Arie Jan Haagen-Smit

Background

Arie Jan Haagen-Smit was born on December 22, 1900, in Utrecht, Netherlands, to Jan Willem Adrianus Haagen-Smit, a chemist, and Maria Geertruida van Maanen. His father was chief chemist of the Netherlands Mint, where Haagen-Smit encountered chemical analysis and the materials of coin production during childhood.

He developed strong interests in mathematics, physics, and languages while attending school in Utrecht. His university years placed him within the Dutch tradition of organic chemistry and natural-products research, particularly through the work of Leopold Ruzicka on terpenes and related plant compounds.

Education

Haagen-Smit received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1922, a Master of Arts degree in 1926, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1929 from the University of Utrecht. His doctoral and early postdoctoral work centered on organic chemistry and natural products, including sesquiterpenes and plant-growth substances.

The University of Utrecht, founded in 1636, was one of the Netherlands' principal research universities. During Haagen-Smit's studies, its chemistry program was closely connected with European research on organic compounds, terpenes, and plant physiology. His work there contributed to the isolation of heteroauxin, later identified as indole-3-acetic acid, an important plant hormone.

Career

Haagen-Smit began his academic career at the University of Utrecht, serving as chief assistant in organic chemistry from 1929 to 1934 and as a lecturer in organic chemistry from 1934 to 1936. Utrecht was then an important center for research into natural products and plant-growth substances, and his work included the chemistry of terpenes and plant hormones.

He lectured in biological chemistry at Harvard University during the 1936–1937 academic year. Harvard's expanding biochemical research environment connected chemistry with plant physiology and provided the setting for his transition from Dutch academic work to an American research career.

In 1937, Haagen-Smit joined the California Institute of Technology as an associate professor of bio-organic chemistry. Caltech, a major American research institution in Pasadena, combined chemistry, biology, and engineering in an environment strongly shaped by experimental science. He became a professor in 1940 and pursued research on plant hormones, traumatic acid, essential oils, terpenes, plant alkaloids, and the flavor compounds of fruits, vegetables, wine, onions, and garlic. He also served for six years as executive officer of the Division of Biology and directed the Plant Environmental Laboratory from 1965 until his retirement in 1971.

Beginning in 1948, Haagen-Smit investigated the smog affecting Southern California, initially in response to damage to crops and reports of eye irritation and respiratory distress. His experiments demonstrated that hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides from automobile exhaust and industrial combustion reacted in sunlight to form ozone and other photochemical pollutants. He worked with Arnold Beckman, whose instruments supported the monitoring of atmospheric pollutants, and his findings helped redirect air-pollution control toward motor-vehicle emissions and photochemical processes.

Haagen-Smit served as an original member of California's Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board, established in 1960, and became the first chairman of the California Air Resources Board in 1968. He also advised air-pollution agencies and national committees, including work connected with air-quality standards and motor-vehicle emissions. The California Air Resources Board later named its El Monte laboratory and an award program in his honor.

Achievements

• Haagen-Smit isolated and characterized plant-growth substances, including heteroauxin, later identified as indole-3-acetic acid, helping establish the chemical basis of plant-growth regulation.

• His research on traumatic acid, terpenes, essential oils, plant alkaloids, and natural flavor compounds expanded the application of organic chemistry to plant biology, food science, and industrial materials.

• He demonstrated that Southern California smog was chiefly a photochemical product of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides reacting in sunlight, establishing the scientific basis for modern motor-vehicle and air-quality controls.

• As the first chairman of the California Air Resources Board, he helped connect atmospheric chemistry with enforceable public air-quality standards and emissions-control policy.

Works

• book

  • Smell and Taste

    (A six-page pamphlet on the chemical analysis of smell and...)

  • Man and his home

    (A work addressing the relationship between human society ...)

  • Chemical Substances Inducing Excystment of the Resting Cysts of Colpoda Duodenaria.

    (Scientific work concerning chemical substances that induc...)

• report

  • Progress report, project MBR-127: Fifth exposure year: report no. 81 for the period 1 January through 31 January 1960

    (A technical progress report concerning the fifth exposure...)

