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Manfred Eigen (; 9 May 1927 – 6 February 2019) was a German biophysical chemist who won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on measuring fast chemical reactions.
Eigen's research helped solve major problems in physical chemistry and aided in the understanding of chemical processes that occur in living organisms.
In later years, he explored the biochemical roots of life and evolution. He worked to install a multidisciplinary program at the Max Planck Institute to study the underpinnings of life at the molecular level. His work was hailed for creating a new scientific and technological discipline: evolutionary biotechnology.
World War II interrupted his formal education. At age fifteen he was drafted into service in a German antiaircraft unit. He was captured by the Americans toward the end of the war. He managed to escape (he said later that escape was relatively easy), and walked hundreds of miles across defeated Germany, arriving in Göttingen in 1945. He lacked the necessary documentation for acceptance to university, but was admitted after he demonstrated his knowledge in an exam. He entered the university's first postwar class.
Eigen desired to study physics, but since returning soldiers who were enrolled previously received priority, he enrolled in Geophysics. He earned an undergraduate degree and began graduate study in natural sciences. One of his advisors was Werner Heisenberg, the noted proponent of the uncertainty principle. He received his doctorate in 1951.
Beginning in 1953 Eigen worked at the Max Planck Institute for Physical Chemistry in Göttingen, becoming its director in 1964 and joining it with the Max Planck Institute for Spectroscopy to become the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. He was an honorary professor of the Braunschweig University of Technology. From 1982 to 1993, Eigen was president of the German National Merit Foundation. Eigen was a member of the Board of Sponsors of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
In 1967, Eigen was awarded, along with Ronald George Wreyford Norrish and George Porter, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. They were cited for their studies of extremely fast chemical reactions induced in response to very short pulses of energy.
In addition, Eigen's name is linked with the theory of quasispecies, the error threshold, error catastrophe, Eigen's paradox, and the chemical hypercycle, the cyclic linkage of reaction cycles as an explanation for the self-organization of prebiotic systems, which he described with Peter Schuster in 1977.Eigen & Schuster (1977) The Hypercycle. A Principle of Natural Self-Organisation. Part A: Emergence of the Hypercycle. Naturwissenschaften Vol. 64, pp. 541–565.Eigen & Schuster (1978) The Hypercycle. A Principle of Natural Self-Organisation. Part B: The Abstract Hypercycle . Naturwissenschaften Vol. 65, pp. 7–41.Eigen & Schuster (1978) The Hypercycle. A Principle of Natural Self-Organisation. Part C: The Realistic Hypercycle . Naturwissenschaften Vol. 65, pp. 341–369.Manfred Eigen and Peter Schuster The Hypercycle: A principle of natural self-organization, 1979, Springer
Eigen founded two biotechnology companies, Evotec and Direvo.
In 1981, Eigen became a founding member of the World Cultural Council.
Eigen was a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences even though he was an atheist. He died on 6 February 2019 at the age of 91.
Education and early life
Eigen was born on 9 May 1927 in Bochum, the son of Ernst and Hedwig (Feld) Eigen, a chamber musician. As a child he developed a deep passion for music, and studied piano.
Career and research
Eigen received his Ph.D. at the University of Göttingen in 1951 under supervision of Arnold Eucken. In 1964 he presented the results of his research at a meeting of the Faraday Society in London. His findings demonstrated for the first time that it was possible to determine the rates of chemical reactions that occurred during time intervals as brief as a nanosecond.
Personal life
Eigen was married to Elfriede Müller. The union produced two children, a boy and a girl. He later married Ruthild Winkler, a longtime scientific partner.
Honours and awards
Eigen won numerous awards for his research including:
Honorary doctorates
He received 15 honorary doctorates.
Bibliography
Further reading
Obituaries
External links
Categories: 1927 Births, 2019 Deaths, Academic Staff Of The Technical University Of Braunschweig, Foreign Associates Of The National Academy Of Sciences, Foreign Members Of The Royal Society, Foreign Members Of The Russian Academy Of Sciences, Foreign Members Of The Ussr Academy Of Sciences, Founding Members Of The World Cultural Council, German Biophysicists, German Atheists, German Nobel Laureates, Max Planck Society People, Members Of The European Molecular Biology Organization, Members Of The French Academy Of Sciences, Members Of The Pontifical Academy Of Sciences, Nobel Laureates In Chemistry, People From Bochum, Scientists From The Province Of Westphalia, German Physical Chemists, Recipients Of The Pour Le Mérite, Studienstiftung Alumni, University Of Göttingen Alumni, Academic Staff Of The University Of Göttingen, Recipients Of The Austrian Decoration For Science And Art, Members Of The German Academy Of Sciences At Berlin, Luftwaffenhelfer, German Prisoners Of War In World War Ii Held By The Soviet Union, German Escapees, Escapees From Soviet Detention, Members Of The American Philosophical Society, Max Planck Institute Directors
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