The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1949 was awarded to William F. Giauque "for his contributions in the field of chemical thermodynamics, particularly concerning the behaviour of substances at extremely low temperatures".
 

Chemistry has its origins far back in the cultural development of mankind. Chemistry became a science only when experiments became systematic and an attempt was made to discover general laws for the changes in matter. This year's Nobel Prize winner, William Francis Giauque, has added considerably to our knowledge of the entropy of chemical substances, particularly at very low temperatures. Giauque's method is based on the fact that the crystals of certain substances when magnetized at low temperatures, can be brought to a higher degree of molecular order. It should be mentioned that Giauque has also worked out important methods for measuring temperatures accurately just above absolute zero.