Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Stretching topology

Chemists have stretched the meaning of topology to cover situations never imagined by their mathematical colleagues. Michelle Francl wonders if we have reached breaking point?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The fifty words most frequently found in the titles and abstracts of journal articles that contained the terms 'topology' or 'topological' appearing in the chemical literature in 2008.

References

  1. Chaucer, G. 'The Canon Yeoman's Tale' in The Canterbury Tales.

  2. Lewis, G. N. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 35, 1448–1455 (1913).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. http://tagcrowd.com/

  4. Liang, C. & Mislow, K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 116, 11189–11190 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Calladine, C. R., Drew, H. R., Luisi, B. F. & Travers, A. A. Understanding DNA: The Molecule and How It Works 3rd edn (Elsevier, 2004).

    Google Scholar 

  6. White, J. H. Am. J. Math. 91, 693–728 (1969).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Sawicki, E. & Ray, F. E. J. Org. Chem. 18, 946–951 (1953).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Yoon, Z. S., Osuka, A. & Kim, D. Nature Chem. 1, 113–122 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Lavoisier, A.-L. (trans. Kerr, R.) Elements of Chemistry 4th edn, xiv (William Creech, Edinburgh, 1799).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Francl, M. Stretching topology. Nature Chem 1, 334–335 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.302

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.302

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing