Hideki Shirakawa (1936–2026) was a Japanese chemist and professor emeritus at the University of Tsukuba. After earning a doctorate in engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, he developed a method for producing thin films of polyacetylene. In collaboration with Alan Heeger and Alan MacDiarmid, he demonstrated that chemical doping could give polymers high electrical conductivity. The three researchers received the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and development of conductive polymers, work that helped establish the field of organic electronics. Shirakawa was also awarded Japan’s Order of Culture in 2000. In his representative book Watashi no Ayunda Michi: Nobel Kagakusho no Hasso, he recounts his path from an early interest in chemistry to an unexpected experimental result, explaining how careful investigation of an apparent failure led to a major scientific discovery.
