Herbert Aaron Hauptman was an American mathematician and Nobel laureate. He pioneered and developed a mathematical method that has changed the whole field of chemistry and opened a new era in research in determination of molecular structures of crystallized materials. Today, Hauptman's direct methods, which he continued to improve and refine, are routinely used to solve complicated structures. It was the application of this mathematical method to a wide variety of chemical structures that led the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to name Hauptman and Jerome Karle recipients of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1985, announced October 16, 1985. Herbert A. Hauptman and Jerome Karle, “for their outstanding achievements in the development of direct methods for the determination of crystal structures”. Herbert A. Hauptman: born 1917, New York, NY, USA. Jerome Karle: born 1918, New York, NY, USA. Wiki link Wiki link Data: the Nobel Foundation (CC0).