Obituary
Ricardo de Carvalho Ferreira: A Pioneer of Theoretical
Chemistry in Latin America
Ricardo de Carvalho Ferreira was born on January 16, 1928 in the city of Recife,
Brazil. He died on July 30, 2013 in this same city. He was a physical chemist who
pioneered the fields of theoretical chemistry and biophysics in Brazil. Ricardo
showed a strong inclination toward physics and chemistry at an early age. In spite
of the reduced number of Brazilian institutions harboring scientific research,
Ricardo published his first scientific contribution when he was 19 years old [1]. At
25 years old, he submitted a contribution to Nature, which was published in the
same volume reporting the discovery of the structure of the DNA by James Watson
and Francis Crick [2]. More than 130 peer-reviewed papers and several book
chapters followed these first reports. Among them is, what is believed to be the first
theoretical chemistry publication fully thought and conducted in Latin America [3].
The post-doctoral years at CALTECH (1959–1960) in contact with Linus Pauling,
and Norman Davidson allowed Ricardo to expand his interests onto theoretical
biophysics and biochemistry. During these years, Ricardo was strongly influenced
by the ideas of Michel J.S. Dewar who was then visiting CALTECH. The discussions with Dewar and later with Robert S. Mulliken during a short visit to the
University of Chicago led to publications on the principles of electronegativity
equalization [4–6].
Ricardo contributed to Brazilian science far beyond his publication record. He
helped to shape important scientific societies as the Sociedade Brasileira para o
Progresso da Ciência (SBPC) and the Sociedade Brasileira de Química (SBQ) both
of which he presided over upon election. He was part of the commission for the
xxi
Ricardo de Carvalho Ferreira: A Pioneer of Theoretical
Chemistry in Latin America
Ricardo de Carvalho Ferreira was born on January 16, 1928 in the city of Recife,
Brazil. He died on July 30, 2013 in this same city. He was a physical chemist who
pioneered the fields of theoretical chemistry and biophysics in Brazil. Ricardo
showed a strong inclination toward physics and chemistry at an early age. In spite
of the reduced number of Brazilian institutions harboring scientific research,
Ricardo published his first scientific contribution when he was 19 years old [1]. At
25 years old, he submitted a contribution to Nature, which was published in the
same volume reporting the discovery of the structure of the DNA by James Watson
and Francis Crick [2]. More than 130 peer-reviewed papers and several book
chapters followed these first reports. Among them is, what is believed to be the first
theoretical chemistry publication fully thought and conducted in Latin America [3].
The post-doctoral years at CALTECH (1959–1960) in contact with Linus Pauling,
and Norman Davidson allowed Ricardo to expand his interests onto theoretical
biophysics and biochemistry. During these years, Ricardo was strongly influenced
by the ideas of Michel J.S. Dewar who was then visiting CALTECH. The discussions with Dewar and later with Robert S. Mulliken during a short visit to the
University of Chicago led to publications on the principles of electronegativity
equalization [4–6].
Ricardo contributed to Brazilian science far beyond his publication record. He
helped to shape important scientific societies as the Sociedade Brasileira para o
Progresso da Ciência (SBPC) and the Sociedade Brasileira de Química (SBQ) both
of which he presided over upon election. He was part of the commission for the
xxi