13 May - Ronald Ross birth anniversary

 

Ronald Ross was born on 13May 1857, and he passed away on 16 September 1932. He was a British medical doctor who is best known for his groundbreaking work on the transmission of malaria. He was born in Almora, India, which was then part of British India. Ross joined the Indian Medical Service in 1881 and served in various locations, including India, Egypt, and West Africa.

Ross became interested in the transmission of malaria while serving in India. At the time, it was known that mosquitoes were somehow involved in the spread of the disease, but the exact mechanism was not understood. In 1897, Ross made a significant breakthrough when he discovered that malaria parasites were transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes. He made this discovery while working in Secunderabad, India, by observing the life cycle of the malaria parasite in the stomachs of mosquitoes.

Ross's discovery had far-reaching implications for the understanding and control of malaria. It provided crucial insights into the disease's transmission, leading to more effective methods for its prevention and control. For his discovery, Ross was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1902, becoming the first British Nobel laureate in medicine.

11 May - Odd Hassel Norwegian chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1969

 

Odd Hassel (17 May 1897 – 11 May 1981) was a Norwegian chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1969 for his ground-breaking research on the structure of molecules

After completing his education, he worked as a research assistant at the University of Oslo. He later became an associate professor of physical chemistry at the same institution in 1925. In the 1930s, he began his ground-breaking research on the three-dimensional structure of molecules, which would later earn him the Nobel Prize.

His research involved the use of X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of organic molecules. He discovered that molecules with non-planar structures are more stable than those with planar structures. This discovery became known as the “Hassel Effect” and was a major breakthrough in the field of chemistry.

Hassel also made significant contributions to the study of dipole moments in molecules. His work led to the development of the Hassel-Bjerrum theory, which explains the relationship between the dipole moment of a molecule and its chemical structure.

He continued to work as a professor of physical chemistry at the University of Oslo until his retirement in 1964. He remained active in the scientific community, however, and continued to publish research papers throughout his lifetime.

He died on 11 May 1981, in Oslo, Norway.