Nikolai Nikolayevich Semyonov, great physicist, chemist and mathematician

April 15, 1896, in Saratov (Russian Empire) – September 25, 1986, in Moscow (now Russia)

He studied physics, chemistry, and mathematics at Saint Petersburg University and, in 1920, began directing the Laboratory of Electronic Phenomena at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute.

Since 1931, he held the post of director of the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and since 1943, he has been a professor at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of Moscow University.

Initially interested in the study of molecular physics and electronic phenomena, in 1922, together with Piotr Kapitsa, he discovered a method to measure the magnetic field of an atomic nucleus, which would later be improved by Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach.

In 1925, together with Yákov Frenkel, he studied the kinetics of the condensation and adsorption of vapors. In 1927, he studied the ionization of gases, as well as the chemistry of the electron and, a year later, together with Valdímir Fok, he created the theory of the broken discharge of dielectrics.

Later he dedicated himself to chemical kinetics with great contributions throughout his career and to the field of chemical chain reactions.

He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1956 together with the English chemist Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, for their research on the mechanism of chemical reactions.

Among his major publications are "Chemical Kinetic and Chain Reactions" (1934) and "Some Problems of Chemical Kinetics and Reactivity" (1954).

He was a member of various chemical societies in various countries and doctor honoris causa from different universities. In addition, he received five badges of the Order of Lenin, the Red Badge for Work and the Lomonosov Gold Medal (1969).

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