30. 8. 1884 - 1971
Theodor Svedberg se narodil 30. srpna 1884 ve švédské obci Fleräng. Theodor Svedberg postupně studoval na škole v Köpingu, střední školu v Örebro a Gothengurgskou moderní školu (ukončil ji v roce 1903). Od ledna 1904 studoval na univerzitě v Uppsale. V roce 1905 zde získal bakalářský titul a v roce 1908 doktorát filozofie.
V roce 1905 přijal Svedberg místo asistenta v Chemickém institutu v Uppsale. O dva roky později začal na uppsalské univerzitě přednášet fyzikální chemii. V roce 1912 byl Theodor Svedberg zvolen profesorem fyzikální chemie na univerzitě v Uppsale. Později zde byl ředitelem Institutu jaderné chemie Gustava Wernera.
Svedberg se zaměřil především na zkoumání koloidů a makromolekulárních sloučenin. Ve své disertační práci Studien zur Lehre von den kolloiden Lösungen (1908) vysvětlil nový způsob získávání koloidních částic a podal jasné důkazy platnosti Brownova pohybu (základ teorie položil Einstein a von Smoluchowski). Tím také dokázal existenci molekul. V další vědecké práci se Theodor Svedberg věnoval zkoumání fyzikálních vlastností koloidů (difůze, absorbce světla, sedimentace). Pro výzkumy sedimentace mu posloužila jím sestrojená ultracentrifuga, ve které lze zkoumat v roztoku obsažené velké molekuly (např. bílkoviny, karbohydráty a složité polymery).
In
the ultracentrifuge the large molecules are put under the influence of
centrifugal forces up to about 106 gravity. The findings were
related to molecular size and shape. He showed that the molecules of certain
pure proteins are all of one size and demonstrated the use of the
ultracentrifuge to show the presence of contaminants. Later, he turned his
attention to the problems of nuclear chemistry and radiation biology. He has
also studied photographic processing, and assisted in photographing the famous
Codex argenteus in colour, which made this source of the Gothic
language available for research. During the Second World War he worked out a
method for making synthetic rubber.
Svedberg has contributed a large number of scientific papers to Swedish and
foreign journals on colloid and high-molecular solutions, nuclear chemistry
and radiation biology.
Among his publications the following books should be mentioned: Die
Methoden zur Herstellung kolloider Lösungen anorganischer Stoffe (1909), Die
Existenz der Moleküle (1912), Colloid Chemistry (1914; sec. enl.
ed. with A.
Tiselius 1928 ), The Ultracentrifuge (with K.O. Pedersen 1940; also
in German). He has written several excellent popular books in Swedish, namely Materien
(1912; sec. ed. 1919; also German ed. 1914), Arbetets dekadens (1915,
1920; German ed. 1923) and Forskning och Industri (1918).
He has been awarded the John Ericsson Medal (1942), the Berzelius Medal
(1944), and the Medal of the Franklin Institute (1949). For his work on the
disperse systems he received the Nobel Prize in 1926.
To extend his knowledge Svedberg has visited numerous laboratories in foreign
countries and cities: Germany (1908), Holland and France (1912), Berlin
(1913), Vienna (1916), London and Paris (1920), England and Denmark (1922),
the United States and Canada (1922-1923).
He has been awarded honorary doctor's degrees in science and medicine, and,
amongst many other academies and learned societies, he is a member of the Swedish
Academy of Sciences, the Halle Academy, The Chemical Society (London), the
Indian Academy of Science, the American Philosophical Society (Philadelphia),
the New York Academy of
Sciences, the Royal
Society (London) and the National
Academy of Science (Washington).
Svedberg has married four times: in 1909, Andrea Andreen, a medical graduate;
in 1916, Jane Frodi; Ingrid Blomquist in 1938; and in 1948, Margit Hallén,
M.A. He has twelve children, six sons and six daughters.
His hobbies are painting and botany.
Theodor (The) Svedberg died in 1971.
