Famous Chemists that damaged our Brain cells :)
![]() Svante Arrhenius
Early Life Born on February 19, 1859 near Uppsala, Sweden, Svante Arrhenius’s father worked for Uppsala University as a land surveyor. A childhood prodigy, Arrhenius taught himself to read and even solve simple mathematics problems when he was only 3. Arrhenius showed a keen interest in academic subjects from a very early age. His parents were amazed to discover that he could read when he was only three, especially since they had not been teaching him this skill. He was also something of a child prodigy in mathematics. Education He began his formal education at his local school in the town of Vik. Here he achieved distinctions in physics and mathematics. He finished his secondary education in 1876 and enrolled in the University of Uppsala to study physics, chemistry and mathematics. Arrhenius was not satisfied with the standards of physics and chemistry teaching at Uppsala. Hence, in 1881, he enrolled in the Swedish Academy of Sciences. Here he studied under Professor Erik Edlund, the man who introduced weather stations in Sweden. For his doctoral thesis, Arrhenius submitted a dissertation on the conductivity of electrolytes to Uppsala University in 1884. This dissertation was not well received, and he was granted a fourth class degree. Following his dispute about the low marks, it was upgraded to a third class degree. Contributions and Achievements Svante Arrhenius sent his 150-page thesis regarding the conductivities of electrolytes to several famous scientists across Europe. Wilhelm Ostwald was very much impressed, who even made a trip to Uppsala to recruit Arrhenius for his research team. Arrhenius extensively broadened his ionic theory in 1884 and gave detailed definitions for acids and bases. He received a travel stipdent from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1886. Arrhenius revolutionized the study of electrolytes by stating that electrolytes are separated into ions when there is no current flowing through the solution. Controversies regarding the causes of the ice ages led Arrhenius to build the earliest climate model of the influence of atmospheric carbon dioxide, which he presented in “The Philosophical Magazine” in 1896. He therefore became the first scientist to discuss the effect of industrial activity on global warming. Arrhenius also performed extensive research on bacterial toxins and various plant and animal poisons. Later Life and Death In his last years he wrote both textbooks and popular books, trying to emphasize the need for further work on the topics he discussed. Svante Arrhenius suffered a serious attack of acute intestinal catarrh in September 1927. He died a few days later, on October 2, 1927. Buried in Uppsala, Arrhenius was 68 years old. Awards The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1903 was awarded to Svante Arrhenius "in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered to the advancement of chemistry by his electrolytic theory of dissociation". Arrhenius was elected a Foreign member of the Royal Society in 1911, and was awarded the Society's Davy medal and also the Faraday Medal of the Chemical Society (1914). Among the many tokens of distinction that he received were honorary degrees from the Universities of Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Greifswald, Groningen, Heidelberg, Leipzig and Oxford. References:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1903/ http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1903/arrhenius-bio.html http://www.famousscientists.org/svante-arrhenius/ http://famouschemists.org/svante-arrhenius/ |