work on new methods and process design or on general chemical physics. There
was simply no interest in what is called “materials chemistry” today.
A similar picture is given by the list of winners of the Adolf-von-Baeyer Prize of
the German Chemical Society from 1911 to 1934 (Table 3). This gold medal is the
highest award to be given by the German Chemical Society to chemists who have
made outstanding contributions to chemistry in general. Natural products and
synthetic organic chemistry have, again, the highest interest in the selection of
the winners. In fact, the only winner of this medal from the community of polymerrelated chemists was Paul Schlack in 1958 for his work on poly(amide)s.
A similar picture is seen in the list of winners of the Emil Fischer Medal of the
German Chemical Society, another highly regarded prize. It is considered to be the
highest award for work in organic chemistry. The list of winners between 1912 and
1935 is given in Table 4.
Table 2 Winners of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1911–1934
Year
Nobel prizewinner
Year
Nobel prizewinner
1911
Marie Curie
1923
Fritz Pregl
1912
Victor Grignard/Paul Sabatier
1924
Not given
1913
Alfred Werner
1925
Richard Adolf Zsigmondy
1914
Theodore William Richards
1926
Theodor Svedberg
1915
Richard Martin Willsta ¨tter
1927
Heinrich Otto Wieland
1916
Not given
1928
Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus
1917
Not given
1929
Hans K.A.S. von Euler-Chelpin/
Arthur Harden
1918
Fritz Haber
1930
Hans Fischer
1919
Not given
1931
Friedrich Bergius/Carl Bosch
1920
Walther Hermann Nernst
1932
Irving Langmuir
1921
Frederick Soddy
1933
Not given
1922
Francis William Aston
1934
Harold Clayton Urey
Table 3 Winners of the
Adolf von Baeyer Medal of
the German Chemical Society
1911–1934
Year
Winner of Adolf-von-Beyer memorial prize
1911
Paul Friedlaender, Darmstadt
1914
Richard Willsta ¨tter, Mu ¨nchen
1919
Wilhelm Connstein, Berlin
Karl Lu ¨decke, Berlin
1921
Max von Laue, Berlin
1924
Oscar Dressel, Bonn
Bernhard Heymann, Leverkusen
Richard Kothe, Leverkusen
1925
Otto Heinrich Warburg, Berlin
1927
Adolf Windaus, Go ¨ttingen
1929
Adolf Gru ¨n, Grenzach
1931
Otto Diels, Kiel
1934
Richard Kuhn, Heidelberg
50
G. Wegner
was simply no interest in what is called “materials chemistry” today.
A similar picture is given by the list of winners of the Adolf-von-Baeyer Prize of
the German Chemical Society from 1911 to 1934 (Table 3). This gold medal is the
highest award to be given by the German Chemical Society to chemists who have
made outstanding contributions to chemistry in general. Natural products and
synthetic organic chemistry have, again, the highest interest in the selection of
the winners. In fact, the only winner of this medal from the community of polymerrelated chemists was Paul Schlack in 1958 for his work on poly(amide)s.
A similar picture is seen in the list of winners of the Emil Fischer Medal of the
German Chemical Society, another highly regarded prize. It is considered to be the
highest award for work in organic chemistry. The list of winners between 1912 and
1935 is given in Table 4.
Table 2 Winners of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1911–1934
Year
Nobel prizewinner
Year
Nobel prizewinner
1911
Marie Curie
1923
Fritz Pregl
1912
Victor Grignard/Paul Sabatier
1924
Not given
1913
Alfred Werner
1925
Richard Adolf Zsigmondy
1914
Theodore William Richards
1926
Theodor Svedberg
1915
Richard Martin Willsta ¨tter
1927
Heinrich Otto Wieland
1916
Not given
1928
Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus
1917
Not given
1929
Hans K.A.S. von Euler-Chelpin/
Arthur Harden
1918
Fritz Haber
1930
Hans Fischer
1919
Not given
1931
Friedrich Bergius/Carl Bosch
1920
Walther Hermann Nernst
1932
Irving Langmuir
1921
Frederick Soddy
1933
Not given
1922
Francis William Aston
1934
Harold Clayton Urey
Table 3 Winners of the
Adolf von Baeyer Medal of
the German Chemical Society
1911–1934
Year
Winner of Adolf-von-Beyer memorial prize
1911
Paul Friedlaender, Darmstadt
1914
Richard Willsta ¨tter, Mu ¨nchen
1919
Wilhelm Connstein, Berlin
Karl Lu ¨decke, Berlin
1921
Max von Laue, Berlin
1924
Oscar Dressel, Bonn
Bernhard Heymann, Leverkusen
Richard Kothe, Leverkusen
1925
Otto Heinrich Warburg, Berlin
1927
Adolf Windaus, Go ¨ttingen
1929
Adolf Gru ¨n, Grenzach
1931
Otto Diels, Kiel
1934
Richard Kuhn, Heidelberg
50
G. Wegner