Inga Fischer-Hjalmars

Inga Fischer-Hjalmars (born January 16, 1918 in Stockholm ; † September 17, 2008 in Lidingö ) was a Swedish physicist , chemist and pioneer in the field of quantum chemistry . Her research served to explain the biological, chemical and physical properties of molecules on the basis of quantum mechanics . She was a thought leader in applying quantum mechanics to chemical problems, and the first professor of theoretical physics in Sweden.

Live and act

Inga Fischer grew up in a family with an intellectual tradition and women who were very well educated for her time. Her mother Karen-Beate Wulff worked as a mathematics and geography teacher until she married the road and hydraulic engineer Otto Fischer . Inga's aunt was a chemical engineer . However, the family's financial resources were very limited. Since there was no state system to finance higher education in Sweden in the early 1930s and the education of boys was a priority, Inga had to stand back despite her interest in science. Her only way to follow her inclinations was to study pharmacy with the goal of becoming a pharmacist . She was able to finance this relatively short and comparatively inexpensive scientific education by giving private lessons in the evening for secondary school students. She completed her pharmacy studies in 1939 with a bachelor's degree .

After earning her own living and studying as a pharmacist, she began to attend evening classes in mathematics and science at Stockholm University (now Stockholm University ). During her studies, she worked on a research project on local anesthesia under the direction of Nils Löfgren . The research group synthesized a large number of molecules with a similar chemical structure and evaluated their local anesthetic effects. Participation in the project that led to the development of the local anesthetic xylocaine (also known as lidocaine ) was a good starting point for Inga Fischer's research career. In 1944 she graduated with a Masters in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

She accepted an assistantship with Hans von Euler-Chelpin , who was a private lecturer in physical chemistry at Stockholm University. As a result, she decided to continue studying physical chemistry and deepen her knowledge. During this time she also began to study theoretical physics and had an assistant position with Oskar Klein , who was then a professor at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Stockholm University. Klein, one of the leading theoretical physicists of his time and one of the pioneers of quantum mechanics, became an important contact person for Inga Fischer.

“My interest in theoretical physics was deepened. I wanted to apply quantum mechanics to the molecules and chemical problems that I previously studied using experimental chemical methods. I wanted to know more about molecules than could be learned from chemistry. "

“Mitt intresse för den teoretiska fysiken fördjupades. Jag ville tillämpa kvantmekaniken på de molekyler och kemiska frågeställningar som jag tidigare studerat med experimentalella kemiska metoder. Jag ville veta mer om molekyler än vad man lärde sig av kemin. "

- Inga Fischer-Hjalmars : Journal of Chemical Education

In the spring of 1948 Inga Fischer made her first trip outside Scandinavia when Klein sent her to a conference in Paris to find someone who could teach her more about molecular quantum mechanics and quantum chemistry. There she met Linus Pauling , Robert Mulliken and Charles Coulson , professor of theoretical physics at King's College London , where she spent the winter of 1948/49 doing research. In 1949 she graduated from the Philosophy licentiat in mechanics and in 1950 in chemistry.

In 1952 she received her PhD from Stockholm University. Her work was entitled Studies of the hydrogen bond and the ortho-effect. In the same year she married Stig Hjalmars (later professor of mechanics at the Royal Technical University ).

In 1963 she replaced Oskar Klein as professor of theoretical physics at Stockholm University and became Sweden's first female professor in this subject. His eulogy was written by her. In 1966, she gave the laudation for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Robert Mulliken, Kenichi Fukui and Roald Hoffmann . She published an explanation of the Hückel method on the basis of symmetrically orthogonalized atomic orbitals .

Awards and memberships

Fischer-Hjalmars was a member of numerous academies and scientific societies in Sweden and abroad, including the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science , the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1978), the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and the World Academy of Art and Sciences . She was also a member of the standing committee on the free movement of scientists of the International Science Council . In 1982 she became Chair of the Standing Committee on Freedom in the Conduct of Science (SCFCS). In 1976 she received the Norblad Ekstrand Medal from the Swedish Chemical Society .

In addition to her scientific work, she campaigned for the freedom of oppositional and Jewish scientists in the Soviet Union. For this commitment she was honored with the Human Rights of Scientists Award of the New York Academy of Sciences in 1990 .

Publications

• Sixth International Conference on Collective Phenomena: Reports from the Moscow Refusnik Seminar . (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 452).
• Micropolar Phenomena in Ordered Structures . In: Olof Brulin (Ed.): Mechanics of Micropolar Media. World Scientific, 1982, ISBN 978-9-971-95002-6 . P. 1.
• Orbital Basis of Zero Differential Overlap . In: Oktay Sinanoğlu : Modern Quantum Chemistry: Orbitals. Academic Press, 1965. p. 185.

literature

• Derek Richter: Women scientists. Macmillan, 1982, ISBN 978-0-333-32468-4 . P. 118.
• Adam Johannes Johansson: Early contributions to theoretical chemistry: Inga Fischer-Hjalmars, a founder of the Swedish school. In: Molecular Physics. 115, 2016, p. 2025, doi : 10.1080 / 00268976.2016.1255801 .

Web links

• http://kemisamfundet.se/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IFH_J_Chem_Educ_2012_89_1274.pdf
• http://www.quantum-chemistry-history.com/Fi_Hjal1.htm

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Q. Ashton Acton: Issues in Education by Subject, Profession, and Vocation . Scholarly Editions 2013 Edition, ISBN 978-1-4901-0922-0 , p. 59. Retrieved April 10, 2018
2. ^ ^{A b c d e f g h i} Adam Johannes Johansson: Inga Fischer-Hjalmars (1918–2008): Swedish Pharmacist, Humanist, and Pioneer Quantum Chemist. In: Journal of Chemical Education. 89, 2012, p. 1274, doi : 10.1021 / ed300024g .
3. ^ ^{A b} International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science: Obituary Inga Fischer-Hjalmars 1918-2008 .
4. ↑ Gösta Ekspong: The Oskar Klein Memorial Lectures. World Scientific, 1991, ISBN 978-9-810-20353-5 , p. 1.
5. ^ World Scientific: Chemistry, 1963-1970. World Scientific, 1999, ISBN 978-9-810-23408-9 , p. 127.
6. ^ Frank Northen Magill: The Nobel Prize Winners: 1969-1989. Salem Press, 1990, ISBN 978-0-893-56564-0 .
7. ↑ Karl Jug: Two hundred years of development of theoretical chemistry in German-speaking countries. Springer-Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-662-43365-2 . P. 137.
8. ↑ International Council of Scientific Unions: Science international. International Council of Scientific Unions, 1987.
9. ↑ Lista mottagare. Svenska Kemisamfundet, accessed on September 7, 2019 .