The Dynamics of Discovery. Molecular Rearrangements, the Chemical Counter-Revolution of the 1870s

Professor Jerome A. Berson

Yale University, New Haven CT

What is a discovery?  Who should get credit for it?  Why does it matter who does?  These questions of scientific methodology will be explored in the context of the discovery of the first molecular rearrangements.  The significance of these developments for the 19th century structural revolution in organic chemistry as well as for our present day researches will be major themes of the lecture.