1917-1979

American Chemist

Robert Woodward was a Nobel Prize-winning chemist who developed numerous techniques for producing complex chemical compounds in the laboratory. Many of the methods he developed are used today to produce compounds that were once only obtainable from living organisms.

Woodward was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1917. His childhood interest in science prompted his mother to give him a chemistry set. By the time he was in high school, he was conducting experiments in his home that were similar to those performed in college chemistry classes. Woodward began attending college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when he was only sixteen. He rarely went to class, however, usually only showing up for final exams. Instead, he spent his time in the school's chemistry laboratories and the library. He earned his degree in three years and a doctorate in chemistry in one year...