74 Facts About Wilhelm Ostwald

Wilhelm Ostwald received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909 for his scientific contributions to the fields of catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction velocities.

Wilhelm Ostwald made significant contributions to each of these fields.

Wilhelm Ostwald was the middle child of three, born after Eugen and before Gottfried.

Wilhelm Ostwald developed an interest in science as a child and conducted experiments at his home, particularly related to fireworks and photography.

Wilhelm Ostwald entered the University of Dorpat in 1872.

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

Wilhelm Ostwald worked in the laboratory of Carl Schmidt, along with his contemporary Johann Lemberg.

Around 1877, still continuing his work as an unpaid investigator in the Chemistry Laboratory at the University of Dorpat, Wilhelm Ostwald became a paid assistant in the Physics Institute, after Oettingen's assistant moved to Riga.

Wilhelm Ostwald supported himself for a time by teaching mathematics and science at a Dorpat high school.

Wilhelm Ostwald was deeply interested in questions of chemical affinity and the reactions that formed chemical compounds.

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

Wilhelm Ostwald published his doctoral dissertation at the University of Dorpat in 1878, with Carl Schmidt as his thesis advisor.

In 1881, Wilhelm Ostwald became a Professor of Chemistry at the Riga Polytechnicum.

Wilhelm Ostwald remained on the faculty at Leipzig University until his retirement in 1906.

Wilhelm Ostwald served as the first "exchange professor" at Harvard University in 1904 and 1905.

Wilhelm Ostwald rejected Einstein's application, although later the two developed strong mutual respect.

Subsequently, Wilhelm Ostwald nominated Einstein for the Nobel Prize in 1910 and again in 1913.

Wilhelm Ostwald invented a process for the inexpensive manufacture of nitric acid by oxidation of ammonia.

Wilhelm Ostwald's patent made use of a catalyst and described conditions under which the yield of nitric acid was near the theoretical limit.

Shortly after Wilhelm Ostwald's finding, inexpensive ammonia became available as a result of Haber and Bosch's invention of a process for nitrogen fixing process for ammonia synthesis.

Wilhelm Ostwald conducted significant research on dilution theory leading to his conceptualization of the law of dilution which at times is referred to as "Wilhelm Ostwald's Dilution Law".

Wilhelm Ostwald realized that this is manifestation of the concept of chemical catalysis first articulated by Berzelius.

Wilhelm 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.

Wilhelm Ostwald studied the crystallization behavior of solids, especially those solids that are capable of crystallizing in different forms, in the phenomenon known as polymorphism.

Wilhelm Ostwald discovered that solids do not necessarily crystallize in their most thermodynamically stable form but instead sometimes crystallize preferentially in other forms dependent on the relative rates of crystallization of each polymorphic form.

Wilhelm Ostwald found that the relative rates were dependent on the surface tension between the solid polymorph and the liquid form.

Wilhelm Ostwald realized that solid or liquid solutions can continue to evolve over time.

Wilhelm Ostwald quantified this effect mathematically in a relationship that became known as the Wilhelm Ostwald-Freundlich equation.

Wilhelm Ostwald first published his finding in 1900, and his mathematical equation was refined by German chemist Herbert Freundlich in 1909.

Wilhelm Ostwald then developed a mathematical model for the phenomenon that served to explain the observations and realized how widespread is the periodic crystallization behavior.

Wilhelm Ostwald introduced the word mole into the lexicon of chemistry around 1900.

Wilhelm Ostwald defined one mole as the molecular weight of a substance in units of mass grams.

Wilhelm Ostwald explained in a conversation with Arnold Sommerfeld that he was convinced by Jean Perrin's experiments on Brownian motion.

In 1906 Wilhelm Ostwald was elected a member of the International Committee on Atomic Weights.

The German member, Professor Wilhelm Ostwald, has not been heard from in connection with this report.

Wilhelm Ostwald therefore turned to physical measurements as surrogate methods to understand these important basic phenomena.

