Back to the Heart of Chemistry

      Recently, the Nobel Prize committee has awarded chemists Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt, and Arieh Warshel with the Nobel Prize for chemistry by developing a method for modeling complex chemical systems. These chemists used classic computational tools to model chemical reactions vital to life on Earth such as photosynthesis. Since they can model these vital reactions, many peers are saying these chemists have joined the two entities of theoretical and experimental chemistry. These chemists also combined quantum and classic physics to determine how atoms and molecules react with one another. Not only can this new development model large molecules, but it can also observe and isolate particular atoms of a molecule. Other peers recognize this as a huge advancement in the field, as credit is given in the article: http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/10/computational-chemists-take-nobel-prize-2013
      Advancements in science such as this are so crucial because quantum chemistry is the driving force of chemistry. A quantum is the amount of energy required for an electron to move from one atomic orbital to another, and thus quantum chemistry focuses largely on electrons and interactions between them and other particles. The movement of these electrons and how they react with other molecules and atoms gives substances their properties and is the heart of chemistry. This technology is ground-breaking as it allows scientists to observe chemical reactions vital to life on Earth such as photosynthesis. If scientists hope to a better understanding of more complex chemical reactions, having a complete understanding of these basic, crucial chemical reactions would make sense. Though most of chemistry is based on experimentation, scientists depend on technology such as this to be able to observe substances on a much higher level of detail. One of the first comments of this articles was a snide comment remarking a Nobel prize for chemistry should not be given to computers, but as time progresses scientists will have to depend on technology such as this to continue making advancements in this field.