The Nobel Prize for Chemistry
Today
Alfred Nobel, an inventor who amassed a fortune for his work with explosives, left a portion of his estate to fund annual prizes for individuals whose work most benefited humanity. The Nobel Prize has been awarded since 1901.

Ahmed Zewail was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He received the award for his studies of the transition states of chemical reactions on the time scale at which atoms vibrate. This time scale is made up of femtoseconds. This area of physical chemistry is known as femtochemistry.

Illustration from:
A press release on the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1999 from The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.