Editing Manfred Eigen (section)

{{Short description|German biophysical chemist (1927–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Manfred Eigen
| image             = Eigen,Manfred 1996 Göttingen.jpg
| image_size        = 220px
| caption           = Manfred Eigen, Göttingen 1996
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1927|05|09|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Bochum]], [[Weimar Republic|Germany]]
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2019|02|06|1927|05|09|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[Göttingen]], Germany
| residence         =
| nationality       = [[Germany|German]]
| alma_mater        = [[University of Göttingen]]
| thesis_title      = Ermittlung der molekularen Struktur reiner Flüssigkeiten und Lösungen aus thermischen und kalorischen Eigenschaften
| thesis_url        = http://worldcat.org/oclc/73966255
| thesis_year       = 1951
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Arnold Eucken]]<ref name=mathgene>{{MathGenealogy|id=57934}}</ref>
| doctoral_students = [[Geoffrey W. Hoffmann|Geoffrey Hoffmann]]
| known_for         = {{Plainlist|
*[[Flash photolysis]]
*[[Temperature jump|Temperature jump method]]
*[[Hypercycle (chemistry)|Hypercycle]]
*[[Quasispecies model]]
*[[Diffusion-limited enzyme]]
*[[Hydronium#Solvation|Eigen cation]]
*[[Associative substitution#Eigen-Wilkins mechanism|Eigen-Wilkins mechanism]]
*[[Error threshold (evolution)#Eigen's Paradox|Eigen paradox]]}}
| website           = {{URL|http://www.mpibpc.mpg.de/14858258/Manfred_Eigen|Official listing at Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry }}
| field             = [[Biophysical chemistry]]
| work_institutions = {{Plainlist|
* [[Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry]]
* [[Braunschweig University of Technology]]}}
| prizes            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Otto Hahn Prize]] (1962)
* [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] (1967)<ref name=nobel/>
* [[Fellow of the Royal Society|ForMemRS]] (1973)<ref name=formemrs>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117030402/https://royalsociety.org/people/manfred-eigen-11384/|archive-date=17 November 2015|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/manfred-eigen-11384/|title=Professor Manfred Eigen ForMemRS|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|location=London}}</ref>}} 
}}

[[File:Queen Beatrix meets Nobel Laureates in 1983c.jpg|upright=1.35|thumb|[[Beatrix of the Netherlands|Dutch Queen Beatrix]] meets five Nobel prize winners (1983): [[Paul Berg]], [[Christian de Duve]], [[Steven Weinberg]], Manfred Eigen & [[Nicolaas Bloembergen]] ]]

'''Manfred Eigen''' ({{IPA|de|ˈmanˌfʁeːt ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩|-|De-Manfred Eigen.ogg}}; 9 May 1927 – 6 February 2019) was a German [[Biophysical chemistry|biophysical chemist]] who won the 1967 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]]<ref name=nobel>{{Citation|pmid=4860395|last1=Weisskopf|first1=V. F.|last2=Eyring|first2=H.|last3=Eyring|first3=E. M.|publication-date=10 November 1967|year=1967|title=Nobel Prizes: 4 named for international award (Hans Bethe, Manfred Eigen, R.G. Norrish, George Porter)|volume=158|issue=3802|periodical=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|pages=745–8|doi=10.1126/science.158.3802.745|bibcode=1967Sci...158..745W}}</ref> for work on measuring fast chemical reactions.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|pmid=3300805|last=Winkler-Oswatitsch|first=R.|publication-date=9 May 1987|year=1987|title=Manfred Eigen. Scientist and musician|volume=26|issue=2–3|periodical=Biophys. Chem.|pages=109–15|doi=10.1016/0301-4622(87)80015-7|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Eigen's research helped solve major problems in physical chemistry and aided in the understanding of chemical processes that occur in living organisms.

In later years, he explored the biochemical roots of life and evolution. He worked to install a multidisciplinary program at the [[Max Planck Institute]] to study the underpinnings of life at the molecular level. His work was hailed for creating a new scientific and technological discipline: evolutionary [[biotechnology]].<ref name=BG/>