chemistry

Jan Boldingh

Jan Boldingh is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Jan Boldingh rather than just read about it. In short: Jan Boldingh (3 January 1915, Buitenzorg – 4 August 2003, Schiedam) was a Dutch chemist. Boldingh studied chemistry at Utrecht University.

Key takeaways

Jan Boldingh belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Jan Boldingh to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Jan Boldingh from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Jan Boldingh (3 January 1915, Buitenzorg – 4 August 2003, Schiedam) was a Dutch chemist. Boldingh studied chemistry at Utrecht University. He received a PhD in 1942 for his thesis 'Synthetische onderzoekingen over het chromofore systeem van lumi-auxonstudies' on auxines in the group of Fritz Kögl. He worked for a short period at the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium in Eindhoven, but moved to Unilever in 1944 (1944: research department of Van den Bergh & Jurgens in Rotterdam; 1946: research department in Zwijndrecht; 1955: Unilever Research Laboratory in Vlaardingen). Between 1952 and 1967, Boldingh and H.A. Boekenoogen lead the laboratory together, but after 1967 Boldingh lead the laboratory by himself until his retirement in 1980. From 1964 on, Boldingh served simultaneously as a professor Organic Chemistry at Utrecht University. Boldingh introduced a number of new analytic techniques (such as (gas-)chromatography, the coupling of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, NMR and other forms of spectroscopy) in order to study complex problems in an industrial context. Boldingh was very interested in nutrition research, and especially the role of fats in nutrition. He stimulated the studies by David A. van Dorp concerning the role of unsaturated fatty acids that served as a precursor to prostaglandins (especially arachidonic acid and prostaglandin E2), in which the Unilever Laboratory collaborated intensively with Sune K. Bergström, who would receive a Nobel prize in 1982 for his studies in this field. In 1964 Boldingh became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Awards 1968: Wilhelm-Normann Medal of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Fettwissenschaft (DGF)

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jan Boldingh

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jan Boldingh claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Jan Boldingh before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Jan Boldingh ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Jan Boldingh

In research: Jan Boldingh appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Jan Boldingh in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Jan Boldingh is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1915 births, 2003 deaths, 20th-century Dutch chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jan Boldingh outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Jan Boldingh in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Jan Boldingh means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Jan Boldingh out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jan Boldingh in simple terms?

Jan Boldingh (3 January 1915, Buitenzorg – 4 August 2003, Schiedam) was a Dutch chemist. Boldingh studied chemistry at Utrecht University.

Why does Jan Boldingh matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Jan Boldingh?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Jan Boldingh.