Wilhelm Ostwald invented a device for this purpose consisting of bulbs that act as reservoirs for a liquid with a capillary, or thin tube, in between the reservoirs.

Wilhelm Ostwald typically used this device to study the behavior of solutes in water solutions.

Wilhelm Ostwald designed a pipette that could be used to transfer and measure liquids, especially serous fluids.

Wilhelm Ostwald represented these as a three dimensional representation of color space that is a topological solid consisting of two cones.

Much of Wilhelm Ostwald's work on systematization of color was done in collaboration with Deutscher Werkbund, which was an association of painters and architects.

In 1887, Wilhelm Ostwald founded the peer-reviewed scientific journal Zeitschrift fur Physikalische Chemie, specializing in original research in the field of physical chemistry.

In 1894, Wilhelm Ostwald formed the German Electrochemical Society which ultimately became the Deutsche Bunsen-Gesellschaft fur angewandte physikalische Chemie [German Bunsen-Society for Applied Physical Chemistry].

Wilhelm Ostwald created the journal Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften in 1889, of which more than 250 volumes have been published.

Wilhelm Ostwald was one of the directors of the Die Brucke institute in Munich, and he played a role in its founding in 1911.

In 1911, Wilhelm Ostwald founded the Association of Chemical Societies, which sought to organize and improve the efficiency of various chemical societies.

Wilhelm Ostwald served as the first president of the Association of Chemical Societies.

Wilhelm Ostwald's published work, which includes numerous philosophical writings, contains about forty thousand pages.

Wilhelm Ostwald was engaged in the peace movement of Berta von Suttner.

Wilhelm Ostwald left more than 1,000 paintings along with 3,000 pastels and color studies.

Wilhelm 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".

Wilhelm Ostwald developed a strong interest in color theory in the later decades of his life.

Wilhelm Ostwald wrote several publications in the field, such as his Malerbriefe and Die Farbenfibel.

Wilhelm Ostwald was interested in the international language movement, first learning Esperanto, then later supporting Ido.

Wilhelm Ostwald was a member of a Committee of the Delegation for the Adoption of an International Auxiliary Language.

Wilhelm Ostwald donated half the proceedings of his 1909 Nobel prize to the Ido movement, funding the Ido magazine Progreso which he had proposed in 1908.

Wilhelm Ostwald later went on to create his own language Weltdeutsch in a period of extreme nationalism during the First World War.

In particular, Wilhelm Ostwald perceived that energy efficiency was a unifying theme in all facets of society and culture.

In 1911, Wilhelm Ostwald became President of the Deutscher Monistenbund, founded by Ernst Haeckel.

Wilhelm Ostwald promoted eugenics and euthanasia, but only as voluntary choices with the intention of preventing suffering.

Wilhelm Ostwald died before the Nazis adopted and enforced the use of eugenics and euthanasia as involuntary government policies, to support their racist ideological positions.

Wilhelm 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.

Wilhelm Ostwald 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.

Wilhelm Ostwald 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.

Wilhelm Ostwald donated more than US$40,000 of his Nobel Prize award money to advance the cause of the Ido language.

Wilhelm Ostwald was elected an International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 1912.

Wilhelm Ostwald became an honorary member of scientific societies in Germany, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Russia, Great Britain, and the United States.

Wilhelm Ostwald received honorary doctorates from various universities in Germany, Great Britain and the United States.

On 24 April 1880 Wilhelm Ostwald married Helene von Reyher, with whom he had five children.

Wolfgang Wilhelm Ostwald became a notable scientist in the area of colloid chemistry.

Wilhelm Ostwald was initiated to the Scottish Rite Masonry and became Grand Master of the Grand Lodge "Zur Aufgehenden Sonne" in Bayreuth.

Wilhelm Ostwald lived at the country estate for most of the remainder of his life.

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

Wilhelm Ostwald is mentioned in Italo Svevo's 1923 novel, La coscienza di Zeno, translated as Zeno's Conscience.