WILHELM OSTWALD A Study in Mental Metamorphosis1' FLORENCE E. WALL New York, New York
T o THE average student of chemistry of this genera- doorserved only to whet curiosity, fan a desire to retion, the name of Wilhelm Ostwald means simply constmct the fabric of the work of his mind and hands, "the founder of physical chemistry." A second and thus trace, if possible, the evolution of mental procthought, if any, associated with the dates of books on esses that led to so unusual a shiftimg of interests. chemistry with which he may be familiar, might leave For such intimate matters, no better source of inthe same student with the impression that Wilhelm formation could be found than "Lebenslinien" (18). Ostwald must have died long, long ago. This 3-volume autobiography of Ostwald, was puhTo the student of art, the same name would stand lished in 1927, just five years before he died. Not in for the originator of the most thoroughly scientific and mere vanity, but in unselfconscious, objective appraisal comprehensive scheme for the classification of colors of his great contributions to human culture, he dedithat has ever been devised. In fact, so good is this cated the first two volumes T o German Youth and the system-so much better than the competitive system third T o the G e m n People. Together they constitute which is given the preference in American schools-so a remarkable memorial to another of that group of "Tisufficient to establish the fame of the originator of it, tans of Chemistry," along with Wohler, Liehig, Hofthat the two students might well engage in a friendly mann, Baeyer, and the many others who estabjished argument that this Wilhelm Ostwald could not possibly 19th century Germany as the Fatherland of Science. Certainly this work shows that the author should not be the same person. Some chemists, especially those that never knew him, be considered as "dead [even] to science after 1905." are willing to concede Ostwald's contribution to physiIt is not the purpose of this paper to present just ancal chemistry and to electrochemistry, but they then other biographical sketch of Ostwald. The details of dismiss him with some remark-patronizing, pitying, his personal life and his contributions to science have or contemptuous-about his "throwing over chemistry been too well presented by others, better qualified for philosophy." A few with similar leanings who had (1,4,5,6,35,36,38,39), but a few facts should be restudied in Germany (and some Germans, themselves), viewed as background. perhaps imbued with the idea of omne ignoto pro magnifro, are awed into th'mking that in making such a diya- EARLY LIFE Friederich Wilhelm Ostwald was horn of German gation, Ostwald had "chosen the better part." And still others, snap-judging the man by the products of parents in Riga, Latvia, in 1853. He was the second that glorified trade-training which passes for "educa- of three sons, and to anyone that dedicated his life to a tion for [some of] the professions" today, are inclined study of exact science and certainty, it must often have to dismiss him as a high-class "jack-of-all-trades" who, been subconsciously if not actually disturbing that the "if he really dabbled so seriously in all those other fields date was not bed. Latvia, being a t that time a provcould not have been much of a chemist, after all." ince of the Russian Empire, followed both the So it was with mixed feelmgs, aroused by this welter calendar of the Greek Catholic Church (Schismatic) of confusing opinion, that this study was undertaken,'and the old Julian Calendar which was still official for to determine who and what Wilhelm Ostwald really Russia. According to the earlier reckoning, the date was, as a scientist, as a philosopher, and especially as a was August 21; by the newer reckoning, it was Sepperson. The tendency to gloss over Ostwald's life and tember 2, and the latter date is generally given. Students of genetics might h t d material for research accomplishments after he abandoned his work in pure chemistry--done with a finesse that varies in effectbe- in Ostwald's intellectual heritage. His grandfather tween gently drawing a veil and slamming an iron and father were coopers--the latter also a minor local official-and his mother was the daughter of a poor baker. They both, however, made the most of native 1 Presented before the Division of History of Chemistry a t the 1llth.Meetine of the American Chemical Society. .. Atlantic Citv, .. eifts and eood intelligence and strove to eive their bovs New Jersey, April 14-18, 1947. :pportuni%es that Yhad been denied & themselv&. 'This paper was originally prepared as a special assignment ~h~~ read a greatdeal, followed the theater and for a class in Philosophy of Education a t New York University. sent young . . Wi1helm7at the age Of six, to the It 6as been considerably revised and enlarged for presentation ttrtSt8, and.... here. best available school.
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Successively he attended an elementary State school, the Realgynnasium a t Riga, and the Technische Hochschule at Dorpat. Curricula and subject matter seem to have been at the mercy of divided and strongly competitive authority, for the older so-called cultural education of old Russia was struggling to maintain supremacy in face of a rising tide of favor for the more modern, so-called practical methods of Germany. Students were thus tossed about like a political football, emerging with an odd combination of a little physics, chemistry, and mthematics; four languages (Latin, Russian, French, and English); and a little natural history. The school at Riga was the only one of the prevailing "Latin schools" to offer even a smattering of science. The poor quality of this was forcibly brought home to the young Ostwald by the early death of a dear chum, which made him realize how inadequate and biased was an "education" that gave students no practical knowledge of physical and mental health and of the mere facts of living. Deficient as it was, Ostwald's early education-and his extracurricular interests in music and art-laid the foundations for practically all the interests he was to follow in later life. His first contact with chemistry was through an old text, "Die Schule der Chemie" by Stockhardt (1846), but the almost catastrophic results of an amateurish attempt to make fireworks taught him that to accomplish anything worthwhile he needed much more than a recipe and an earnest desire. Toward the sketching and painting whicb later became his most beloved hobby, he made his earliest contribution in the paints that he had to compound for himself, with the help of a friendly neighboring pharmacist. To foster his interest in photography he had to make everything from the collodion for his plates to his camera itself. Even the writing, through which as author and editor he has made an indelible mark in the history of science, fulfilled the promise shown in an early handwritten periodical and an abortive attempt to compose a deathless romance. To one seeking first causes and trends, all these varied interests and tendencies indicated one thing in common-an abundance of that energy, the study of which in all its manifestations and transformations was to become one of his major interests in life. Ostwald spent ten years a t Dorpat, as student, assis6 ant, and finally priuat-dozent. He has made some shrewd-frequently caustic-comments on the various teachers to whom he was obliged to look for wisdom in many branches of study. For two of them, however, he always had only the best and deepest feelings of esteem and gratitude: Karl Schmidt, who taught him chemistry, and Arthur van Oettigen, who taught h i physics. Later he was successively an assistant to both. BEGINNING OF HIS SCIENTIFIC WORK
Courtesy of Library of The Chemists' Club, New York WILHELM OSTWALD AT SO
Frontiapieos of Vol. 46. Zailaohrift fur phya'koliacha Chsrnia
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thesis of indigo. This was sent for criticism to Adolf Baeyer in Germany, but when the latter rejected it, Ostwald forthwith dropped all interest in synthetic organic chemistry. His first published writing was "On the chemical mass action of water," which appeared in the Journal jur praktische Chemie in 1875 (Val. 120). Ostwald's studies in physics showed him the need for considerably more knowledge of higher mathematics. To the textbook of Karl Snell, from which he undertook to tutor himself, he cheerfully gives credit not only for most of the sound mathematics be acquired but also for being directed toward his later study of philosophy. His interest in chemical transformations led him to measure densities, loss of heat in solutions, and equivalents of heat and chemical activity. In the total lack of devices and methods, he created his own. His knowledge of mathematics showed him both that his results were correct and that he was actually engaged in a field of research that had never been touched by previous investigators. This gave him his first taste of success and earned him a Master's degree in 1876. As a privakiozat he could join the inner circle of scientists at Dorpat. He became interested in the dual system of harmony in music and took up the study of such different instruments as the violin and the bassoon. Before long, however, he was forced to admit that his zeal was much greater than his ability and he finally yielded to the urging of his colleagues that he stick to science. He had already established his pattern-not to expend any energy on any interest or occupation once he learned he could not excel in it.
His work at the Dorpatsche Hochschule was mostly in inorganic chemistry, yet Schmidt, who admittedly knew practically nothing of the then newly developing ORIGIN OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY organic chemistry, assigned him a problem in the synPhysical Chemistry came formally into existence in
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t.he course of lectures that Ostwald established a t the Dmpatsche Hochschule in 1876. The designation was not new as it had been used for a textbook as early as 1857 (8). After the very first lecture he began to collect notes for a textbook of his own, based first on his lectures and experiments and then broadening them to cover all available references in both ohemistry and physics, in German, French, and English.
Continuing his investigation of physicochemical problems Ostwald undertook an exhaustive study of the measurements of density, refractive index, and chemical affinity of all the acids known and available to him. No one had ever even conceived the idea of such a study, much less ever had the glimmer of an idea of how to go about anything of the kind. Again he had to devise all his own apparatus and methods. For his accomplishment, and the publication of the orderly table which set forth the whole project, he was granted his coveted Doctor's degree in 1878. Although he had solemnly promised himself that he would never marry, he became engaged the following year to Helene von Reyher, whom he had met through evenings of musical recreation. Marriage was out of the question, however, until he should be earning more money. He tried to combine a commercial laboratory position with his teaching, hut was so disgusted with the antiquated, self-satisfiedincumbent of the directorship and the extremely backward working conditions