Wilhelm Ostwald

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Wilhelm Ostwald
Willis Rodney Whitney

Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald (German pronunciation:

Baltic German chemist and philosopher. Ostwald is credited with being one of the founders of the field of physical chemistry, with Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Walther Nernst, and Svante Arrhenius.[1]
He received the

Following his 1906 retirement from academic life, Ostwald became much involved in philosophy, art, and politics. He made significant contributions to each of these fields.[3] He has been described as a polymath.[4]

Early life and education

Ostwald was born ethnically

Baltic German in Riga, Russian Empire (now Latvia) to master-cooper Gottfried Wilhelm Ostwald (1824–1903) and Elisabeth Leuckel (1824–1903). He was the middle child of three, born after Eugen (1851–1932) and before Gottfried (1855–1918).[5] Ostwald developed an interest in science as a child and conducted experiments at his home, particularly related to fireworks and photography.[4]

Ostwald entered the

Academic career

Ostwald began his career as an independent unpaid investigator at the University of Dorpat in 1875. He worked in the laboratory of

reaction rates. Lemberg also taught Ostwald the chemical basis of many geologic phenomena. These endeavors formed part of the subjects of Ostwald's later research efforts.[3] In addition to his work in Carl Schmidt's laboratory, Ostwald also studied in the university's physics institute with Arthur von Oettingen.[2]

Around 1877, still continuing his work as an unpaid investigator in the Chemistry Laboratory at the University of Dorpat, Ostwald became a paid assistant in the Physics Institute, after Oettingen's assistant moved to Riga.[3][6] He also supported himself for a time by teaching mathematics and science at a Dorpat high school.[7]

Ostwald was deeply interested in questions of

chemical dynamics.[2]

Ostwald completed his Magisterial degree at the University of Dorpat in 1877, enabling him to give lectures and charge for teaching.[8] Ostwald published his

doctoral thesis was entitled Volumchemische und Optisch-Chemische Studien ("Volumetric and Optical-Chemical Studies").[4] In 1879, he became a paid assistant to Carl Schmidt.[9]

In 1881, Ostwald became a

Riga Polytechnicum (now Riga Technical University). In 1887, he moved to Leipzig University where he became Professor of Physical Chemistry.[5] Ostwald remained on the faculty at Leipzig University until his retirement in 1906. He also served as the first "exchange professor" at Harvard University in 1904 and 1905.[2][10]

During Ostwald's academic career, he had many research students who became accomplished scientists in their own right. These included future

. Other students included
Willis Rodney Whitney and Kikunae Ikeda. All of these students became notable for their contributions to physical chemistry.[2][11]

In 1901, Albert Einstein applied for a research position in Ostwald's laboratory. This was four years before Einstein's publication on special relativity. Ostwald rejected Einstein's application, although later the two developed strong mutual respect.[12] Subsequently, Ostwald nominated Einstein for the Nobel Prize in 1910 and again in 1913.[13]

Following his 1906 retirement, Ostwald became active in philosophy, politics, and other humanities.[2]

During the course of his academic career, Ostwald published more than 500 original research papers for the scientific literature and approximately 45 books.[9]

Scientific contributions

Nitric acid process

Ostwald invented a process for the inexpensive manufacture of

Ostwald Process.[17] The process remains in widespread use in contemporary times for manufacture of nitric acid.[18]

Jacobus van 't Hoff (left) and Wilhelm Ostwald

Ostwald's dilution law

Ostwald also conducted significant research on dilution theory leading to his conceptualization of the

weak electrolyte follows the principles of mass action, being extensively dissociated at infinite dilution. This characteristic of weak electrolytes can be observed experimentally, such as by electrochemical determinations.[19]

Catalysis

Through his research on chemical reaction rates and velocities and his studies of acids and bases, Ostwald found that the concentration of acid or the concentration of base in a solution of certain chemical reactants can have a strong influence of the rate of chemical processes. He realized that this is manifestation of the concept of chemical catalysis first articulated by

Berzelius. Ostwald articulated the idea that a catalyst is a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without being a part of either the reactants or the products. Ostwald's advances in the understanding of chemical catalysis were widely applicable in biological processes such as enzymatic catalysis and also in many industrial processes. A catalyst is used in the nitric acid process that Ostwald invented.[18]

Crystallization

Ostwald studied the

organic compounds. This finding came to be known as Ostwald's rule.[20]

Ostwald realized that solid or liquid solutions can continue to evolve over time. While the a non-thermodynamically preferred polymorph may crystallize first, more thermodynamically stable forms can continue to develop as the solution ages. Often this results in large crystals forming, since they are more thermodynamically stable than are large numbers of small crystals. This phenomenon came to be known as Ostwald Ripening and is observed in many situations. An everyday example is the gritty texture that ice cream develops as it ages. On a

minerals exhibit Ostwald Ripening as their crystal forms evolve as the mineral ages.[21]

