Günter Klar, Hamberug, Germany, and Armin Reller, Winterthur, Schwitzerland, have been awarded the Literature Prize of the German Chemical Industry Fund (Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, FCI) for their book Das Werden der Chemie – Phänomene und Konzepte (The Becoming of Chemistry – Phenomena and Concepts). The authors trace the development of chemistry from its beginnings to modern science. For this outstanding work, the FCI is awarding them this year’s literature prize, which is endowed with 10,000 euros.
The comprehensive work is very attractively illustrated – unusual photos, catchy formulas, and schematic representations make reading a pleasure. According to the FCI, the book contributes significantly to the positive image of chemistry in society. The book is aimed at all those interested in chemistry, as well as experts.
Günter Klar says: “Our original intention was to design the basic lecture ‘Introduction to Chemistry’ in such a way that it focused less on chemical substances and more on the phenomena and the concepts derived from them.” Armin Reller adds: “The idea stuck with us, and over the last 25 years, with some interruptions, it eventually developed into our book in its present form.”
Günter Klar, born in 1935 in Heidelberg, Germany, studied chemistry at the University of Heidelberg and completed his Ph.D. under Georg Wittig. In 1974, he obtained his habilitation at the University of Hamburg. From 1977 to 2001, he was a professor of inorganic chemistry at the University of Hamburg.
Armin Reller, born in 1952 in Winterthur, Switzerland, studied chemistry at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and completed his Ph.D. there in 1981. After a postdoctoral stay at the University of Cambridge, UK, he returned to Zurich, where he obtained his habilitation in 1992. That same year, he became a professor of Inorganic and Applied Chemistry at the University of Hamburg. In 1999, he moved to the University of Augsburg, initially holding the Chair of Solid-State Chemistry at the Institute of Physics. In 2010, he took over the newly established Chair of Resource Strategy. Reller has been professor emeritus since 2019, and in the same year, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for his lifetime achievements in research and teaching.
- Das Werden der Chemie – Phänomene und Konzepte (in German),
Günter Klar and Armin Reller,
Wiley-VCH 2023.
ISBN 978-3-527-35254-8 - Verband der Chemischen Industrie (VCI), Frankfurt, Germany
Also of Interest
Authors of book on the chemistry of renewables honored by German Chemical Industry Fund (FCI)
Book on the history of German chemical societies during the National Socialist dictatorship honored
Professor Gantefoer honored by the Chemical Industry Fund (FCI) for his book on nanotechnology
- Literary Prize: Reinhard Zellner,
ChemViews Mag. 2012.
R. Zellner, Germany, was awarded the VCI-Fonds literary prize for his book on the chemistry of the atmosphere, climate, and clouds - Literary Prize: D. Fischer-Henningsen,
ChemViews Mag. 2010.
The 2010 literary prize is awarded to Doris Fischer-Henningsen, Editor-in-Chief of Chemie in Unserer Zeit
