Prof. Harmon Northrop Morse: An Inventor Of Paracetamol

Have you ever had any experience in catching a fever? You may have felt extremely tired and couldn’t stop yourself from running nose or helplessly coughing. Unfortunately, most of us, once in our life, had to face with it. In fact, the health issue is reported as top 4 reasons to cause class absence by Science direct paper. Therefore, a fever is really bad news for the student, especially UNIST students since the midterm exam is coming. I guess we all know seeing doctor is the first action to deal with flu. However, just a few of us can fully aware of who invented the remedy to deal with the flu? His name is Prof. Harmon Northrop Morse (1848-1920), an American Chemist. Prof. Morse is a crucial person to know in the field of chemistry.

Here are two must-know things about him. First, he is the inventor of paracetamol, the most-effective remedy needed for flu; and second, he built the basic foundation for physical chemistry. To begin, Prof. Morse made the huge change to the world’s health issue due to his invention of paracetamol. Back to 1880s, After having thoroughly studied and researched, Prof. Morse had successfully synthesized the paracetamol, the second type of aspirin, in 1873. The most important thing containing his work is that his medicine function the same like the aspirin but without the cancer-causing and kidney-damaging properties, However, It had not been widely used until 1946 when the New York City Department of Health advocated the use of this medicine.

Eventually, Prof. Morse was acclaimed due to his work and his medicine has become so popular that we can see it in every perception of fever, nowadays. Furthermore, his medicine, paracetamol, is always considered as the most effective and safe medicines needed in the health system. Since it is on The World Health Organization (WHO) ‘s list of essential medicine. Moreover, Prof. Morse is famous for his physical chemistry c`areer. He was awarded the Avogadro Medal Since He created The Harmon equation for osmotic pressure. The medal was a unique pride awarded on the centennial anniversary of Avogadro’s law. Finally, is work created the foundation for further research of the next generation. As osmotic pressure is the basic concern of physical chemistry, his equation gives the student the general knowledge before taking research or achieving higher education.

In conclusion, Prof. Harmon Northrop Morse is a worth knowing person for anyone who ever studies chemistry or just experience flu. His invention of Paracetamol has day by day contributed to save and protect human’s health. Many scientists viewed him as the foundation setter for the development of physical chemistry. Can you imagine the world without his work? Prof. Morse was the shimmering star in science who gave the next generation the lasting value and the key factor to change the world better.