    1960

Views

Haagen-Smit argued that air pollution required a broad social response rather than a narrowly technical remedy. He emphasized that air, water, space, and carbon-based energy were limited resources and called for cooperation among scientists, engineers, economists, lawyers, and public officials.

His public discussions of smog favored precautionary standards that protected people especially vulnerable to pollution, including children, older people, and those who were ill. He also supported large-scale civic planning, expanded parks and breathing spaces, improved public transportation, and careful scrutiny of the environmental risks of energy technologies.

Quotations: “We should have learned by now that we cannot hope to change the laws of nature, but we can change human institutions.”

Membership

Haagen-Smit was a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences and a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He also served as a trustee of the American Chemical Society and participated in professional organizations concerned with chemistry, biology, and air-pollution control.

• Fellow

  New York Academy of Sciences , United States

• Corresponding member

  Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences , Netherlands

  1951

• Trustee

  American Chemical Society , United States

• Member

  National Academy of Sciences , United States

  1971 - 1977

Personality

Haagen-Smit was described by colleagues as optimistic, charming, gracious, erudite, and humorous. Accounts of his work also portray him as persistent in pursuing air-pollution research and public policy despite opposition from affected industries.

Quotes from others about the person

• James Bonner described Haagen-Smit as a scientist who combined broad research interests with exceptional effectiveness in the laboratory and in public affairs. California environmental authorities have commemorated him as a pioneer of air-quality science and as the founding chairman of the California Air Resources Board.

Interests

• He maintained an interest in desert plants, natural products, plant chemistry, and the relationship between scientific research and environmental policy.

Connections

Haagen-Smit married Petronella Francina Pennings in 1930; she died in 1933, shortly after the birth of their son, Jan Willem Adrianus. He married Maria “Zus” Wilhelmina Bloemers on June 10, 1935. They had three daughters: Maria Van Pelt, Maria Daniel, and Joanne Demers.

His professional connections included collaboration with Arnold Orville Beckman on instruments and methods for monitoring smog, and research collaborations at Caltech on plant hormones, traumatic acid, natural products, and environmental chemistry.

Father:

Jan Willem Adrianus Haagen-Smit

A Dutch chemist who served as chief chemist of the Netherlands Mint.

Mother:

Maria Geertruida van Maanen

Wife:

Petronella Francina Haagen-Smit (Pennings)

She married Haagen-Smit in 1930 and died in 1933.

Wife:

Maria “Zus” Wilhelmina Haagen-Smit (Bloemers)

She married Haagen-Smit on June 10, 1935 and was a graduate student of botany at the University of Utrecht.

Son:

Jan Willem Adrianus Haagen-Smit

He was born in 1933 and was Haagen-Smit's son with Petronella Francina Pennings.

Daughter:

Maria Van Pelt Haagen-Smit

She was one of Haagen-Smit's daughters with Maria “Zus” Wilhelmina Bloemers.

Daughter:

Maria Daniel Haagen-Smit

She was one of Haagen-Smit's daughters with Maria “Zus” Wilhelmina Bloemers.

Daughter:

Joanne Demers Haagen-Smit

She was one of Haagen-Smit's daughters with Maria “Zus” Wilhelmina Bloemers.

Collegue :

Arnold Orville Beckman

A chemist, inventor, investor, and philanthropist who collaborated with Haagen-Smit on equipment and methods for monitoring smog.

References

• Arie Jan Haagen-Smit National Academy of Sciences biographical memoir documenting Haagen-Smit's life, scientific career, research, and honors.
  1989
• Dr. Arie Haagen-Smit California Air Resources Board account of Haagen-Smit's air-quality research, service as founding chairman, and institutional legacy.
• Arie Jan Haagen-Smit, 1900–1977 California Institute of Technology memorial describing Haagen-Smit's education, plant-hormone research, natural-products chemistry, Caltech career, and work on smog.
  1977
• Arnold O. Beckman: One Hundred Years of Excellence A biography of Arnold Orville Beckman that documents Beckman's scientific and professional connection with Haagen-Smit.
  2000