The German-born Canadian chemist/physicist Gerhard Herzberg (1904-1999) was famous for his spectral analysis of molecules and atoms. He was one of only three Canadians to win a Nobel Prize.

Born in Hamburg, Germany, on Christmas Day 1904, he was the younger son of Albin and Ella Herzberg. Gerhard early showed an interest in science. However, his life was disrupted at the age of 10 when his father died, and his mother was later forced to emigrate alone to the United States to work as a housekeeper.

He originally had hoped to become an astronomer but was told by the director of a German observatory that there was no point in going into the field unless he had a private income. So he went on to take a course in engineering physics, supported in part by a scholarship offered by a wealthy industrialist.

His genius showed early, and by the...