The 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Yves Chauvin of the Institut Français du Pétrole, Robert H. Grubbs of CalTech, and Richard R. Schrock of MIT "for development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis". The discoveries of the laureates provided a chemical reaction now used daily in the chemical industry for the efficient and more environmentally friendly production of important pharmaceuticals, fuels, synthetic fibers, and many other products. This article tells the story of how olefin metathesis became a truly useful synthetic transformation and a triumph for mechanistic chemistry, and illustrates the importance of fundamental research.

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