Hans Fischer was a medically-minded chemist who won the Nobel Prize for chemistry for his pioneering investigations into the chemical structure of pyrroles, molecular compounds which give the specific color to many important biological substances, including blood, bile, and the leaves of plants. Building on the foundations laid by his predecessors and colleagues, many of them from Fischer's homeland of Germany, he spearheaded a series of investigations lasting more than two decades that led to the synthesis of hemoglobin, bilirubin, and (more than 25 years after his death) chlorophyll. During the course of his investigations, Fischer developed and oversaw an extremely productive microanalytical approach to studying chemical compounds, especially the pigments that occur in nature. By overseeing specific laboratory procedures conducted simultaneously by several labs, Fischer was able to conduct more than 60,000 microanalyses of chemical substances. In 1930, he won the Nobel Prize, primarily for his work in elucidating the...