[Sam (NG)]

"Living chemists have been ranked in a league table based on what some argue is the fairest measure of research achievement ever devised.

Top of the 2000-strong pile is Harvard's E J Corey, fighting off competition from George Whitesides and Martin Karplus (both also Harvard). Completing the top five are Kurt Wüthrich and Alan Heeger, while the leading British chemist so far indexed, Alan Fersht, is placed at number 13. The full list is available below.

The chemists were ranked by h-index, a number invented by physicist Jorge Hirsch in 2005 to measure research impact. A scientist's h-index is the highest number of papers they have published which have each amassed at least that number of citations: Corey, with an h of 132, has published 132 papers which have each received at least 132 citations, for example. "

fulll story from chemistry world: http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/news/2007/april/23040701.asp

The List (PDF)