Delayed Reaction: The Tardy Embrace of Physical Organic Chemistry by the German Chemical Community

Abstract

The emergence of physical organic chemistry, which focuses on the mechanisms and structures of organic reactions and molecules using the tools of physical chemistry, was a major development in twentieth-century chemistry. It first flourished in the interwar period, in the UK and then in the US. Germany, by contrast, did not embrace the field until almost a half century later. The great success of classical organic chemistry, especially in synthesis, encouraged indifference to the new field among German chemists, as did their inductivist research philosophy, as enunciated by Walter Hückel’s ground-breaking textbook (1931). This author also resisted new concepts and representations, especially those of the American theoretician, Linus Pauling. The arrival of the Nazi regime reinforced such resistance. Postwar conditions initiated a reaction against this conservative, nationalistic attitude, especially in the American Occupation Zone. Exposure to American textbooks and visiting lecturers influenced attitudes of younger chemists. The accompanying shift towards a more explanatory, less hierarchical mode of pedagogy was consonant with larger social and political developments.