Odd Hassel

About Odd Hassel

Who is it?: Chemist
Birth Day: May 17, 1897
Birth Place: Kristiania, Norway, Norwegian
Died On: 11 May 1981(1981-05-11) (aged 83)\nOslo, Norway
Birth Sign: Gemini
Alma mater: University of Oslo
Awards: Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1969)
Fields: Physical chemistry
Institutions: University of Oslo

Odd Hassel Net Worth

Odd Hassel was born on May 17, 1897 in Kristiania, Norway, Norwegian, is Chemist. Odd Hassel was a Norwegian chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with a British chemist, Derek H. R. Barton in 1969 for his work on the fundamentals of ‘Conformational Analysis’ which is the study of the three-dimensional geometric structure of molecules. Both of them had worked independently of each other on the subject but had arrived at a similar conclusion. Hassel’s work was based upon the fact that carbon is a common component of all organisms in nature which are composed of a large number of chemical compounds. The structures of these carbon compounds are determined in the way they are bound together with the help of energy bonds which are not very rigid. As a result molecules can have different conformations which have an effect on how they react with other substances. Hassel is the only Norwegian to have won a Nobel Prize for work done solely in Norway. The other scientists born in Norway such as Lars Onsager, who received the prize in chemistry, and Ivar Giaever, who received the prize in physics, were American citizens who were awarded the prize for their work in America. Hassel lived and worked in Norway for most of his life.
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💰 Net worth: Under Review

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Biography/Timeline

1848

Hassel was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. His parents were Ernst Hassel (1848–1905), a gynaecologist, and Mathilde Klaveness (1860–1955). In 1915, he entered the University of Oslo where he studied mathematics, physics and chemistry, and graduated in 1920. After taking a year off from studying, he went to Munich, Germany to work in the laboratory of Professor Kasimir Fajans. His work there led to the detection of absorption indicators. After moving to Berlin, he worked at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, where he began to do research on X-ray crystallography. He furthered his research with a Rockefeller Fellowship, obtained with the help of Fritz Haber. In 1924, he obtained his PhD from Humboldt University of Berlin, before moving to his alma mater, the University of Oslo, where he worked from 1925 through 1964. He became a professor in 1934.

1930

Hassel originally focused on inorganic chemistry, but beginning in 1930 his work concentrated on problems connected with molecular structure, particularly the structure of cyclohexane and its derivatives. He introduced the Norwegian scientific community to the concepts of the electric dipole moments and electron diffraction. The work for which he is best known established the three-dimensionality of molecular geometry. He focused his research on ring-shaped carbon molecules, which he suspected filled three dimensions instead of two, the Common belief of the time. By using the number of bonds between the carbon and hydrogen atoms, Hassel demonstrated the impossibility of the molecules existing on only one plane. This discovery led to him being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 1969.

1943

His work was interrupted in October, 1943 when he and other university staff members were arrested by the Nasjonal Samling and handed over to the occupation authorities. He spent time in several detention camps, until he was released in November, 1944.

1950

Hassel held honorary degrees from the University of Copenhagen (1950) and University of Stockholm (1960). An annual lecture named in his honor is given at the University of Oslo.

1960

He was made a Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1960.

1964

He received the Guldberg-Waage Medal (Guldberg-Waage Medal) from the Norwegian Chemical Society and the Gunnerus Medal from the Royal Norwegian Society of Science and Letters, both in 1964.

1969

Hassel was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1969