Eilhard Mitscherlich
Eilhard Mitscherlich (1794-1863)
Born	7 January 1794(1794-01-07) Neuende, Oldenburg
Died	28 August 1863 (aged 69) Schadenberg, Germany
Residence	Germany
Nationality	German
Fields	Chemist
Institutions	Berlin University
Alma mater	Göttingen University Berlin University University of Stockholm
Doctoral advisor	Friedrich Stromeyer
Doctoral students	Heinrich Gustav Magnus
Known for	Selenic acid ismorphism

Eilhard Mitscherlich (1794-1863) was a German chemist, who is perhaps best remembered today for his law of isomorphism (1819), which states that compounds crystallizing together probably have similar structures and compositions. Events 1325 - Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal. 1558 - France takes Calais, the last continental Year 1794 ( MDCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a ||-||-||-||} Oldenburg ( Low German: Ollnborg) is an Independent City in Lower Saxony, Germany. Events 475 - The Roman General Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his Capital Year 1863 ( MDCCCLXIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. A chemist is a Scientist trained in the Science of Chemistry. For other universities in Berlin see List of Universities in Berlin. Alma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother" It was used in Ancient Rome as a title for the mother Goddess, and in Medieval The University of Göttingen ( German: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) is a University in the city of Göttingen, Germany. For other universities in Berlin see List of Universities in Berlin. Stockholm University ( Stockholms universitet) is a state University in Stockholm, Sweden. A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement Friedrich Stromeyer (1776 - 1835 was a German Chemist. Stromeyer received his degree from the University of Gottingen in 1800 Heinrich Gustav Magnus (2 May 1802 &ndash 4 April 1870 was a German Chemist and Physicist. Selenic acid is the Chemical compound with the formula H2 SeO sub>4 This relationship was used by Berzelius in early attempts to assign relative masses to the elements. Friherre Jöns Jacob Berzelius (20 August 1779 &ndash 7 August 1848 was a Swedish chemist

Early life and work

Mitscherlich was born on January 7, 1794 at Neuende near Jever, in the grand duchy of Oldenburg, where his father was pastor. Events 1325 - Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal. 1558 - France takes Calais, the last continental Year 1794 ( MDCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Jever (ˈjeːfɐ the pronunciation /ˈjeːvɐ/ is also often heard from non-locals is the capital of the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony, Germany A duchy is a territory fief, or domain ruled by a Duke or Duchess. ||-||-||-||} Oldenburg ( Low German: Ollnborg) is an Independent City in Lower Saxony, Germany. His uncle, Christoph Wilhelm Mitscherlich (1760-1854), professor at Göttingen, was in his day a celebrated scholar. Christoph Wilhelm Mitscherlich (1760 &ndash 1854 was a German Classical scholar. Göttingen ( ˈgœtɪŋən, Low German: Chöttingen is a College town in Lower Saxony, Germany. He was educated at Jever under the historian F. C. Schlosser, when he went to Heidelberg in 1811, and devoted himself to philology, giving special attention to the Persian language. Heidelberg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. As of 2006 over 140000 people live within the city's area See Comparative linguistics for the narrower field of "comparative philology" In 1813 he went to Paris to obtain permission to join the embassy which Napoleon I was sending to Persia. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia

The events of 1814 put an end to this, and Mitscherlich resolved to study medicine in order that he might enjoy that freedom of travel usually allowed in the East to physicians. Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the He began at Göttingen with the study of chemistry, and this so arrested his attention that he gave up the journey to Persia. Chemistry (from Egyptian kēme (chem meaning "earth") is the Science concerned with the composition structure and properties From his Gottingen days dates the treatise on certain parts of Eurasian history, compiled from manuscripts in the university library and published in Persian and Latin in 1814, under the title Mirchondi historia Thaheridarum historicis nostris hucusque incognitorum Persiae principum. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome.

In 1818 Mitscherlich went to Berlin and worked in the laboratory of H. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. F. Link (1767-1851). There he made analyses of phosphates and phosphites, arsenates and arsenites, confirming the conclusions of J. J. Berzelius as to their composition; and his observation that corresponding phosphates and arsenates crystallize in the same form was the germ from which grew the theory of isomorphism, which he communicated to the Berlin Academy in December 1819. A phosphate, an Inorganic chemical, is a salt of Phosphoric acid. The phosphite ion (PO33− is a Polyatomic ion with a Phosphorus central atom The arsenate Ion is As[[Oxygen O]]43&minusAn arsenate (compound is any compound that contains this ion The arsenite Ion is As[[Oxygen O]]33&minusAn arsenite (compound is any compound that contains this ion Friherre Jöns Jacob Berzelius (20 August 1779 &ndash 7 August 1848 was a Swedish chemist In Materials science, a crystal is a Solid in which the constituent Atoms Molecules or Ions are packed in a regularly ordered repeating In that year Berzelius suggested Mitscherlich to the minister Altenstein as successor to M. H. Klaproth at Berlin. Altenstein did not immediately carry out this proposal, but he obtained for Mitscheriich a government grant to enable him to continue his studies in Berzelius' laboratory at Stockholm. ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the He returned to Berlin in 1821, and in the summer of 1822 he delivered his first lecture as extraordinary professor of chemistry in the university, where in 1825 he was appointed ordinary professor.