Related to solubility and crystallization was Ostwald's finding that dissolution of a solid depends on the size of the crystal. When the crystals are small, typically less than a

pharmaceuticals that have low solubility so as to enhance their uptake by the patient. The size dependence also has a role in Ostwald Ripening.[22]

Liesegang rings at Saginaw Hill, Arizona, USA

Collaborating with German chemist

geologic formations. Liesegang had previously investigated this phenomenon in specific laboratory experiments, showing his results to Ostwald. Ostwald then developed a mathematical model for the phenomenon that served to explain the observations and realized how widespread is the periodic crystallization behavior. These observations came to be known as Liesegang rings.[23]

Atomic theory

Ostwald viscometer

Ostwald introduced the word

Brownian Motion.[24][25]

In 1906 Ostwald was elected a member of the International Committee on Atomic Weights. As a consequence of World War I, this membership ended in 1917 and was not resumed after the war. The 1917 Annual Report of the committee ended with the unusual note: "Because of the European war the Committee has had much difficulty in the way of correspondence. The German member, Professor Ostwald, has not been heard from in connection with this report. Possibly the censorship of letters, either in Germany or en route, has led to a miscarriage".[26]

Scientific measurements

As part of Ostwald's investigations in to

Ostwald viscometers and are in widespread use in contemporary times for research and quality control purposes.[27]

Ostwald designed a pipette that could be used to transfer and measure liquids, especially serous fluids. This design was later improved by Otto Folin. This type of pipette has a bulb at the lower end as a particular design feature. It became known as the Ostwald-Folin pipette and is widely used in contemporary times.[28]

Color science

Following his 1906 retirement from academia, Ostwald became interested in the systematization of colors, which could be useful both scientifically and in the arts. He published The Color Primer and also The Color Atlas during the period of 1916–8. These publications established relationships between the various visual colors.[4]

  • The Color Primer, page 33
    The Color Primer,
    page 33
  • The Color Primer, page 44
    The Color Primer,
    page 44
  • The Color Primer, page 50
    The Color Primer,
    page 50
  • The Color Primer, page 56
    The Color Primer,
    page 56

Ostwald represented these as a three dimensional representation of color space that is a topological solid consisting of two cones. One apex of the cone is pure white while the other is pure black. The eight primary colors are represented along the circumference or curved surfaces of the two cones. In this representation, each color is a mixture of white, black, and the eight primary colors. In this way, there are three degrees of freedom that represent each color.[29]

Ostwald color solid

This representation of colors was an important early step toward their systematization, replacing color perception by the human eye with an objective system. Over time, Ostwald's advances in color science became part of the HSL and HSV color system.[29] Much of Ostwald's work on systematization of color was done in collaboration with Deutscher Werkbund, which was an association of painters and architects.[3]

Scholarly journals and societies

In 1887, Ostwald founded the

Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften in 1889, of which more than 250 volumes have been published.[2]

As part of his interest in philosophy, in 1902 Ostwald started the journal Annalen der Naturphilosophie (Annales of Natural Philosophy). In 1927, he initiated the journal Die Farbe (Colour).[4]

Ostwald was one of the directors of the

scientific society. Ostwald served as the first president of the Association of Chemical Societies.[3][32]

Scholarly contributions to humanities and politics

In addition to his research in chemistry, Wilhelm Ostwald was productive in a broad range of fields. His published work, which includes numerous philosophical writings, contains about forty thousand pages. Ostwald was also engaged in the

Among his other interests, Ostwald was a passionate amateur painter who made his own pigments.[34] He left more than 1,000 paintings along with 3,000 pastels and color studies.[35] For Ostwald, science and the arts were mutually supportive areas of engagement.[35]

"Poetry, music and painting have given me refreshment and new courage, when exhausted by scientific work I have been obliged to lay my tools aside."–Ostwald[35]

Ostwald regarded science and the arts as having a common aim, that of "coping with the infinite diversity of appearances through the formation of appropriate concepts"[35]... Towards this aim, science builds "intellectual ideas; art constructs visual ones."[35]

Ostwald developed a strong interest in

Bauhaus school.[34] Ostwald's theories also influenced Americans Faber Birren and Egbert Jacobson.[35]

He was also interested in the

Ido. He was a member of a Committee of the Delegation for the Adoption of an International Auxiliary Language.[37][38][39] Ostwald donated half the proceedings of his 1909 Nobel prize to the Ido movement,[40] funding the Ido magazine Progreso which he had proposed in 1908.[41] Ostwald later went on to create his own language Weltdeutsch
in a period of extreme nationalism during the First World War.

One of Ostwald's continuing interests was unification through systematization. In particular, Ostwald perceived that energy efficiency was a unifying theme in all facets of society and culture. In political matters, Ostwald's interest in energy efficiency extended to such political matters as the need for organization of labor.[3]

Ostwald's interest in unification through systematization led to his adaptation of the philosophy of Monism.[42] Initially, Monism was liberal, pacifist, and international, seeking in science a basis of values to support social and political reforms. Ostwald himself developed a system of ethics based on science, around the core idea that one should "not waste energy, but convert it into its most useful form."[43][44]

in 1911, Ostwald became President of the Deutscher Monistenbund (Monist Association), founded by

Carl G. Jung's identification of psychological types.[46]

Honours and awards

Nobel Prize certificate for Wilhelm Ostwald

Ostwald was elected an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1905 and an International Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1906.[47][48] He received the 1909 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his contributions to understanding catalysis and for his investigations of the fundamental principles underlying chemical equilibria and reaction rates. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize 20 times beginning in 1904, and he submitted nine nominations of other scientists for the Nobel Prize following his own award. This included two nominations of Albert Einstein.[13] Ostwald donated more than US$40,000 of his Nobel Prize award money to advance the cause of the Ido language.[49] He was elected an International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 1912.[50]

In 1923, Ostwald was awarded the

economic impact of Ostwald's scientific contributions.[51]

In 1904 he was elected a foreign member of the

King of Saxony, which by that time was a recognition of Ostwald's scholarly contributions.[2]

There is a Wilhelm Ostwald Park and Museum in Grimma, Germany, at the site of Ostwald's vacation home. This institution also houses many of Ostwald's scholarly works.[4][53]

Ostwald crater, which is on the far side of the Earth's moon, was named in honor of Wilhelm Ostwald.[54]

Personal life

On 24 April 1880 Ostwald married Helene von Reyher (1854–1946), with whom he had five children. These were: Grete, (1882–1960) born in Riga and died in Großbothen; Wolfgang (1883–1943) born 1883 in Riga and died in Dresden; Elisabeth (1884– 1968) born in Riga and died in Großbothen; Walter (1886–1958) born in Riga and died in Freiburg im Breisgau; and Carl Otto (1890–1958) born in Leipzig and died in Leipzig. Wolfgang Ostwald became a notable scientist in the area of colloid chemistry.[55][56][57]

Ostwald was initiated to the

Grand Master of the Grand Lodge "Zur Aufgehenden Sonne" in Bayreuth.[58][59]

In 1887, he moved to Leipzig where he worked for the rest of his life. At the time of his retirement, he moved to a country estate near Groβbothen, Saxony, which he named "Landhaus Energie". He lived at the country estate for most of the remainder of his life.[8]

On his religious views, Ostwald was an atheist.[60] Ostwald died in a hospital in Leipzig on 4 April 1932,[2] and was buried at his country estate in Großbothen, near Leipzig,[61] and then re-interred in the Great Cemetery of Riga.[62]

In fiction

Ostwald appears as a character in Joseph Skibell's 2010 novel, A Curable Romantic.[63]

He is also mentioned in Italo Svevo's 1923 novel, La coscienza di Zeno, translated as Zeno's Conscience.[64]

Representative publications

Grundriss der allgemeinen Chemie, 1899
  • Grundriss der allgemeinen Chemie (in German). Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann. 1899.
  • Ostwald, W. (1906). Process of manufacturing nitric acid. Patent.
  • Ostwald, W. (1909). Energetische Grundlagen der Kulturwissenschaft (1st ed.). Leipzig: Leipzig, W. Klinkhardt.
  • Couturat, L.; Jespersen O.; Lorenz R.; Ostwald W.; Pfaundler L. (1910). International language and science: Considerations on the introduction of an international language into science. London: Constable and Company Limited.
  • Entwicklung der Elektrochemie (in French). Paris: Alcan. 1912.
  • Ostwald, W. (1917). Grundriss der allgemeinen Chemie (5th ed.). Dresden: Steinkopff.

