Joseph Achille Le Bel
Encyclopedia
Joseph Achille Le Bel was a French
chemist
. He is best known for his work in stereochemistry
. Le Bel was educated at the École Polytechnique
in Paris
. In 1874 he announced his theory outlining the relationship between molecular structure and optical activity. This discovery laid the foundation of the science of stereochemistry, which deals with the spatial arrangement of atoms in molecules. This hypothesis was put forward in the same year by the Dutch physical chemist Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
. Le Bel wrote Cosmologie Rationelle (Rational Cosmology) in 1929.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
. He is best known for his work in stereochemistry
Stereochemistry
Stereochemistry, a subdiscipline of chemistry, involves the study of the relative spatial arrangement of atoms within molecules. An important branch of stereochemistry is the study of chiral molecules....
. Le Bel was educated at the École Polytechnique
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In 1874 he announced his theory outlining the relationship between molecular structure and optical activity. This discovery laid the foundation of the science of stereochemistry, which deals with the spatial arrangement of atoms in molecules. This hypothesis was put forward in the same year by the Dutch physical chemist Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Jr. was a Dutch physical and organic chemist and the first winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry. He is best known for his discoveries in chemical kinetics, chemical equilibrium, osmotic pressure, and stereochemistry...
. Le Bel wrote Cosmologie Rationelle (Rational Cosmology) in 1929.
Works
- George Mann Richardson, Louis Pasteur, Jacobus van 't Hoff, Joseph Achille Le Bel, Johannes Wislicenus, The Foundations of Stereo Chemistry. Memoirs by Pasteur, van't Hoff, Lebel and Wislicenus, New York, American Book Co. 1901.
- J. Maury, Joseph Achille Le Bel, Arthur Edmunds, Laugerie Basse : The Excavations of M. J.-A. Le Bel, Le Mans, Monnoyer, 1925.
- Vie et œuvres de Joseph-Achille Le Bel, Impr. P. Dupont, 1949.