The centenary of the birth of Louis Hammett

Abstract

Louis Plack Hammett was born on 7th April 1894. He is commonly regarded as one of the founding fathers of physical organic chemistry. This is partly by virtue of his original contributions to quantitative structure-reactivity relationships (the Hammett equation) and to the study of solutions of organic compounds in concentrated acids, particularly strong acids (the Hammett acidity function). He also exerted a major influence, however, through his book Physical Organic Chemistry, published in 1940, with a new edition in 1970. © 1995 IUPAC