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Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald (1853–1932), Now 150 Years Young…︁

2003; Wiley; Volume: 42; Issue: 34 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/anie.200330059

1521-3773

Regine Zott,

Molecular spectroscopy and chirality

He counts as one of the co-founders of physical chemistry, contributor to scientific research and organization, scientific publicist, and color researcher. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Wilhelm Ostwald, Nobel Prize winner in 1909. He was versatile, successful, controversial—one of the fathers of physical chemistry as a scientific discipline, critic, founder of associations, journals, and of schools of science, author of text books and writings on the history of science and biographics, on creativity, scientific theory, philosophy, and color theory—and last but not least—writer and recipient of thousands of letters. His literary bequest is considered to be one of the best documented, and his letter fund one of the most extensive, as, mindful of history, he himself kept nearly all his correspondence.1 Such superlatives give the impression that his work and life are already widely known—but there is an unchangingly wakeful and at the same time critical interest that springs from the diversity of his work and from changing historical perspectives. Wilhelm Ostwald (Figure 1) was born on 2.9.1853 as the second son of a master cooper in Riga, where he grew up. He studied chemistry in Dorpat, mainly under the tutelage of Liebig's pupil Carl Schmidt (1822–1894), to whom he also owes his motivation to become involved with the history of science, Johannes Lemberg (1842–1902), who raised questions on physical chemistry, and Arthur von Oettingen (1836–1920), who imparted mathematical and physical stimulation. In 1877 he defended his master's dissertation "Volumchemische Studien über Affinität",2 and was appointed Privatdozent when he gained his first experience in teaching. In 1880 he married; from his marriage with Helene von Reyher (1854–1946) there ensued three sons and two daughters (his son Wolfgang Ostwald (1883–1943) became a well-known colloid chemist). Wilhelm Ostwald. He was appointed professor at the polytechnic in Riga in 1882 with a glowing recommendation from Dorpat. His areas of research were applications of the law of mass action, measurements of chemical reaction kinetics, and the conductivity of solutions. For this he specifically developed the pyknometer for the determination of the density of liquids and a thermostat, both of which were named after him. His spirited teaching and publication activities soon gave rise to a school of science in Riga which was recognizable by the constantly increasing number of students, and made the construction of a new institute necessary. From the beginning, he sought communication with colleagues, and he undertook journeys, principally to become familiar with laboratories in Germany—the first as early as 1882/83 ("laboratory travel"). In 1884 he became acquainted with Svante Arrhenius (1859–1927) and his ideas on the electrical conductivity of acids, which led to the dissociation theory of strong electrolytes (honored with the Nobel Prize in 1903). Their work together in Riga improved measurement methods and instrumental possibilities—in this way Ostwald developed his famous viscometer in 1885—and at the same time promoted Arrhenius's scientific recognition which initially had been denied him in his Swedish homeland because he could not be clearly identified as either a chemist or a physicist, and his outline of a future theory of electrolyte dissociation was not universally accepted because of its intellectual boldness. The new, specialist area of physical chemistry had aroused relatively little interest, even in Germany, partly because of the high mathematical demands and partly because of the much more favorable opportunities available at universities for organic chemists. Ostwald too had been warned by such highly experienced teachers as Hans Landolt (1831–1910) at the beginning of his career of the difficult path to physical chemistry (up to that time still not regarded as an independent specialist area) which was bristling with complicated questions of methodology and mathematics. It was necessary to be ingenious and develop essential equipment or to get hold of special chemicals—hence, Ostwald's later "acid journey" of 1887 served mainly to collect acid samples—and moreover there were only a few books specially devoted to physical chemistry. Ostwald wanted to fill this gap with his Lehrbuch der allgemeinen Chemie, the first volume of which appeared in 1885 (the second volume appeared in 1887).3 The work brought together the scattered knowledge on physical chemistry in a systematic way and pointed to outstanding problems, and thus gave stimulus to recognize research trends. Once this overview was available, Ostwald considered a journal to be necessary. This approach, first to determine the current state of knowledge and questions still unanswered and then establish a scientific publication from this status quo, was retained