Jaroslav Heyrovský

Jaroslav Heyrovský (1890–1967) was a Czech chemist who invented polarography, an electrochemical method for analyzing substances, and received the 1959 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Masuzo Shikata: A Japanese chemist who collaborated with Heyrovský on developing the polarograph. Shikata helped Heyrovský build the first practical instrument for recording polarographic measurements.
Polarography: An electroanalytical method that measures current as applied potential changes, traditionally using a dropping mercury electrode. This is the method Heyrovský invented and developed throughout his career.
University College London: A public research university in London, founded in 1826. Heyrovský studied chemistry there under William Ramsay and Frederick Donnan.
Polarograph: An instrument that records current as a function of applied potential to produce a polarogram. Heyrovský and Shikata’s instrument made polarographic measurements practical and recordable.
Emil Votoček: A Czech chemist who led the chemistry department at the Czech Technical University in Prague. Votoček supported Heyrovský’s early electrochemical research and academic career.
Dropping mercury electrode: An electrode formed by mercury flowing from a fine capillary into successive growing and falling drops. Its renewable surface was central to the original polarographic technique.
Charles University: A public university in Prague founded in 1348. Heyrovský studied and later taught at this university, where his polarographic research took root.
Analytical chemistry: The branch of chemistry that identifies substances and determines their amounts. Polarography became a tool for qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis.
Dionýz Ilkovič: A Slovak chemist who developed quantitative theory for current at a dropping mercury electrode. Ilkovič’s equation gave Heyrovský’s method a foundation for quantitative analysis.
Polarographic wave: An S-shaped current–potential curve produced when an electroactive substance is reduced or oxidized at an electrode. The wave’s position and height let Heyrovský’s method identify and measure substances.

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