CAMBRIDGE MARKS 300 YEARS OF CHEMISTRY

FEW UNIVERSITIES IN THE WORLD CAN BOAST A 3 0 0 - year history of chemistry especially one that reflects, in many ways, the history of chemistry itself over the past three centuries. But Cambridge University in England can. Although chemistry did not become formally established there until 1702, the roots of the subject at the university can be traced back even further—to the 16th and 17th centuries when alchemy was secretly practiced there and lessons were offered on the preparation of chemical prescriptions for the treatment of venereal and other diseases. For two centuries after 1702, work at the university continued on the production of new medical prescriptions and on other early chemistry topics, such as gunpowder. Chemistry at Cambridge, however, has been most productive and successful over the past 100 years. For example, since 1901—the year of the first Nobel Prizes—17 winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry have been students or teachers ...