that he felt obliged to abandon the post almost a t once. A happier choice of a position in one of the public secondary schools, although it deprived him temporarily of the companionship of older minds and potential research workers like himself, did a t least improve his financial status, and he was married in the spring of 1880. Contact with younger minds, however, gave Ostwald the opportunity he never quite had a t the Dbpatsche Hochschule, namely, the chance to instill his newer ideas into his pupils, and thus assure the broadening of his own beliefs on chemical theory. This may well have been the secret of his wonderful ability to explain things, as manifested in the simplicity and clarity of all his writings. His published articles had gone far, but for years they seemed to make no impression. He wrote rather bitterly of the treatment accorded his work by Berthelot, the French leader, who made free use of his publications with little or no credit. Until this time, the Freneh had sincerely believed that chemistry was a French science (was it not the heritage of their own eminent Lavoisier?), and they always looked with scorn or suspicion on any new ideas about chemistry that might emmate from any other country. REMOVAL TO RIGA
In 1881, Ostwald was appointed as professor of chemistry a t the University of Riga. He had a miserable laboratory in the basement of a building but he made the best of it. He once more devised all his own ap-
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paratus and methods, and wrote a laboratory manual for his students. Through a strong desire to see how other laboratories were constructed and conducted, and because the professorship a t Riga seemed to demand a broadening of his contacts in scientific circles, Ostwald made his first trip to Germany during the winter holidays of 1882-83. Years before, when he had applied for a traveling fellowship and been denied it, he had felt slightly crushed a t first, but then reacted rationally. He fully realized that, had he gone, be would have been caught in the maelstrom of experimental organic chemistry which was then whirling through Germany, would have become just another satellite of Baeyer or Hofmann, and sacrificed recognition for his own original and unique work. His fame having spread through publications, he could afford to visit his learned contemporaries, most of whom were well known to him through his study of the history of chemistry and their published contributions to science. The recounting of this journey and of the famous leahed ones whose acquaintance he made reads like a conducted tour through a portrait gallery of "Who's Who in 19th Century Chemistry." He made it a point to attend classroom lectures of some of the most famous of the teachers; and before be left Berlin he was honored with an invitation to address a regular meeting of the German Chemical Society-on his own subject. The meeting was an agreeable disappointment to most of his audience, the secret of this being that although most of the famous organic chemists of the day knew nothing of his branch of physical chemistry, Ostwald had a good grasp of, and had actually done considerable work in organic chemistry. He met Helmholtz, also this great teacher's greatest pupil, Hertz, and attended meetings of the Physical Society. The importance of physical measurements in chemistry, the relationships of chemical activity, heat, and other forms of energy, and the gradually increasing momentum of a body of thought toward energy as a common source of scientific phenomena, were not new. In fact, it was "in the air." An English investigator, M. Pattison Muir, a t Cambridge University, bad published in the Philosophical Magazine (September, 1879) a review of all the work that had been done on chemical affinity from the time of Torbern Bergmann, the Swedish chemist of the late 17th century, and Berthollet (1803), to and including the work of Ostwald. Further early work had been done by J. R. Mayer, who first, in 1842, published his fundamental discovery of the mechanical equivalent of heat, thus establishing the study of thermodynamics-which Ostwald in his own time soon translated into Energetics. Others whose earlier or contemporary investigations were all converging toward a common objective were: Robert Clausius 1822-88, who stated the second law of thermodynamics; William Thomson (Lord Kelvin, 1824-1907) who developed it; and the American, J. Willard Gibbs (1839-1903), whom Ostwald helped to bring into deserved public recognition, through a trans-
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lation of Gibbs' "Thermodynamic Studies" (1892). ASSOCIATION WITH ARRHENIUS AND VAN'T HOFF
wald as editor of the newly established Zeitschrift fur physikalische Chemie, of which the first number appeared in February, 1887, with the name of J. H. van't Hoff as co-founder and editor.(16).
Until about a year after Ostwald's first visit to the outer world he was practically alone in his field of investigation, but in 1884 he was suddenly made conscious of CALL TO LEIPZIG the brilliant paralleling researches of a young Swede, Editorial work by remote control-that is, trying to Svante Arrhenius, of Stockholm. On the same day edit a periodical printed in Leipzig from a desk in mh6n he was suffering from a bad toothache, and his Riga-promised to be both arduous and unsatisfactory. wife was presenting h i with a new daughter, he re- After one issue, however, Ostwald was invited to Leipceived by post the reprint of an article entitled "Studies zig, and he soon saw himself, at thirty-four about to continue his career from the acknowledged vantage on the conductibility of electrolytes." From the first two disturbances he recovered in due point of one of the greatest universities of Europe. time, but the 1ast.persisted for many days and caused Oatmald remained a t Leipzig for eighteen years, durhim many sleepless nights. Finally his scientific and ing which period he firmly established both th? delimiand personal curiosity prevailed and he set out to visit tations of his field of physical chemistry and the relaArrhenius and learn more of his work. The friendship tionships of this field to other branches of science which thus established continued in happy personal and pro- border on it. He accomplished a prodigious amount of fessional association until the death of Arrhenius in original work and his laboratory became a mecca for 1927. The visit marked another broader circle of con- enterprising graduate students from all over the world. tacts with the scientific world, because from Upsala The first American to arrive was Morris Loeb; Albert and Stockholm, Ostwald returned home by way of A. Noyes was next. Some other well-known students Norway and Denmark, where he made the acquaint- from this side of the Atlantic among Ostwald's earliest ance of many other famous professional colleagues in students were Wilder D. Bancroft, G. W. Coggeshall, both chemistry and physics, who had heretofore been William J. Hall, W. Lash Miller, James L. R. Morgan, known to h i only by name. Theodore W. Richards, and J. E. Trevor. Some of the Ostwald prevailed on Arrhenius to go to Riga and later group were S. L. Bigelow, Frederick G. Cottrell, work with him, and from this fortunate association re- Colin G. Fink, Arthur B. Lamb, G. Victor Sammet, sulted much advancement of their joint interests. Af- E. C. Sullivan, Willis R. Whitney, and J . H. McBain. ter nearly a year had passed the similar chance arrival As these and many others brought his teachings back of the remint of another article. "Studies of chemical to their own students or to their own continued redynamicd," brought these two into contact with Jacobus H. van't Hoff, of whom neither of them had heard, but who was t o become the third member of a later famous triumvirate of scientific crusaders. In fact, the introductory reprint showed Ostwald that in the applications of thermodynamics to chemical problems, the author of it had already progressed farther than he had. In 1885, after many years of labor, the first part of Ostwald's "Lehrbuch der Allgemeinen chemie" (19) appeared. I t was a completely new organization and presentation of the subject matter. As always happens in any attempt to force unwelcome scientific truths on an unready world, Ostwald's "New chemistry" met with considerable concerted opposition, both through being silently ignored by those that could have helped to promulgate it, and by open ridicule and shabby treatment in public sessions of scientific meetCourtesy 01 The Chemmb' Club. New York ings. The battling had the unavoidaMEETING OF SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, NEW YORK. 1912 ble result of making him better known, Front row: Eustare Carey, Charles F. Chandler. R u d o l ~ hMessell, William H. Niehola. William Ramsay, Thomas Tyrer, Thomas J. Parker. so, whether or not they liked him, his Second row: Frederick B. power. Ira Remseo. Wilhdrn ostwald. S. Lewkowitsch. Herman professional colleagues could not honA. Met.. Virgil Coblent.. estly oppose the appointment of OstTop row: Marston T. Bogert. sir Max Muspratt
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search, he saw his influence permeating into many unanticipated applications. He always felt that the number of teachers among his graduates gave him a great advantage over Berzelius, who often expressed regret that most of his students had come as older men with their ideas fixed and their minds not receptive. His research in thermodynamics-or energetics-continued, supported by the force of continued discoveries of van't Hoff, Arrhenius, and others, and the unexpected corroboration of such famous mathematicians as Max Planck and Georg Helm. The new learning also permeated Ostwald's own lectures, articles, and textbooks, necessitating frequent revisions or rewriting to fit established knowledge t o the newer theory, and vice versa. Following the last part of the "Lehrbuch" in 1887 (the "Great Ostwald") came the "Grundriss der Allgemeinen Chemie" in 1889 (the "Little Ostwald"), which has appeared in five editions t o date, and has been translated into many languages, including Russian and Japanese.
From his hobby of studying the history of science Ostwald had evolved a scheme of his own, quite different from the artificial and arbitrary classifications passed on from Aristotle and Newton. This interest inspired him to start (1889) the publication of his famous "Klassiker der exakten wissenschaften," of which two hundred and forty-three little volumes had been published by 1938. The first in the series is " ~ b e rdie 'Erhaltung der Kraft," by Helmholtz, originally published in 1847. Others cover various phases of different branches of science from mathematics to physiology. Ostwald's own classification grouped the sciences in three divisions: order, energy, and life (14). To the first group belong: logic (within mathetics,) mathematics, geometry, and kinematics; t o the second: mechanics, physics, and chemistry; and to the third: physiology, psychology, and sociology. These were arranged as follows: SOCIOLOGY
CATALYSIS
Beginning in 1891, after being interested in it since 1883, Ostwald devoted several years to the study of catalysis which, happily, he could associate with energetics. Despite disagreement among his followers, he is generally believed t o be the first to understand the nature of catalytic reactions. Ostwald, himself, considered this his greatest contribution t o chemistry, and for this work he was awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1909. One vitally important industrial application of Ostwald's work on catalysis was the synthesis of ammonia (1900) and of nitric acid (1901). These accomplishments freed Germany from the fear of being cut off from Chile, source of the natural nitrates, in event of war. In 1893 appeared "Die wissenschaftlichen Grundlagen der analytischen Chemie," the work that was t o revolutionize the study of analytical chemistry. Whether or not it was admitted openly a t the time, all analytical chemistry soon was taught in terms of physical chemistry; such topics as the conductivity of solutions, electrolytic dissociation, heat equivalence, and the transference of heat and chemical energy soon became an integral factor of the patter of general chemistry. Within a few years a continuous stream of books was either in press or in plan. I n 1894, a new interest was offered, through the establishment of the Electrochemical Society, of which Ostwald became the first president. Through the activities of this new society in its attempts to place nniversity graduates in industrial positions, official State Examinations were initiated, which made minimum standards compulsory for all technical schools, and thus helped to ensure competence in those that were to be employed in industry. CLASSIFICATION OF THE SCIENCES
Of increasing importance as a sideline of interest was a study of the organization or order of the sciences.
PHYSIOLOCY
ENERGY
ORDER
I
IMECHAN~CS-
PHYSICS
I
I
LOGE;
I
MATHEMATICS
- CHEMISTRY I I
- GEOMETRT-I
KINEYATICS
OSTWALD'S PYRAMID OF THE SCIENCES
I n this concept the breath of each layer corresponds t o extent and the height corresponds to content, of each. Further considerations bring out that each branch of science exists in the pure and in the applied form; the second presupposing a knowledge of the first. Each general science is prerequisite for those with richer content that stand higher. Thus, t o practice physics one must know mathematics; but one may be an outstanding chemist without a knowledge of the sociological sciences, and a good mathematician or logician without knowing chemistry. The diagram raises many interesting questions and suppositions. PHYSICAL BREAKDOWN
So much pure "head work1'-thinking-without any of the physical work that accompanies chemical investigations or any least bit of physical exercise in recreational sports, led inevitably to a state of exhaustion, which, if Ostwald would have admitted it, actually amounted to a complete breakdown by the end of 1895. His father had always taught his sons that "the will makes everything possible." As his own thinking on the nature of mental reactions had not been completely codified and clarified, he failed to recognize the warning symptoms as physiological, which they really were. Never having known any change of mental activity except from one kind of work to another, he proceeded t o aggravate his condition by forcing his "will" t o continued thinking. Only the persuasive powers of a.kind medical friend saved him from certain
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disaster, and caused him to regain his balance by a change of interest and occupation. Drawing on one of his many hobbies, Ostwald liked to find his recreation and "change of mind" in painting and sketching from nature. Wherever he went his box of paints went along, and he considered a trip lacking if he could not produce something tangible as a remembrance .of things seen. At this time he took several months' leave of absence, extended his circuit of travel, visiting all corners of Germany, and later Austria, Switzerland, and Italy-even the far-off Isle of Wight. He recovered his physical health and returned to the university in September, 1896, but he soon began to realize that he was losing_had actually lost-his desire for work in chemistry. This was a t 6rst quite distressing, but he rationalized it by recalling that many distinguished scientists-notably both members of that famous devoted pair of chemists, Liebig and Wohler-had experienced and weathered similar feelings of being '(tired of chemistry." He was only glad that he had laid a firm foundation in other interests. BIRTH OF ENERGETICS
The first of these was energetics. Ostwald's own story of his development of the ideas of energetics places the hour of its birth in 1890. As'mentioned before, the concept was not new, even to h i , because he had learned and taught the laws of the conservation of energy in his earliest days. The more he thought about it, however, the more important it became, and the more he tried to organize his thoughts on it. Finally, to set a stamp of some sort on all his thinking, he had chosen as his opening lecture a t Leipzig, the subject: "Energy and its transformations" (19). The association of energetics with physical science had come about logically through application of the work done by "the triumvirate" (Arrhenius, van't Hoff, Ostwald), but the association with biological sciepce was not so easily determined. Ostwald found himself thinking more and more about early work of J. R. Mayer, who first conceived the idea of such an association through watching the hard labor, and noting the resultant sweating of slaves a t work, and even of draught animals. Further concrete aid came through a visit to the physicist, E. Budde, in Berlin, who was planning to write a textbook of physics in terms of Ostwald's theories. Following a long evening's conversation with Budde, as he could not sleep much, he rose early, went to the neighboring zoo, and sat alone in the beautiful morning sunshine. He claims to have experienced his "flash of genius" in one of those golden moments-"a veritable descent of the SpiritH-which gave him insight into the whole concept of world order,". . . as if he had suddenly landed in paradise with an exhaustive treatise from which he could give everything its right name. . ." Feeling-and according to his friends also lookingcompletely transfigured, he started quietly but rapidly t o reorganize his thoughts on his work in terms of his new enlightment. Everything seemed to fit per-
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fectly. He proceeded still cautiously, but seized the opportunity afforded by the demand for a second edition of his great textbook to revise it completely in terms of his new thinking. It brought together for the first t i e a unified concept of electricity and electrochemistry, making possible a continuity of thought on this subject from the earliest theories to the latest provable discoveries of his friends, Arrhenius and van't Hoff. His organized thinking led him into the whole study of reality, of'the nature of matter, and all related concepts. Reality had formerly been associated only with material substances and objects; but Ostwald believed that after order, number, time, and space, energy logically followed as a general concept. If, he argued, his pen, paper, desk, room, house, and the earth were all realities, why was not also the light, by which he could illumine the darkness of his room with one flip of his finger? And if so, why not also the thoughts that he could generate in the cells of his brain, by which he activated what his hand wrote with the pen on the paper, etc.? He associated the whole flow of thought with Mayer's law of the conservation of force (energy) which could be applied to everything, whether or not it could be seen, measured, or otherwise fitted into the earlier accepted standards. To the question, "What properties has energy?" he answered, "Everything there is." The thought that he early formulated as his Energetic Imperativethat is "Squander no energy; utilize it!"was, he felt, his best help through his daily living (11, I S , do). He expected opposition, and he found plenty of it. The feeling that existed between the professors of science and of natural philosophy a t the time brought doubt,, questioning, and unfavorable criticism. from both sides. Aside from the interpolation of certain passages in the introduction to his textbook, Ostwald felt he could bide his time, and his reward came in the gradual realization that the work of Plauck, Clausius, Hertz, Maxwell, Gibbs, Rontgen, and other all fitted into the general scheme, and actually tended to turn into the same theory. EXCURSION INTO PHILOSOPHY
The broadening of his interests brought Ostwald into friendly contact with his professional associates in the other faculties of the university, notably Wilhelm Wundt, the founder of pliysiological psychology. They had become acquainted by correspondence several years earlier, and closer association strengthened Ostwald's interest in philosophical considerations and in the applications of his theory of energetics to biology and psychology. Through the fame of his lectures and laboratory work, Ostwald's influence increased both a t home and abroad. He was invited to take part in scientific meetings in England and eventually became as well known there as in his own country. Through usage, his early difficulties with the language were overcome, and he was soon willmg to lecture in English. Ostwald placed his public espousal of philosophy in the year 1900, when he first gave a lecture on Natural
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OSTWALD'S SYSTEM FOR CLASSIFYING COLORS (a) Cones, in whioh the triangles represent one pure shade and two vkriatians in the complete cycle of eight haaio colors: yellow.'orange, red, violet. ultramarine blue.. turouoire . blue. nes ereen. leaf ereen. N.white:. B.. b h k : C. 0olor. (a) Cross section of half of figure a t left. Single letters represent t t t t t t t i i n of values from white through grays to blaok: pa, pure color a t periphery. All intervening combinations mean variants in shade, each designating soma spedfio proportion of white, blaok, and color. Opposite side of cross section would ahow same lettcra in corresponding ponitionr for complimentary color: i. c.. yellow-ultramarine, orange-turquoise, red-sea green, violet-leaf green.
