Theodor Svedberg

Svedberg, Theodor 

Born Aug. 30, 1884, in Valbo; died Feb. 26, 1971, in Kopparberg. Swedish physical chemist. Member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Svedberg graduated in 1907 from the University of Uppsala, where he later worked. In 1949 he became director of the Gus-taf Wenners Institute for Nuclear Chemistry. His principal works are devoted to colloid chemistry, electrophoresis, and the determination of molecular size and shape. In 1906, Svedberg experimentally confirmed the theory of Brownian motion, formulated by A. Einstein and R. Smoluchowski. He developed a method of ultracentrifugation to separate colloidal particles from solution and designed the first ultracentrifuge. He also made substantial contributions to the physical chemistry of proteins. Svedberg was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1926.

WORKS

Die Existenz der Molekiile. Leipzig, 1912.
Colloid Chemistry. New York, 1924.

REFERENCCE

The Svedberg, 1884–1944. [Uppsala, 1944.]