of Elfriede Husemann (1956–1974), whose special field of
research expertise was carbohydrate chemistry with a focus on starch and glycogen
research, Freiburg became an “Eldorado for polysaccharide chemistry” [20, 23]. As
an excellent organizer and manager, Elfriede Husemann substantially broadened
the horizon of polymer research in the Institute, bringing together the fields of
polymer chemistry with biopolymers, physical chemistry, and modern electron
microscopy. In 1962, the new building significantly improved the polymer research
facilities in Freiburg (Fig. 7). Her student and coworker Beate Pfannemu ¨ller
became a distinguished female scientist in starch research, well known for her
contributions such as the enzymatic synthesis of amylose [20]. Another student and
coworker of Elfriede Husemann was Walter Burchard, who in 1956 introduced
static light scattering and in 1978 dynamic light scattering. He made significant
progress towards a better understanding of the conformation of linear and branched
polymers as well as gelation [24].
32
H.-J. Cantow and R. Mu ¨lhaupt