Philosophy. From a set of such lectures, he wrote two books which were well received, and one was soon translated into English (25). This work brought him the attention of William James, of Harvard, and there followed many invitations to attend and address the meetings of philosophical societies and to contribute to their publications. He brought to these expressions the same kind of serious thinking that he had devoted to chemistry and physics. He undertook even more seriously to forinulate some order of the sciences and determine interrelationships among them. Philosophy, for example, as a-major field of study comprises logic, aesthetics, and ethics, and he proceeded to subject these to careful analysis. He considered aesthetics a field of applied psychology; and ethics a field of applied sociology. To confirm his interest in his new studies, he established and became editor of a new periodical, the Annalen der Naturphilosophie (1901). His book of "Lectures on Natural Philosophy" (1902) (30)is dedicated to Ernst Mach, whom he considered to be the one, of all the persons he then knew, that had most strongly influenced him. AMERICAN VISITS
Ostwald was made anShonorarymember of the American Chemical Society in 1900, one of the earliest of many honors conferred on him by foreign countries. He first came to the United States in 1903 a t the invitation of Jacques Loeb, to visit the University of California and deliver a lecture. I n deference t o the interests of Loeh, the subject chosen was "The relations between physical chemistry and biology" (98). He returned the following year (1904), to take part in the International Congress of All Arts and Sciences during the St. Louis World's Fair, where he addressed one of the philosophical groups. All these distractions and jauntings from his position a t Leipzig caused dissatisfaction on all sides-the
Administration, his colleagues, the students, and in himself--so he decided to make a clean break and resign from the university. Just as a major crisis was developing, Ostwald was appointed by the Kaiser himself as the first Exchange Professor to be sent to Harvard. This was the result of a growing criticism of an "imbalance in education," caused by the preponderance of American students that went t o Germany for graduate work, as against practically none that came t o this country for the same reason. Early in 1905, Ostwald, his wife, and their two daughters arrived in Cambridge. There he gave general and special lectures at the university and numerous others a t various colleges and before scientific and philosophical organizations.(l7). His associates a t Harvard were William James, Josiah Royce, and Hugo Miinsterherg. Of all of these, as well as of President Eliot, his own former pupil, Theodore W. Richards (of the department of chemistry), and others, the record gives good descriptive sketches of their appearance and personality. VARIED INTERESTS
The year was soon over and he returned to Germany, first to settle his family in a lovely new home, "Landhaus Energie," at Gross-Bothen in Saxdny; and then to devote him'self to his various professed interestsenergetics, school and university affairs, scientific methods, organization of science, world language, internationalism, pacifism, and color. His interest in each and every one of these subjects was not the superficial smattering of the dilettante, but the sober and wholehearted participation of the trained investigator who makes each study a major problem t o be solved to the best of his ability. During the next few years-until the outbreak of the World War in 191POstwald drew most, perhaps, on his remarkable ability as an organizer. Although he was not teaching chemistry and was primarily occupied with philosophy, his interest in science had not abated. His first great project was the establishing of a National Bureau of Chemistry which was eventually realized in 1910 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute. Another interest was an organization called briefly Die Brucke, which was planned to foster closer cooperation among branches of industry and between pure and applied science. Among the results of these efforts, the format of technical journals was standardized, and a system was devised for naming and classifying colors. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Ostwald served for years on the International Commission for Atomic Weights. Two systems had been observed (based on H = 1 and 0= 16) but in 1906 the single standard, 0= 16, was adopted. Ostwald served on this Commission continuously, publishing the tables himself from 1916 to 1932. Further evidence of his great interest in internationalism was shown by his cooperation in the establishing
JANUARY, 1948
(1911) of the International Association of Chemical Societies. Initiated by representatives of England, France, and Germany, it attracted representatives from most of the other countries and plans were soon laid for standard chemical nomenclature, standard format for journals, and a world language for science. As part of the Association of Chemical Societies, Ostwald planned an International Institute of Chemistry. He found in Ernest Solvay, the Belgian industrialist, a kindred soul who offered to endow the proposed Institute and who also was interested in "social energetics." The idea of a world language was nothing new. By Ostwald's time two-Volapuk and E s p e r a n t e h a d been introduced. In him the realization of a great need for something of the kind had evolved through his teaching of so many foreign students, and his visits to so many international meetings. The study and use of foreign languages secmed a serious waste of energy. Ostwald had always been extremely critical of the German schools for their overemphasis on the stndy of languages: He felt this was responsible for considerable mental aberration. While he was at Harvard he had studied Esperanto. As this later proved t o be unsuitable he created a new artificial language,, called Ido. This was intended to be the international medium for standard scientific nomenclature and literature. He donated half of his Nobel prize to the furthering of this work, and it wasprogressing slowly when the start of the War swept it all away. Associated with Ostwald's interest in philosophy was that aroused by the movement for M ~ n i s r nfounded ,~ by Ernest Haeckel in 1906. He was the leader of the group of Monists from 1910 to 1914. He wrote many essays and sermons on problems of ethics, formal religion, and antiquated philosophy (29, 97). The Monistenbund of Austria celebrated his 60th birthday (1913) by publishing a commemorative issue, reconnting his many accomplishments (8). All this activity, too, was swept away by the War. As an ardent pacifist, Ostwald considered war the most horrible waste of energy. He had regularly attended all the great peace congresses and had addressed several sessions. His most earnest plea was for voluntary disarmament. The outbreak of the World War was a great shock t o him. He took no part in it, although his plant for making nitrates was taken over by the government.
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the standards, wrote his own texts (9, 10, do), and introduced a curriculum for the study of color in the elementary schools. On this one subject he wrote sixteen books, and established and edited a periodical. He considered his work on color his greatest contribution to human culture. If there were many that believed that Ostwald should have received the Nobel prize for peace, even he believed his work on color merited the same prize for physics. I n writing of his reasons for abandoning his research in pure science and giving up the university, Ostwald said that when one reaches the top of any profession, there are only two ways to proceed: either to try to stay a t the top and run the risk of falling off and being crushed by the rushing feet of younger, activefollowers; or while still at the top to step aside from such a dangerous place and, if one feels sad at giving up what has taken the best years of one's life, t o be prepared with other means of using one's mind and time. He, himself, certainly need never have feared that he would find either his mind or his time idle. The riches of his mental resources always ensured copious reserves. CONCLUSION
No one should call Wilhelm Ostwald merely a jackof-all-trades, or a dilettante in anything he undertook. His native German thoroughness made him study anything exhaustively, once he considered it worthy of his attention. He had a remarkable memory and an exceptional gift for grasping a concept or a project as a whole. Although he' had great personal charm-a magnetic personality-there seems to hsve been little relieving lightness in him, little real sense of humor. I n testimony of this is an incredibly heavy analysis, complete with mathematical equations, of the nature of happiness. In one version,' G stands for the amount G = k(A
- W)(A+ W )
With the world around him shaken to its foundations, Ostwald found consolation in peaceful pursuits and, beginning in 1914, he started on the last phase of his active creative l i f e t h e scientific stndy of color. Having long been interested in the art he now studied the history and the theory of color, devised units for measurements, invented the necessary instruments, set
of happiness; A for procedures (energy expended) welcome to the will; W for unwelcome disagreeable experiences associated with resistance; and k the factor for transforming the energetic process into the psychological. The explanation is certainly something that has to be seen (and studied intently) to be believed; but Ostwal'd adduces proof that it works, and for such different conditions as the desire for drink and the ecstasy of religions belief. If Ostwald never apologized for what many thought (and think) was a defection, a perfidious abandoning of a sacred trust and responsibility, he was always willing to explain it. He firmly believed that life can be prolonged by a change of mental activity, and from his stndy of history and of men, he had many examples t o prove it. His book, "Grosse Manner" (It?), is an original, Gxtremely interesting, and thought-provoking study of the biology of genius. Wilhelm Ostwald's life was his own, and it was his
The doctrine (1) that there is only one kind of substance or ultimate reality; (2) that reality is one unitary organic whole with no independent parts.
'This is in "Lebenslinien," Vol. 111; Slosson (56) gives another formula, G = E3 - W*. The explanation and deductions are about the same.
PROFESSION OF ART
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
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privilege to do as he wished. If he had retired from chemistry to the top of a column, like St. Simeon Stylites of old, or, like some modern celebrities, to sit on a flag pole or stagnate in a mausoleum full of junk, one might condemn him as a renegade who gave up something for nothing. His prolific writings are eloquent testimony against any such accusation. By the time he left the University of Leipzig (1906) he had written about twenty-five books and literally thousands of articles, reviews, abstracts, etc. (4). That output would be considered a full career by many a healthy professor and researcher. What many of the older generation-those that have been ignoring Ostwald as "dead to science after 1905"-may not know is that he wrote about ten more books on chemistry after that date. He continued to edit his Zeitschrift until 1922; his editorial "swan song" is a h e review of the period covered by the first hundred volumes. Other publications include about twenty books on philosophy and energetics; about thirteen on biography and biology; and as mentioned before, sixteen on art. Too few of the long list of his books have been translated, which is unfortunate because almost without exception each work is excellent of its kmd. His last book, "Goethe the Prophet," was published in 1932, just before Ostwald died. It was characteristic of him that when he left his home on March 31, 1932, to go to the clinic a t Leipzig, all his painting equipment was left in perfect order, ready for work when he should return. But he was not to retnrn to it; he died on April 4. Today, almost exactly fifteen years afterward, may be too soon to try to appraise this truly great mind and its truly prodigious contribution to the life and living of his time. This investigator-of the middle generation and without prejudice-who undertook this study originally by request, has continued to read on and on whenever time permits, and almost envies the now upgrowing and future generations to whom Wilhelm Ostwald is merely a name on a textbook. Sooner or later some of them will have to rediscover the treasury of "Ostwaldiana" in the libraries and draw on i t for a whole series of dissertations on this or that phase of the life and accomplishments of this man whose versatility was greater than that of Leonardo da Vinci with whom he has been compared (36). Viewed objectively, as presented by himself through his autobiography and his other voluminous writings, Wihelm Ostwald stands out as a phenomenal combination, not only of the scientist and the philosopher, also of artist, linguist, and writer, who squandering no energy, but conserving it, applied his major interests to one another. As the founder of both a branch of science and a system of philosophy he seems to be quite u n i q u e a t least this slice of history will probably not see his like again. LITERATURE CITED (1) BANCEOPT, W. D., J. CHEM. EDUC., 11, 539-42, 603-13 (1933).
(2) GRAHAM-OTPO, "Ausfuhrliches Lehrhuch der Chemie," "LehrBand I. (H. BUFF,H. KOPP,andF. ZAMMINER), huch der Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie," F. Vieweg, Braunschweig, 1857. (3) HELM,GEORG,"Die Energetik," Veit, Leipzig, 1898,366 pp. (4) VAN'T HOPP,J. H., 2.phyx2. Chem., 46, v-xvi (1903). BERNARD, , "Crucibles: The Lives and Achieve(5) J A ~ E ments of the Great Chemists," Simon a n d Schuster, New York, 1930. (6) . . YON MEYER.ERNST."A History of Chemistry," Maomillan, London, 1892. (7) MEYER'SLexikon, "Energetik" (7th ed.), 1925. EIC~, Ostwald: Fest(8) M ~ N ~ ~ T E N ~ ~ N ~ - ~ S T E R H'~Wilhelm 60 Geburtstagsfeier," Wien, Leipzig, 1913. schrift. (9) OSTNAW,WILEELM, "Color Album," Winsor and Newton, London, 1933. (10) OSTWALD,WILEELM,"Colour Science" (trans. J. S c o n TAYLOR), Winsor and Newton, London, 1931. (11) OSTWALD,WILHELM, "Die Energetische Imperativ," Akad. Verlwsges., Leipzig, 1912. (12) OSTWALD, WILHELM, "Die Energie," Barth, Leipzig, 1908. (13) OSTWALD. WILHELM, "Die Energie und Ihre Wandlungen," Engelmann, Leipeig, 1888. (14) OSTWAW,WILAELM,"Die Pyramide der Wiasenschaften" Cotta Buchhandl., Stuttgart, 1929. Z. physikal. Chem., 100, 1-8 (1922). (15) OSTNALD,WILAELM, (16) . . OSTWAW.WILHELM."Grosse Mgnner," Akad. Verlagsges., ~eipaig,1909. ' (17) OSTWALD,WILRELM,"Individuality and Immortality" (Ingersoll lecture), Harvard, 1906. (18) OSTNALD, WILHELM, "Le@nslinien," 3 vols., Klasing, Berlin, 192&7. (19) OSTWALD, W I ~ L M"Lehrhuch , der Allgemeinen Chemie," Engelmann, Leipzig, 1885-7. (20) WILHELM."Les Fondements Enhrgetiques de la . . OSTWALD. science de ~iviliz&ion," Giard, Paris, 1910. (21) OSTWALD,WILHELM,"L'Evolution d'une Science, La Chimie," trans. by M. D u ~ o w ,Flammarion, Paris,. 1916. (22) OSTWALD, WILHELM,"Monism as the Goal of Civilization," Int. Cong. of Monism, Hamburg, 1913. (23) OSTWALD, WILFEELM,"Natural Philosophy," Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1910. (24) OSTWAW, WILHELM, J. Am. Chem.Soc., 15,421-30 (1893). (251 OSTWALD.WILAELM."Outlines of General Chemistry," ond don, 1889. ' (26) OSTWAW,WILEELM,"Principles of Inorganic Chemistry" (4th ed.), Leipaig, 1907. (27) OSTNALD,WILRELM,La Vie Internationale, 4 , 113-65, Bruxelles (1913). (28) OSTWALD, WILAELM,"The Relations of Biology and the Neiahhoring Sciences." University of California Publicao $4~ (1903). , tions, P ~ ~ s G I1, 1291 OSTWALD. WILHELM. "The Svstem of the Sciences," Rice Inst. pbmphlet, ~ovember;1915. (30) OSTWALD, WILHELM, "Vorlesungen uber Natwphilosophie," Engelmann, Leipzig, 1902. (31) PERRY,ROBERT,B., "Approach to Philosophy," Scribner, New York, 1905. (32) PERRY,ROBERTB., "Philosophy of the Recent Past," Scribner, New York, 1926. (33) REEVE,SIDNEY A,, "Energetics," Crawford, Nyack, 1938. (341 DEROBERTT.E.. Reu. Philos.. 69 1-38 (1910). ~~ (35) SACAS,A. P.; ~ k i s t10, , l l h (1933); (36) S m s s o ~E. , E., "Major Prophets of Today," Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1914. ' J. E., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 15 430-48 (1893). (37) TREVOR, (38) WALDEN. PAUL."Wilhelm Ostwald!' Engelmann, hipzig,
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(39) WALDEN, PAUL,Ber., 65', 10141(1932). (40) ZEISHOLD, HERMAN, "Wilhelm Ostwsld's Color Theory," Board of Eduoittion, City of New York, 1938.
