Arne Tiselius was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his research in electrophoresis (the movement of molecules based on their electric charge and their size) and for his investigations into adsorption, the inclination of certain molecules to cling to particular substances. Although the phenomenon of electrophoresis had been identified decades earlier, it did not become a useful technique for analyzing chemical compounds until Tiselius developed methods which delivered accurate results.

Arne Wilhelm Kaurin Tiselius was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on August 10, 1902, to Hans Abraham J. Tiselius, who was employed by an insurance company, and Rosa Kaurin Tiselius, the daughter of a Norwegian clergyman. Upon the death of Tiselius's father in 1906, Rosa relocated the family to Göteborg, Sweden, where Hans's family lived. Entering the gymnasium at Göteborg, Tiselius came under the tutelage of a chemistry and biology teacher who actively supported his student's interest...