TABLE OF CONTENTS Several books and articles discuss historical aspects of stereochemistry as related to physical organic chemistry, particularly conformational analysis. The books by the Tarbells and by Brock naturally contain material on stereochemistry in both its classical and modern aspects. Schofield's unpublished volume [333] deals in detail with stereochemical aspects of the S N1 and S N2 mechanisms. The history of stereochemistry by O. B. Ramsay [334] in the series Nobel Prize Topics in Chemistry presents a detailed account of the development of many topics in stereochemistry, as well as reprinting key papers by Hassel, Barton, Prelog, and Cornforth, with biographical notes on the authors. There is also a very useful chronology of events and publications in the history of stereochemistry, a glossary of stereochemical terms, and a piece on stereochemical satire.
The Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1969 was awarded jointly to Odd Hassel (1897 1981) of the University of Oslo and Derek H. R. Barton (1918 1998) [335] , [336] of Imperial College, London for developing and applying the principles of conformation in chemistry. Hassel's whole career was spent at Oslo [337] and his contribution was the use of physical techniques in the study of the structures of cyclohexane and its derivatives. The work was done from 1930 onwards, but was not well known until after World War II. Barton became acquainted with Hassel's work and in 1949 began to apply the results to interpreting features of the chemistry of steroids, which had hitherto...
