Herbert C. Brown opened an entirely new field of chemistry for study with his discovery of the organoboranes (an important chemical compound). Much of Brown's career has focused on the investigation of boron reagents, molecules that can temporarily link larger molecules together during a reaction. Because these boron-based molecules are highly active, they can foster chemical reactions that had previously been unachievable; they have become valuable in organic chemistry and in the manufacture of synthetics and pharmaceuticals. A professor at Purdue University, Brown received the 1979 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Herbert Charles Brown was born in London on May 22, 1912. His parents, Charles Brovarnik and Pearl Gorinstein Brovarnik, were Ukranian Jews who had emigrated to London in 1908. Brown's paternal grandparents had already settled in Chicago and anglicized their surname to Brown; when his family arrived in Chicago in 1914 they followed suit. The only son, Herbert was the second of four...