User:Akillmer/Theodor Svedberg

Theodor Svedberg (30 August 1884 – 25 February 1971) was a Swedish chemist and Nobel laureate for his research on colloids and proteins using the ultracentrifuge. Svedberg was active at Uppsala University from the mid 1900s to late 1940s. While at Uppsala, Svedberg started as a docent before becoming the university's physical chemistry head in 1912. After leaving Uppsala in 1949, Svedberg was in charge of the Gustaf Werner Institute until 1967. Apart from his 1926 Nobel Prize, Svedberg was named a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1944 and became part of the National Academy of Sciences in 1945.

Contents

 * 1Early life and education
 * 2Career
 * 3Research
 * 4Awards and honours
 * 5Death and personal life
 * 6References
 * 7External links

Early life and education[edit]
Svedberg was born in Valbo, Sweden on 30 August 1884. He was the son of Augusta Alstermark and Elias Svedberg. Growing up, Svedberg enjoyed botany and other branches of science. While in grammar school, Svedberg conducted individual laboratorial research and performed scientific demonstrations.Svedberg attended Koping School, the Orebro High School, and Gothenberg Modern School, where he passed his student examination in 1903. During the second world war, Svedberg worked out a method for synthetic rubber. Svedberg has contributed to a large number of scientific papers to Swedish and foreign journals on colliad and high molecular solutions, nuclear chemistry, and radiation biology. Svedberg married Andrea Andreen, a medical graduate in 1909, Jane Frodi, Ingrid Blomquist in 1938, and Margit Hallen. His hobbies are painting and botany. Theodor Svedberg grew up in Örebro, Sweden, as an only child to the parents of Elias Svedberg and Augusta Alstermark. Growing up Theodor grew his passion of chemistry and other sciences from his father Elias Svedberg. Theodor and his father would spend time learning about nature which drove Theodor's enthusiasm for the sciences. Theodor Svedberg was awarded the 1926 Nobel Prize for chemistry for his work in colloid chemistry, but his name is best known for the "Svedberg unit," the unit of measurement of the velocity of sedimentation and, thus, the molecular weight of proteins. For his post-secondary education, Svedberg entered a chemistry program at Uppsala University in the early mid 1900s.He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1905, his master's degree in 1907, and in 1908, he earned his Ph.D.

Career[edit]
While at Uppsala, Svedberg started his scientific career in 1905 as an assistant chemist with the university. After becoming a chemistry docent for Uppsala in 1907, he became the university's physical chemistry head in 1912. For his academic tenure, Svedberg remained with Upsala until 1949. During the early 1920s, he also temporarily taught for the University of Wisconsin. After leaving Uppsala, Svedberg led the Gustaf Werner Institute from 1949 to 1967.

Research[edit]
Svedberg's work with colloids supported the theories of Brownian motion put forward by Albert Einstein and the Polish geophysicist Marian Smoluchowski. During this work, he developed the technique of analytical ultracentrifugation, and demonstrated its utility in distinguishing pure proteins one from another. vedberg 's studies of hemoglobin demonstrated that protein molecules have a uniform size and, thus, a well-defined molecular weight. The molecular weight could not be determined, however, until the centrifugal field was 70,000 to 100,000 g. Arne Tiselius (1902-1971), who was awarded a Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1948 for his work on electrophoresis, became Svedberg 's research assistant in 1925 and began his electrophoretic studies of proteins. Svedberg had noted that light rays were bent when they passed through a concentration gradient. This refractive index was used in Tiselius' work on electrophoresis.

Awards and honours[edit]
The unit svedberg (symbol S), a unit of time amounting to 10−13 s or 100 fs, is named after him, as well as The Svedberg Laboratory in Uppsala.

Svedberg's candidacy for the Royal Society reads:"'distinguished for his work in physical and colloid chemistry and the development of the ultracentrifuge'"After becoming a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1944, Svedberg was named to the National Academy of Sciences in 1945. From the 1910s to 1920s, Svedberg was awarded the Björkénska priset three times from Uppsala University for his contributions to science in Sweden. From the Franklin Institute, Svedberg was given the Franklin Medal in 1949 for his work with the ultracentrifuge. S

Death and personal life[edit]
On 25 February 1971, Svedberg died in Kopparberg, Sweden. He was 86 years old. He was married four times and had a total of twelve children. His widow died in 2019.

Timeline[edit]
August 30, 1884 - Date of Birth

1903- Year Graduate Secondary School

1908- Svedberg married Andrea Andreen

Svedberg also earned his Ph.d

1912- he became the Uppsala's university's physical chemistry head

1920- he temporally taught at the university of Wisconsin

1926- he was award the Nobel Prize for Chemistry

1945- Svedberg was named to the National Academy of Sciences

1949- he left Uppsala University

1949 to 1967 - he led Gustaf Werner Institute

February 25, 1971 Svedberg died

References[edit]

 * 1) ^ Svedberg's Nobel Foundation biography
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 * 9) ^ Gillispie ed. 1976, pp. 158-59
 * 10) ^ Gillispie ed. 1976, p. 159
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 * 14) ^ Claesson & Pedersen 1972, p. 616
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External links[edit]

 * Theodor Svedberg on Nobelprize.org  including the Nobel Lecture, 19 May 1927 The Ultracentrifuge

Categories:


 * 1884 births
 * 1971 deaths
 * People from Gävle Municipality
 * Swedish chemists
 * Nobel laureates in Chemistry
 * Swedish Nobel laureates
 * Uppsala University alumni
 * Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
 * Foreign Members of the Royal Society
 * Foreign Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
 * Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences