Ahmed Zewail -

Who Was He? Ahmed Hassan Zewail (February 26, 1946 – August 2, 2016) was an Egyptian-American chemist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century for his revolutionary work in observing chemical reactions as they actually happen.

He passed away in 2016 at age 70 after a battle with cancer. His legacy lives on in the way chemistry is taught and researched—turning a once-invisible, instantaneous event into a slow-motion film of atoms dancing. "The importance of knowledge and discovery cannot be overemphasized. The future belongs to those who prepare for it through science and innovation." — Ahmed Zewail ahmed zewail

In 1999, he was awarded the in solitary honor (no co-recipients) for his development of "femtospectroscopy" and the study of transition states in chemical reactions at the timescale of femtoseconds. The Core Discovery: Femtochemistry Before Zewail, scientists could only study the starting materials and final products of a chemical reaction. The actual moment when bonds break and form—the transition state —was a theoretical "black box." Who Was He