Tribute to Einar Lindholm

✍ Scribed by Paul Kebarle

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 53 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1076-5174
• DOI: 10.1002/oms.1210280405

✦ Synopsis

Tribute to Einar Lindholrn

I was fortunate to meet Einar Lindholm as long ago as 1966. This was at an Ion-Molecule Reactions Symposium of the American Chemical Society in New York. At that time Einar was already very well known to mass spectrometrists. His papers describing the experiments with the first tandem mass spectrometer had started appearing in 1954 and the importance of the technique and the results, to charge exchange, breakdown graphs and the theory of mass spectra were widely recognized and appreciated. Therefore, I awaited with very considerable curiosity the appearance of this scientist who was to be the first speaker. I was instantly taken by Einar's personality-rather serious, formal and reserved, yet given to sudden gentle humor. The impression that Einar left on me was deep and I remained always interested in him as a scientist and even more as a person. Unfortunately, we did not meet very often and did not get close but for me Einar Lindholm represented the outstanding scientist constantly striving for true knowledge, a person of highest integrity. The last time I met Einar he was visiting our Chemistry Department. He had returned to his first interests, the energy levels of molecular orbitals and particularly the HOMO and LUMO. During his visit I was able to reassure him that the electron affinity of hexafluorobenzene is positive and is very close to 0.6 eV. That was the value that he had obtained with his HAM method and that had been held against him since earlier experimental measurements had predicted a negative (-0.42 ev) value. It was really a very great joy for me, quite apart from the science aspect, to have done something that gave Einar so much pleasure.