Isomorphism

Eilhard Mitscherlich

In the course of investigating slight differences discovered by William Hyde Wollaston in the angles of the rhombohedra of the carbonates isomorphous with calc-spar, Mitscherlich observed that the angle in the case of calc-spar varied with the temperature. William Hyde Wollaston FRS ( August 6, 1766 &ndash December 22, 1828) was an English Chemist and physicist In Chemistry, a carbonate is a salt or Ester of Carbonic acid. Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of Calcium carbonate ( Ca[[carbon C]] O 3 On extending this inquiry to other aelotropic crystals, he observed a similar variation, and was thus led, in 1825, to the discovery that aelotropic crystals, when heated, expand unequally in the direction of dissimilar axes. In the following year he discovered the change, produced by change of temperature, in the direction of the optic axes of selenite. This article is about the Mineral: for other meanings see Selenite (disambiguation. His investigation, also in 1826, of the two crystalline modifications of sulphur threw much light on the fact that the two minerals calc-spar and aragonite have the same composition but different crystalline forms, a property which Mitscherlich called isomorphism. Sulfur or sulphur (ˈsʌlfɚ see spelling below) is the Chemical element that has the Atomic number 16 A mineral is a naturally occurring substance formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition a highly ordered atomic structure and specific Aragonite is a Carbonate mineral, one of the two common naturally occurring polymorphs of Calcium carbonate, Ca[[carbon C]] O 3 ^[1][2]

Later work and last years

In 1833 he made a series of careful determinations of the vapour densities of a large number of volatile substances, confirming the law of Gay-Lussac. Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (also Louis Joseph Gay-Lussac, December 6, 1778 – May 9, 1850) was a French chemist He obtained selenic acid in 1827 and showed that its salts are isomorphous with the sulphates, while a few years later he proved that the same thing is true of the manganates and the sulphates, and of the permanganates and the perchlorates. Selenic acid is the Chemical compound with the formula H2 SeO sub>4 Salt is a Dietary mineral composed primarily of Sodium chloride that is essential for Animal life but toxic to most land plants The manganate ion is MnO42− and a manganate is any compound that contains the MnO42− group Perchlorates are the salts derived from Perchloric acid ( H[[chlorine Cl]] O4) He investigated the relation of benzene to benzoic acid and to other derivatives. Benzene, or benzol, is an organic Chemical compound and a known Carcinogen with the molecular formula C 6 H 6 Benzoic acid, C7H6O2 (or C6H5COOH is a colorless crystalline solid and the simplest Aromatic Carboxylic acid In 1829-1830 he published his Lehrbuch der Chemie, which embodied many original observations. His interest in mineralogy led him to study the geology of volcanic regions, and he made frequent visits to the Eifel with a view to the discovery of a theory of volcanic action. Mineralogy is an Earth Science focused around the Chemistry, Crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of Minerals Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia and northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate He did not, however, publish any papers on the subject, though after his death his notes were arranged and published by Dr. J. L. A. Roth in the Memoirs of the Berlin Academy (1866).

In December 1861 symptoms of heart disease made their appearance, but Mitscherlich was able to carry on his academic work until December 1862. Heart disease is an Umbrella term for a variety for different diseases affecting the Heart.

He died at Schadenberg near Berlin, on the 28th of August 1863, and was buried in the St Matthäus Kirchhof Cemetery in Schöneberg, Berlin, close to the (eventual) gravesites of Gustav Kirchhoff and Leopold Kronecker. Schöneberg is a locality of Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. Gustav Robert Kirchhoff ( March 12, 1824 &ndash October 17, 1887) was a German Physicist who contributed to the fundamental Leopold Kronecker ( December 7, 1823 – December 29, 1891) was a German Mathematician and Logician who argued

Papers

Mitscherlich's grave in Berlin

Mitscherlich's published papers are chiefly to be found in the Ablsendlungen of the Berlin Academy, in Poggendorff's Annalen, and in the Annales de chemie et tie physique.

The fourth edition of Mitscherlich's Lehrbuch der Chemie was published in 1844-1847; a fifth was begun in 1855, but was never completed.

References

Further reading

• Eilhard Mitscherlich: Prince of Prussian Chemistry by Hans-Werner Scuhtt, 1997, ISBN 0-8412-3345-4
• Obituary of Eilhard Mitscherlich in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, volume XIII, 1864 (pages ix - xvi, near the end of the volume)
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone