CHEMISTRY: F. Sherwood Rowland 1995 - Irvine, CA
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geobwong2k
N 33° 38.598 W 117° 50.682
11S E 421668 N 3722926
Located in the lobby of Rowland Hall is a memoral bust to F. Sherwood Rowland, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.
Waymark Code: WM7WFN
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 12/13/2009
Views: 12
F. Sherwood Rowland (1927-) was awarded the Nobel Prize is Chemistry for his contribution in the research that the continued use of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases would have detrimental effects of the earth's ozone layer. This bust was created to when the building of renamed to Rowland Hall. It is located at the entrance to Rowland Hall at the Plaza entrance. Also in the hall is a banner that was hung announcing his Nobel Prize and a poster describing his work that lead the the prize.
The text of the plaque reads:
F. SHERWOOD ROWLAND
Founding Chair
Department of Chemistry
University of California, Irvine
1995 Nobel Prize if Chemistry
For his Research on
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
Dr. Rowland's research contributed to the discovery that the continued use of CFCs would have a detrimental effects of the ozone layer. This lead to the eventual banning of the use of CFCs.
The atmosphere surrounding the earth contains small quantities of ozone - a gas with molecules consisting of three oxygen atoms (O3). If all the ozone in the atmosphere were compressed to a pressure corresponding to that at the earth's surface, the layer would be only 3 mm thick. But even though ozone occurs in such small quantities, it plays an exceptionally fundamental part in life on earth. This is because ozone, together with ordinary molecular oxygen (O2), is able to absorb the major part of the sun's ultraviolet radiation and therefore prevent this dangerous radiation from reaching the surface. Without a protective ozone layer in the atmosphere, animals and plants could not exist, at least upon land. It is therefore of the greatest importance to understand the processes that regulate the atmosphere's ozone content.
Excerpt from nobelprize.org