Bodenstein, << BOH duhn shtyn, >> Max (1871-1942), was a German physical chemist. He explained in 1916 the speed of certain chemical reactions in terms of “chain reactions.” He believed that the process began in some cases by a random collision of two molecules of different chemicals. This collision caused heat, which, in turn, caused another pair of molecules to react and more heat, and so on. The idea was applied later in the atomic bomb.
Bodenstein was born on July 15, 1871, in Magdeburg, Germany. He died on Sept. 3, 1942.
