Gilbert N. Lewis

Gilbert N. Lewis ForMemRS^[1] (October 23^[2] or October 25, 1875 – March 23, 1946)^[1][3] was an American physical chemist.

Lewis made many important discoveries, especially about how electrons and atoms form molecules. His 1916 paper The Atom and the Molecule was the first description of what is now called covalent bonds.^[4] He came up with a way to draw molecules, now called Lewis structures. He defined what is now called the Lewis acid-base theory, which described acids and bases in terms of electron pairs. Lewis also came up with the name for the photon.

Lewis was also a successful teacher of chemistry. He was head of the chemistry department at the University of California, Berkeley, and taught many important chemists including the winners of 14 Nobel Prizes.