Books

See also

References

  1. ^ "Svante August Arrhenius". sciencehistory.org. Science History Institute. June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Wilhelm Ostwald Biographical". nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kim, Mi Gyung (2006). "Wilhelm Ostwald (1853–1932)". International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry. 12 (1): 141. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Physical Chemist, Nobel Laureate, and Polymath". wilhelm-ostwald-park.de. Gerda and Klaus Tschira Foundation. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
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  10. ^ "Wilhelm Ostwald Facts". softschools.com. Soft Schools. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
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  13. ^ a b "Wilhelm Ostwald – Nominations". nobelprize.org. The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  14. ^ W. Ostwald, "Process for Manufacturing Nitric Acid, US858904, 2 July 1907.
  15. ^ Note:
    • Frédéric Kuhlmann, "Pour la fabrication de l'acide nitrique et des nitrates," French patent no. 11,331 (filed: October 1838; issued: 22 December 1838). Supplemental patent issued: 7 June 1839. See: Description des machines et procédés consignés dans les brevets d'invention, ... [Description of machines and methods recorded in the patents of invention, ... ] (Paris, France: Madame Veuve Bouchard-Huzard, 1854), 82 : 160.
    • Fréd. Kuhlmann (1838) "Note sur plusieurs réactions nouvelles déterminées par l'éponge de platine, et considérations sur les services que cette substance est appelée à rendre à la science" (Note on several new reactions caused by platinum sponge, and reflections on the services that this substance is called to render to science), Comptes rendus, 7 : 1107–1110. From page 1109: "1°. L'ammoniaque mêlée d'air en passant à une température de 300° environ sur de l'éponge de platine, est décomposée, et l'azote qu'il renferme est complétement transformé en acide nitrique, aux dépens de l'oxigène de l'air." (1. Ammonia mixed with air, upon passing at a temperature of about 300° over platinum sponge, is decomposed and the nitrogen that it contains is completely transformed into nitric acid, at the expense of the oxygen of the air.)
    • John Graham Smith (1988) "Frédéric Kuhlmann: Pioneer of platinum as an industrial catalyst," Platinum Metals Review, 32 (2) : 84–90.
  16. ^ Louchheim, Justin (19 November 2014). "Fertilizer History: The Haber-Bosch Process". tfi.org. The Fertilizer Institute. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  17. ^ a b Sutton, Mike. "Chemists at War". chemistryworld.org. Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
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  19. ^ "Ostwald's Dilution Law". sciencehq.com. Rod Pierce DipCE BEng. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  20. ^ Wang, Tingting (2013). Breakdown of the Ostwald step rule – The precipitation of calcite and dolomite from seawater at 25 and 40 °C (Thesis).
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  23. ^ "A Short History of "Liesegang Rings"". insilico.hu. In Silico, Ltd. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  24. ^ Nye, M., 1972, Molecular Reality: A Perspective on the Scientific Work of Jean Perrin, London: MacDonald.
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  27. ^ Sella, Andrea. "Classic Kit: Ostwald's viscometer". chemistryworld.com. Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  28. ^ "Serological pipets" (PDF). eppendorf.com. Eppendorf AG. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  29. ^
    Smithsonian Design Museum
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  36. ^ John Gage, Color and Culture: Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction, Boston, Little, Brown and Co., 1993; pp. 247– 8, 257– 60.
  37. ^ Nye, Mary Jo (2016). "Speaking in Tongues: Science's centuries-long hunt for a common language". Distillations. 2 (1): 40–43. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
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  41. ^ Anton, Günter (June 2003). "L'agado di profesoro Wilhelm Ostwald por la LINGUO INTERNACIONA IDO" (in Ido). Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  42. . Retrieved 30 October 2020.
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  45. ^ Andreas W. Daum, Wissenschaftspopularisierung im 19. Jahrhundert: Bürgerliche Kultur, naturwissenschaftliche Bildung und die deutsche Öffentlichkeit, 1848–1914. Munich: Oldenbourg, 1998, pp. 218, 505.
  46. ^ Noll, Richard, The Jung Cult. Princeton University Press, 1994, p. 50
  47. ^ "Wilhelm Ostwald". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  48. ^ "Wilhelm Ostwald". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
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  50. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  51. ^ "Wilhelm Ostwald". wilhelmexner.org. Österreichischer Gewerbeverein. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  52. ^ "Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald (1853–1932)". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  53. ^ "Wilhelm Ostwald Museum in Grossbothen". Leipzig Region. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  54. ^ "Ostwald". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
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  58. ^ "Ostwald Wilhelm, in the "Masonic Encyclopedia"". freimaurer-wiki.de (in German). Archived from the original on 6 April 2014.
  59. ^ "Celebrating more than 100 years of the Freemasonry: famous Freemasons in the history". Mathawan Lodge No 192 F.A. & A.M., New Jersey. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008.
  60. . Even Wilhelm Ostwald, who was the most radical atheist among these scholars, uses the instrument of the 'Monistic Sunday Sermons' to spread his ideas on rationality.
  61. ^ "Wilhelm Ostwald Physical chemist, Nobel laureate and polymath". Wilhelm Ostwald Park. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  62. ^ Rozenberga, Māra (6 May 2016). "Graves of Latvia's greats see moss and decay at Great Cemetery". eng.lsm.lv. Public broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 29 August 2020. ....the last resting place of Wilhelm Ostwald, who received a Nobel Prize in chemistry – he's the only Nobel laureate in the cemetery....
  63. .
  64. .
  65. ^ Ostwald, Wilhelm (2017). Wilhelm Ostwald: The Autobiography. Translated by Jack, Robert. Springer.

External links