Short answers, pulled from the story.
Simple carbohydrates follow the empirical formula CH2O with a constant carbon-to-hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio of 1:2:1. These molecules usually adhere to the general formula Cm(H2O)n as monosaccharides cannot be hydrolyzed into smaller carbohydrate units.
German chemist Carl Schmidt proposed the term carbohydrate in 1844 after William Prout named the group saccharine following earlier chemical analyses. This terminology emerged decades before Henri Braconnot discovered sugar formation through sulfuric acid action on cellulose in 1819.
The oxidation of one gram of carbohydrate yields approximately 16 kilojoules of energy while producing carbon dioxide and water as byproducts. Carbohydrate consumed in food provides 3.87 kilocalories of energy per gram for simple sugars and between 3.57 to 4.12 kilocalories per gram for complex carbohydrates.
Emil Fischer received the 1902 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on sugars and purines. Other notable laureates include Otto Meyerhof who won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering glucose metabolism and Luis Leloir who earned the 1970 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for finding sugar nucleotides.
The Institute of Medicine recommends American and Canadian adults get between 45 and 65 percent of dietary energy from whole-grain carbohydrates. The Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization jointly recommend national guidelines set a goal of 55 to 75 percent total energy from carbohydrates with only 10 percent directly from sugars.