Richard F. W. Bader (October 15, 1931 – January 15, 2012) was a Canadian quantum chemist, noted for his work on the atoms in molecules theory. This theory attempts to establish a physical basis for many of the working concepts of

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, such as atoms in molecules and bonding, in terms of the

topology Topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of a Mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformat ...

of the

electron density Electron density or electronic density is the measure of the probability of an electron being present at an infinitesimal element of space surrounding any given point. It is a scalar quantity depending upon three spatial variables and is typical ...

function in three-dimensional space. Alongside the eminent chemist Ronald Gillespie, he had a significant influence on inorganic chemistry education in Canada. He was born in 1931 in

Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional Administrative centre, seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a ...

, Canada. His parents were Albert Bader and Alvina Bader, who immigrated from Switzerland. His father was a butcher at Burns Pride of Canada and his mother was a housekeeper at Kitchener Hospital of Waterloo. He received a scholarship from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

that allowed him to earn a BSC in 1953. His father was his best supporter who encouraged him and taught him to "never quit" his education and his dream. He finished his master's degree in science at McMaster University in 1955. He obtained a PhD (1958) from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT). He did

postdoctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

work at MIT and the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

in 1959 and promoted to associate professor in 1962. He moved to McMaster University as associate professor in 1963, became full Professor in 1966 and was

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

Professor until 1996.Profile of Richard Bader
/ref> He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

in 1980. He was a fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada. Bader has received the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. Bader was elected a Grand Fellow of the MIRCE Academy, Exeter, UK, in 2010. Over his long career, he published 223 refereed articles and book chapters about chemistry and physics. Bader's works in recent years are cited more than 3000 times per year. Richard Bader discovered that electron density is very important in explaining the behavior of atoms in the molecules. According to his theory, there are no atomic orbitals in the molecules. This was a new idea and went against accepted theories. He fought hard for his revolutionary ideas and found it difficult to publish. In the end, the theories became more accepted and published a book ''Atoms in Molecules, a Quantum Theory'' in 1991. Bader said: 'We had a lot of deep discussions, and it started to occur to me that chemistry was in a real bind because we had this very powerful molecular structure hypothesis that came from the cauldron of experimental physics. But everyone had their own dictionary - different people had a different idea of what a bond was. We were trying to do science with everyone using their own private dictionary. I decided that when I left, I would make it my goal to find the physical basis of chemistry.' Bader helped create the widely used software program, AIMPAC, that predicts the property of molecules based on the atoms in that molecule. Bader married Pamela Kozenof, a nurse from New Zealand, in 1958. They had three daughters, Carolyn, Kimberly and Suzanne. He had one grandson, Alexander.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bader, Richard 1931 births 2012 deaths Canadian chemists Theoretical chemists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada McMaster University alumni Academic staff of McMaster University Scientists from Kitchener, Ontario