as a methodic concept when in 1899 he justified his critical position against the "Archiv der wissenschaftlichen Photographie".4 In spite of the skepticism of a number of colleagues on matters such as the demand and availability of material, Ostwald pushed forward the founding of the "Zeitschrift für physikalische Chemie" with urgency in 18875 in order to establish his future claim as leader in this specialist area, especially as he learned of the founding of an analogous journal by a young colleague in Berlin and "did not wish to live as a lodger in his own house". He succeeded in winning over Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff (1852–1911) from Amsterdam as co-publisher, who was already recognized in this new specialist area through his work on the position of atoms in space and the optical isomerism of hydrocarbons. That was an important prerequisite for the future success of the journal. It became the most important journalistic forum for rapidly increasing physical-chemical debates, and one had to be familiar with it because it informed comprehensively and because Ostwald often reported very brusquely and arrogantly. In the following years the intensity of direct communication between van't Hoff, Arrhenius, and Ostwald grew. They formed the elite corps of the "wild legion of ionists", so named, and thus cited gladly, by Ostwald to publicize the understanding of the new ionic theory more effectively in vigorous debate. The basis of this theory was that the molecules of a number of substances break down in more or less dilute solution into electropositive and electronegative particles (ions), which brought about electrical conductivity. The triumvirate undertook ground-breaking work in chemical kinetics, generally on the relationships between physical parameters and chemical properties, and succeeded in establishing physical chemistry as a chemical discipline equal in status to inorganic and organic chemistry. van't Hoff developed the theory of dilute solutions on the basis of osmotic pressure, the laws for ideal solutions, and gas theory analogies of all thermodynamic derivations, Arrhenius extended the theory of the dissociation of electrolytes, undertook the calculation of the degree of dissociation and measurement of reaction rates, as well as of activation energy and the equilibrium between passive and active molecules, and Ostwald investigated the relationships between dissociation constants and chemical constitution, set out the mathematical calculation of the dilution law for molar conductivity named after him, and—last but not least—he contributed above all to the institutionalization of physical chemistry. For that reason his appointment to the professorship for physical chemistry at the University of Leipzig in 1887—at that time the only professorship in Germany explicitly with this designation—following the departure of Gustav Wiedemann (1826–1899), was an important event. For Ostwald a second great creative epoch began, and a further school, the Leipzig school, grew up. His enthusiasm had an effect on students because of his didactically clear teaching, his electrifying lectures, and his richness of ideas. More books appeared from 1889 onwards, including the "Grundriß der allgemeinen Chemie".6 With the series "Ostwalds Klassiker der exakten Naturwissenschaften",7 also published in 1889 and still in existence today, in which newly printed key scientific publications could be more widely accessible and their content of ideas heuristically productive, he established himself as a scientific historian. Since aids to methodology were then not available to the students of physical chemistry in a focused manner, Ostwald wrote them himself, including an introduction to physical chemical measurements.8 Like many of his books, the clearly presented "Grundlagen der analytischen Chemie"9 was published in several languages. Ostwalds rise was steep and unmistakable. However, the rapidly growing quantity of publications, his claim to the leading role as central critic of physical chemistry, and his versatility appeared suspect to many. Indeed, with exaggeration and absolutization in his lectures and responses, Ostwald frequently gave cause for dispute, particularly during the early years. In 1894 Ostwald contributed substantially to the scientific recognition of a further specialist area, was cofounder of the "Deutsche Elektrochemische Gesellschaft" (in 1902 he pushed through the name Deutsche Bunsen-Gesellschaft für angewandte physikalische Chemie), and the "Zeitschrift für Elektrotechnik und Elektrochemie" (from 1985 onwards "Zeitschrift für Elektrochemie"). Since, in Ostwalds view, an overview of knowledge should precede the founding of a specialist journal, the second edition of his textbook "Lehrbuch der allgemeinen Chemie", especially its second volume, and "Die wissenschaftlichen Grundlagen der analytischen Chemie" of 1894 may seemingly have assumed this role. In addition, fundamental work by Walther Nernst (1864–1941) and others were available. Ostwalds "Elektrochemie, Ihre Geschichte und Lehre" appeared in 1896.10 From the beginning of the 1890s he turned increasingly to philosophy. His ideas conflicted with atomic theory, which he had supported for many years, and he henceforth wanted to distance himself from the atomic hypothesis. Like Ernst Mach (1838–1916), Franz Wald (1861–1930), and other scholars, whose influence need not be discussed here, he too wanted to manage without the concept of the atom in the definition of chemically pure materials, and wanted instead to find a thermodynamic explanation. In place of the material postulate, he used the concept of energism as a central theme, and the use of the atom as a "picture" or hypothesis did not hinder him during the years of his teaching activities, in serving on the Atomic Weights Commission, etc.—His lecture "Die Überwindung des wissenchaftlichen Materialismus" at the meeting of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte in Lübeck in 1895,11 in which he introduced his concept of energism, met largely with rejection, particularly by Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906), but with some agreement, or at least some interested parties. In spite of all the debate, he later regarded Planck's quantum hypothesis and even Einstein's formula on the relationship of mass and speed as confirmation of his energism concept. On the basis of the research on radioactivity and Brownian Movement he allowed himself to be converted to atomism and regarded it "as a well-founded theory" in 1908, but he did not revise the relevant passages of his textbooks. Over the next few years his scientific work concentrated increasingly on investigations into catalysis. He was able to derive a valid definition, according to which a catalyst does not induce a process, but accelerates it without appearing in the final product; in this way important advances in chemical kinetics were stimulated. It was mainly for his work on catalysis, but also in part for his work on chemical equilibria and rates of reaction, that he received the Nobel Prize in 1909. Ostwald developed an industrial catalytic process for the production of ammonia from free nitrogen and hydrogen, which he patented, but which proved not to be economic. His work on ammonia oxidation was considerably more promising; later Walther Nernst and principally Fritz Haber (1868–1934) continued the work under different conditions of pressure, temperature, etc. From about 1897 Ostwald became involved in a science policy dispute to oppose the introduction of a state examination for chemists.12 This was demanded by industry to ensure a generally demonstrable and testable level of scientific and relevant education. The universities saw this as an attack on their autonomy in regard to the determination of the teaching content and also as a threat to their traditional sole right to grant doctorates, and they feared corresponding demands for equality on the part of the technical high schools. Ostwald supported the position of the universities that it was for them alone to impart scientific principles and qualification for research. He formed an alliance with Adolf von Baeyer (1835–1917) and Victor Meyer (1848–1897) and organized questionnaires, etc. The threatened introduction of the examination was eventually dropped, but resulted in the formation of the Verband der Laboratoriumvorstände together with resolutions for unified examination regulations. A preliminary conclusion of the general debate on course content and examinations connected with this issue, and the question of prestige altogether, resulted finally in the introduction of the right for technical high schools to grant doctorates, for Berlin in 1899. "…︁ The transfer of a specific right of universities (can) perhaps become dangerous", wrote von Baeyer to Ostwald, "Does this strike at the heart of the university? Perhaps! But can we prevent it?…︁".13 As the number of students continued to increase at Leipzig, Ostwald—as before at Riga—was able to set up a new institute. Opened in 1898, it soon became a Mecca of physical chemistry of international repute. The pressure over many years of research, lectures, practical courses and examinations, criticisms, and the building of new institutes as well as the numerous organizational tasks in the university, journals, or organizations had led in the meanwhile to repeated states of exhaustion. Ostwald called it "overtaxing the brain", and he rejuvenated himself with numerous extended holidays. He also included his exhaustion syndrome as the subject of theoretical considerations in his theory formed after 1900 for the economic handling of one's own energy. He even developed a special formula for happiness. From about 1900 Ostwald developed his energism concepts into an ethically characterized system, "energetic monism", held lectures and seminars on natural philosophy, and published the "Annalen der Naturphilosophie".14 The rationale of these thoughts lay in the so-called "energetic imperative": "Do not squander energy, ennoble it!" The sole proven means to actually knowingly and rationally handle the potential of human energy is science, with which in principle all problems can be solved. His general promotion of a scientific conception of life, of the struggle against mysticism and religion, as well as the later takeover and leadership over many years by Ostwald of the Monist League founded by Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919), and his later public commitment to the question of church secession as well as in pacifism were totally resolute because stupidity, false belief, warlike destruction of cultural values, and energy-consuming disagreements meant a squandering of energy which mankind could not afford. His commitment to an international language (Esperanto, Ido) for the purposes of energy-conserving international communication also represented one of the consequences. In order, for example, to be able to employ scientists according to their abilities, and thus to be able to utilize their energy resources more efficiently, that is, for the purpose of the "management" of intellect and genius, Ostwald made use of his biographical and historical ("psychographical") studies in "Große Männer"15 to draft a typology of creative scholarly personalities which he divided, each according to depth of ideas, behavior, and productivity, into "classicist" and "romanticist", even when these were misleading and frequently coined terms (he also mentioned "organizers" and "mixed types"). The reflections on energism and natural philosophy matured as part of Ostwald's conceptions for a far-reaching systematic "science of science", the fundamental ideas of which he first presented in 1903. Concepts of scientific doctrine were a frequent topic amongst scholars within the context of the changes in the relationships between science and society since Georg W. F. Hegel (1770–1857). Ostwald knowingly connected with the positivist August Comte (1798–1857). He developed, however, a classification of sciences (1904)16 which did not set the natural sciences against the humanities, but conceived them as interdependent aspects of the cognitive process. In a "science pyramid" the sciences are built up upon each other according to the degree of abstraction of their respective inherent fundamental concepts: at the base the disciplinary sciences such as mathematics, and above the sciences with increasingly diverse concepts up to sociology. From about 1903 Ostwald's weariness for teaching increased, he ardently wished to be able to devote himself solely to natural philosophy, to questions of scientific theory and organization. He yearned for a research professorship of the type van't Hoff had enjoyed in Berlin since 1895/96 that was financed by academia and university and wanted to leave Leipzig altogether. In about 1905 it became clear that he was not going to take over Landolt's vacant professorship in Berlin—he could perhaps have been included in the list of nominees for the sake of honor, since his top position in Leipzig was regarded as unrivaled. His attempt to become an "academic" regarding questions of the philosophy of art also failed. Abruptly, even brusquely, he henceforth ended his activities at Leipzig university, the place of long and successful involvement. The decision was regarded by many as incomprehensible. Prior to his change to a life as a private scholar, the prestigious invitation to work during 1905/06 as the first German exchange professor in the USA reached him. Ostwald entered retirement on the 30.9.1906 to live in his country house "Energy" in Grossbothen, where he was extensively occupied with questions of scientific research and organization and the history of science, and was still frequently engaged publicly. The year 1909 brought him the peak of achievement, for after many nominations, just in time according to the statutes, and justified by close reference to his research on catalysis, he finally received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Amongst his life's achievements were the already mentioned fundamental research on physical chemistry, the cooperation with van't Hoff and Arrhenius in the establishment of physical chemistry as a scientific discipline, the organization of journals, societies, and his journalism. The Nobel Prize itself had been awarded since 1901; moreover Arrhenius had been significantly involved in formulating the statutes, which contributed amongst other things to the reasons for his dispute with Nernst.17 The reason why Ostwald had not already received the prize together with Arrhenius was because it was only from 1904 that his name was put forward, but then was repeatedly done so each year by many nominators.18 In the subsequent years the already twofold consideration of physical chemistry (van't Hoff, Arrhenius) as well as excellent results in other areas of chemistry (E. Fischer, von Baeyer, Buchner) and in other countries (Ramsay, Moisson, Rutherford), had to be taken into account. It took until 1909 for the suggestion to be realized. Since he received the Nobel Prize for chemistry "for his work on catalysis and his ground-breaking investigations on chemical equilibrium relationships and rates of reactions" the honor came almost "too late". He had been away from the Leipzig university for over three years, away from chemistry teaching and research. According to the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, the prize was originally to be awarded in each case just a year following the achievement being honored, that is, it was not to represent a "reward for age", a condition which had already been criticized by the physicist Friedrich Kohlrausch (1840–1910) in 1900: "Those are remarkable requirements! Always from the current years! So often when something great sprang to mind it was already older than one year." In fact the requirement was soon proved to be unrealizable. Besides, Ostwald's break with the university had also affected his chances, as Beckmann wrote in confidence to Arrhenius in 1906: "…︁unfortunately the general situation and opinion would appear to suggest that Ostwald's nomination be postponed. He is increasingly distancing himself from chemistry, and even his closest friends here and in wider circles do not support the nomination at the present time. In America O. had chosen philosophy, world language, and painting as a hobby horse, and in the Fall he intends to relinquish his chemistry professorship totally. Under these circumstances and in the present climate it is really for the better not to subject O. to further chemical criticism. Since I hear from you that merits lying further back are to be assessed fully, waiting brings with it no great risk…︁" The prejudicial mood slowly faded, especially in view of Ostwald's further achievements for an effective functioning of science, and in 1907 Landolt wrote to Arrhenius that in his opinion Ostwald was now decidedly in line; in consultation with van't Hoff and Nernst he "had found no unfavorable response", and he also wanted to speak with E. Fischer. In his comprehensive justification to the Nobel Committee of 1908 Landolt emphasized Ostwald's "tremendously successful teaching activity in Riga, later in Leipzig, until "because of the state of his health" he had to give up his teaching post in 1906. Ostwald was one of the "most active and successful chemists of his time". His experimental investigations since 1877 followed on the one hand the investigation of the chemical relationship and affinity coefficients of acids and bases, measured by electrical conductivity and resulting in Ostwald's dilution law to express the relationship between conductivity and dilution of the solution, and on the other hand the investigations on catalytic phenomena, solubility relationships, and electrochemical studies, the development of physicochemical methods, the foundation of energism, and many other matters. As the most important journalistic achievements Landolt cited the two-volume "Lehrbuch der allgemeinen Chemie", "which has given a significant boost to the considerable development of this discipline which has occurred in modern times" and the "Wissenschaftliche Grundlagen der analytischen Chemie" of 1894 for the introduction of dissociation teaching, furthermore "Die Elektrochemie, ihre Geschichte und Lehre" of 1896, the "Grundriss der allgemeinen Chemie" of 1890, and the "Grundlinien der anorganischen Chemie 1900". In addition, Landolt praised Ostwald's lectures on natural philosophy of 1902 and the "Annalen der Naturphilosophie". Landolt thus based his recommendation both on the versatility of Ostwald's achievements and on certain results. In 1909 Landolt wrote happily to Arrhenius "that Ostwald is being considered for the next Nobel Prize. He would certainly be deserving of it for he is truly the 'grandfather' of modern physical chemistry, whereas the title 'father' befits you yourself." The emphasis on the versatility of the achievements of the candidate by Landholt differed from many other arguments for nomination for the respective Nobel prizes, which usually detailed specific achievements. Moreover, Ostwald for his part included such novel perspectives in his recommendations: with multidisciplinary conception he was the first to recommend Albert Einstein (1879–1955, Nobel Prize 1922 for 1921) in 1909, then repeatedly thereafter "his relativity principle presents the most far-reaching concept which has been effected since the discovery of the energy principle"; Einstein's "philosophically portentous view of nature" represents an epochal advance. Cleverly he commended the merit of the committee when it felt able to honor the importance of knowledge that had still to penetrate the common understanding of science or popular conception. When Ostwald proposed Ernst Mach (1838–1916) in 1914, already nominated by others in 1911 and 1912, he pointed to his experimental investigations and merits of the inclusion of epistemology and history in natural science thinking, and as one of the very few nominators he commented that the prize would be also materially very welcome for Mach, now living under much reduced circumstances, and it would be in accord with Nobel's behest also to prosper financially with the prize. Ostwald marked his support of the new specialist area of colloid chemistry when in 1922 he nominated Richard Zsigmondy (1865–1929, Nobel Prize 1925) and Henry Siedentopf (1872–1940). After leaving teaching, Ostwald developed numerous activities on the rationalization of scientific communication, in which support for the international languages Esperanto and Ido previously noted lay close to his heart. Apart from his own experience with time-consuming foreign language barriers, this was no random excursion into a spiritual enclave, but belonged to his broad concept of energetically effective organization and application of science. He felt that intellectual intercourse, that is communication, must itself become a subject of research to be organized rationally. A further, energetically conceived organizational measure was the founding of an association, the "Brücke", in 1911 for the purposes of the international organization and rationalization of intellectual work: unified formats should be introduced, publication printed uniformly in an international language, for example Ido, and scientific publications and all scientific installations of institutes, libraries, or associations registered uniformly. The intention was initially quite successful, but went into insolvency because of commercial errors of co-workers. In order to widely disseminate a scientific view of life and the conviction of scientific cognoscibility and solvability of all problems, he gladly assumed—as mentioned—the presidency of the Monist League (to 1915), wrote popular liberal tracts on a variety of questions ("Monistic Precepts"19), and was active for the church secession movement and for pacifism. Ostwald was so serious about pursuing monism that in 1912 he used a considerable part of his Nobel Prize for the founding of a monist settlement where the humanitarianism of scientific ideology and ethic self control would be instilled, an enterprise which after a while did not meet his expectations, however, and fell apart. With the beginning of the First World War, Ostwald's pacifism, that military force meant a waste of human energy and resources, failed. Like many others, he justified with chauvinistic argument the war as a defense of German culture. After the start of the war and a number of activities undertaken under the name of nationalism, for example, to promulgate a future prominent and leading international function for the German cultural nation, which brought him harsh criticism from many quarters, he withdrew, also from the Monistic League. Thereafter he devoted himself to quantitative color research. For decades he had occupied himself both practically and theoretically with painting. He wanted to see his pictures recognized as an artistic achievement and not just for the technical skill in the handling of pastel colors or fixatives. For years he had occupied himself intensely with experimental and theoretical studies for a quantitative color science. In that way he wanted to open up the often mystifying artistic activity to scientific scrutiny. Artistic and commercial color selection and color gradation should be definable and reproducible. He considered his theoretical and experimental work on color a physical achievement with physiological background and placed it higher than his work as a physical chemist. Although he had already published a series of color atlases, books, and lectures on color measurement and color science, and had instituted the industrial production of color patterns and paint boxes20 he was of the opinion that this part of his life's work during the war had not been recognized sufficiently. From 1919 onwards he repeatedly submitted the results of his color science for the Nobel Prize in physics, although he knew that the statutes excluded self-nomination. Ostwald never quite gave up his activities on science theory and the history of science. As a result, a number of books appeared, such as "Die chemische Literatur und die Organisation der Wissenschaft" in 191921 (with appendices on the history of science, for example, on the role of the letter in the shaping of journals and papers and their significance for the opening up of science, etc.), "Die Pyramide der Wissenschaften" of 1929,22 and individual contributions as well as many surviving manuscripts. During 1926/27 he published his three-volume autobiography "Lebenslinien".23 In spite of a certain degree of subjectivity, which as a matter of course characterizes almost all memoir texts, the numerous pictures and encounters in his life were illustrated in a very lively manner and also opened up important insights into the development of a discipline and its institutionalization as well as his fundamental ideas on energy and energism. It has also to be noted that throughout his life he fostered music at home and himself played the viola. Highly honored with decorations, medals, memberships of many scientific academies, and above all by the Nobel Prize, Ostwald died on 4.4.1932. One of the friendliest tributes, which thoroughly summarized his claim to life, received by Ostwald on the occasion of his 75th birthday in 1928 came from his former pupil, later successor at the Riga Polytechnic and his first biographer and bibliographer, the chemist Paul Walden (1863–1957), in a manner Goethe might have formulated:24 Dem lieben, verehrten Meister, Dem Jungen trotz Taufschein und Alter: Noch lange wecke als Weiser die Geister Und wirke als farbreichen Weltbilds Gestalter!