Walther Nernst and the Transition to Modern Physical Science [Paperback]

A 1999 biography of one of Germany's most important scientists (active 18901933) and an historical examination of physics and chemistry.Walther Nernst: A Physicist as Chemist is both a scientific biography of one of Germany's most important scientists active in the years 1890 to 1933 as well as a contribution to the history of physics and chemistry. Taking into account recent scholarship and a wealth of new archival material, this book provides a highly detailed, yet accessible examination of the scientific problems that evolved at the intersection of physics, chemistry and technology during one of the most revolutionary periods of modern physical science. Professor Barkan also addresses the work of many prominent scientists, such as Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Wilhelm Ostwald and Svante Arrhenius.Walther Nernst: A Physicist as Chemist is both a scientific biography of one of Germany's most important scientists active in the years 1890 to 1933 as well as a contribution to the history of physics and chemistry. Taking into account recent scholarship and a wealth of new archival material, this book provides a highly detailed, yet accessible examination of the scientific problems that evolved at the intersection of physics, chemistry and technology during one of the most revolutionary periods of modern physical science. Professor Barkan also addresses the work of many prominent scientists, such as Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Wilhelm Ostwald and Svante Arrhenius.One of Germany's most important, productive and often controversial scientists, Walther H. Nernst (1864-1941) was at once the first modern physical chemist, an able scientific organizer and a savvy entrepreneur. The winner of the 1920 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, Nernst was a key figure in the transition to modern physical science with his contributions to the study of solutions, of chemical equilibria, and of the behavior of matter at the extremes of the temperature range. This volume provides a scientificlSÑ