JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
RALPH E. OESPER University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
Tm name Ubbelohde is world famous because of the accomplishments of this old master of petroleum chemistry, who now is living in Diisseldorf am Rhein. Though well along in his seventh decade, he is still mentally alert and retains his indefatigable urge to work. Leo (Carl Eduard) Ubbelohde was born a t Hanover on January 4, 1876. He studied a t the University of Berlin and also a t the Berlin Technische Hochschule. After a few years in industry he returned to the University where he took his Ph.D. in 1903. His principal teachers were Landolt and Wichelhaus; his doctorate thesis dealt with an organic topic. Following a term as assistant at the Materialpmfungsamt in Berlin, which was then under the direction of D. Holde, Ubbelohde went to the Technische Hochschule a t Karlsrube in order to be associated with Carl Engler. He became Privatdozent at Kaflsmhe in 1910 and the following year was appointed associate professor. Extended trips through the U. S. A., France, and Sweden broadened his outlook immensely. In 1915 he founded the Forschungsstelle fiir Textilersatzstoffe, which subsequently was expanded into the Deutsche Forschungsinstitut fur Textilstoffe. In 1933 he was appointed Professor of Technical Chemistry at the Technische Hochschule a t Berlin and has held this post until he reached the retiring age of 65 in 1940. Ubbelohde's international connections can best be documented by stating some of the many high offices that came to him. In 1907 he was chosen General Secretary of the International Petroleum Commission, which he organized in-that year. His exceptional administrative ability was amply demonstrated in connection with this important body. In 1913 he was vice-president of the London meeting of the Illuminat-
ing Engineering Society; in 1924 he became corresponding member of the Erdol Union in Vienna; and in 1932 he was named honorary member of the Institute of Petroleum Technology in London. He served as vice-president of the World Petroleum Congress a t its London meeting in 1933, and that same year he became the first president of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fiir Mineralolforschung. The Lenard Medal and the prize of the Kolloid Gesellschaft were awarded to him in 1936. In 1937 he mas again vice-president of the World Petroleum Congress in Paris and was also made life honorary member of the Association Franpaise des Techniciens du PBtrole in Paris. He was made a member of the permanent council of the World Oil Congress in 1938, and this same year brought him honorary life membership in the Academy of Sciences at Bucharest. The Institute of Petroleum Technology in London elected him Honorary Fellow in 1950. Numerous patents of the highest quality were issued to h i . Well above 100 papers contain the record of his rich and varied researches. His "Zur Viskosimetrie," which has gone through five editions, is still popular. The four-volume "Handbuch der Chemie und Technologie der ole, Fette, Wachse und Harze" has had a wide distribution. He has furnished valuable sections to such works as Dammer's "Chemische Techuologie der Neudet," Engler's "Das Erdol," PostNeumann's ''Chemische-Technische Analyse," etc. His publications have' dealt mainly with mineral oils, fats and soaps, gases, coal, paper, and textiles. His viscosimeter with the suspended level, his droppoint apparatus, his process for curling smooth textile fibers, would of themselves have been sufficient to constitute a lasting memorial to this outstanding chemist. As a teacher, he inspired many of his students to go
AUGUST. 1953
forward in science, and his advice is responsible for the selection of special fields of interest by many who were privileged to know him academically. He always emphasized the human relation between teacher and student; he made a point of the need for them to exchange opinions freely. However, his interests and efforts have extended far beyond the hounds of chemical research and the practical applications of the science. He has always devoted much attention to economic and social-political problems. The plight of the unemployed has appealed especially to his humanitarian instincts; in 1914 he headed the relief section of the Badische Rote Kreuz and its assignee, the Arheitshilfe.
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With prophetic vision, and often against the tendencies of the times, he emphasized to his audiences that the treasure of science is the only form of wealth which does not need to he hoarded and guarded anxiously against the designs of others. Use does not diminish this treasure, but rather increases it. Consequently, he maintains strongly that the union of science and technology should be cultivated internationally so that the greatest possible progress may he secured through comparison of achievements without reaai-d to national boundaries and peoples.'
' A monograph "Leo Ubbelohde, sein Wirken" was published by his students, eollesgues, and friends at Karlsruhe (Verlag Braun) in 1952.
