Chemistry becomes three-dimensional

This year's Nobel Prize has its roots in research carried out by the first Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, J. H. van 't Hoff. In 1874 he and J.-A. le Bel proposed the revolutionary hypothesis that molecules are three-dimensional and that they can therefore occur in two forms that are mirror images of each other. Their theory was considered ridiculous, because molecules were thought of as being two-dimensional at that time.