The travelling exhibition to 50th anniversary of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry awarded to Jaroslav Heyrovský will introduce, by means of photographs, films, literary documents and other exhibits (e.g. examples of development of polarographic instruments), the life story of the laureate.
Each story has its beginning and end. The beginning of this story could be, e.g., as follows:
".....On 10th February 1922 in one of the laboratories of Charles University in Prague was for the first time recorded polarization curve with dropping mercury electrode, and in the same year appeared in "Chemické listy" the communication "Electrolysis with dropping mercury electrode". The first curves of dependence of electrolytic current on voltage applied to the electrodes were recorded manually, in 1924 was constructed the instrument for automatic photographic recording of those curves. The instrument designed for recording polarization curves was called "polarograph" and from there the new method got the name "polarography".
And the end?
"..... to the number of appreciations which Jaroslav Heyrovský received for his work was added in the year 1959 the highest international honor which a scientist can achieve. Academician Heyrovský as the first citizen of Czechoslovakia was awarded Nobel Prize for the discovery and development of polarographic method of analysis."
The aim of the exhibition is to introduce to the visitors the personality of Jaroslav Heyrovský (20.12.1890 - 27.3.1967), the scientist who dedicated his life to chemistry. After discovery of polarography he founded at Charles University a polarographic school, and later, at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, he directed the Polarographic Institute. In that way Czechoslovakia became an international center for research in the new method which found wide applications in fields as medicine, metallurgy, heavy chemistry, food chemistry, environmental protection, etc.
Guarantee of the exhibition is the J.Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., the exhibited objects belong to its archives.
Authors of the exhibition: Květa Stejskalová, PhD, Michael Heyrovský, PhD († 2017) , and Professor Robert Kalvoda, DrSc. († 2011).
For the poster of the exhibition - click here.
