Gilbert N Lewis

Gilbert N. Lewis

• educated at home until age 14
• attended Harvard University
• later taught at Harvard
• bachelors and masters for chemistry
• got married in 1912 and had 3 kids
• known for his witty and insightful comments

• he depicted atoms a concentric series of cubes with electrons at each corner while trying to explain valence electrons to his students
• this cubic atom explained the 8 groups of the periodic table
• represented his idea that chemical bonds are formed from electron transference

• October 23, 1875 - March 23, 1946
• born in Weymouth, Massachussetts
• spent his youth in Lincoln, Nebraska

The Lewis Dot Diagrams

• shows sharing of electrons when atoms are bonded

• 1916 - discovered covalent bonding
• "The Atom and the Molecule"
• made model showing the sharing of electrons between 2 bonded atoms
• 1923 - theory of acids of bases
• wrote approx. 26 papers
• created what is now known as the Lewis acid-base definitions
• 1926 - introduced photon
• "The Anatomy of Science"
• described electromagnetic radiation and pressure of light

Gilbert Newton Lewis Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved

November 18, 2015, from http://

biography.yourdictionary.com/gilbert-newton-lewis

Gilbert N. Lewis | American chemist. (n.d.). Retrieved

November 18, 2015, from http://

www.britannica.com/biography/Gilbert-N-Lewis

Gilbert Newton Lewis | Chemical Heritage Foundation.

(n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2015, from http://

www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/

chemistry-in-history/themes/molecular-synthesis-

structure-and-bonding/lewis.aspx

• received many prestigious science awards
• nominated for many Nobel prizes
• his death prevented him from finally receiving the award because the Nobel prize could not be presented after death
• Linus Pauling, Harold Urey, Melvin Calvin, William Giauque, who Lewis taught, all received a Nobel Prize in chemistry

Angelique Francis p.2