Albert Ladenburg (1842-1911) – The Distinguished German Chemist and Historian of Chemistry of the Second Half of the XIX Century (To the 110th Anniversary of His Death)

Aleksander Sztejnberg

doi:10.36253/substantia-1231

Abstract

Albert Ladenburg (1842-1911) was an outstanding German chemist and historian of chemistry of the second half of the 19th century. He ascertained the formula of ozone as O3 and proposed a triangular prism structure for the molecule of benzene. He studied the structure of aromatic hydrocarbons and organic compounds of silicon and tin, and devoted his work to explaining the structure of alkaloids and their synthesis. The purpose of this paper is to familiarize readers with the important events in the life of Ladenburg and his writing and research activities, in particular some of his experimental results, as well as his selected publications.

Highlights

Albert Ladenburg was called a great man with highets achievements, “who his life worthily devoted to the advancement of knowledge”,2 and “an indefatigable worker and investigator”
The list of works published by Ladenburg includes 276 papers and books published over forty-seven years from 1865 to 1912.55 The majority of these are the articles presenting the results of his experimental works, published in Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft as well as in other German, French and British journals
In the years 1907-1910, three papers written by French chemists Louis Pasteur (1822-1895),[124] Wurtz,[125] and Berthelot and Léon Péan de Saint-Gilles (1832-1863)[126] were translated from French into German by Ladenburg and his wife and published in the same series

Summary

THE IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE LADENBURG’S LIFE

Albert Ladenburg was called a great man with highets achievements, “who his life worthily devoted to the advancement of knowledge”,2 and “an indefatigable worker and investigator”.3 One hundred and ten years have passed since his death, but in that time little has appeared in the literature about this eminent man. Der Geistliche der reformierten Hofgemeinde (the Clergyman of the Reformed Court Community) Pastor Renner, the mineralogist Carl Hintze (1851-1916), and the Lord Mayor Dr Georg Bender (1848-1924) spoke at his grave alternately.[45] Two of his obituaries were published in 1911 by anonymous authors in the Chemical News,[46] and American Chemical Journal.[47] Two year later, on October 23, 1913, the English chemist Frederic Stanley Kipping (1863-1949) delivered a lecture in memory of Ladenburg at a meeting of the Royal Society.[48]

LADENBURG’S PARTICIPATION IN THE SCIENTIFIC CELEBRATIONS

LADENBURG’S WORKS

OTHER WORKS OF LADENBURG IN CHEMISTRY

CONCLUSION