Walther Nernst
Born	25 June 1864(1864-06-25) Briesen, West Prussia/Pomerania
Died	18 November 1941 (aged 77) Zibelle, Lusatia, Germany
Nationality	Germany
Fields	Physical chemistry
Institutions	University of Göttingen University of Berlin University of Leipzig
Alma mater	University of Zürich University of Berlin University of Graz University of Wurzburg
Doctoral advisor	Friedrich Kohlrausch
Other academic advisors	Ludwig Boltzmann
Doctoral students	Sir Frances Simon Richard Abegg Irving Langmuir Leonid Andrussow Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer Frederick Lindemann William Duane
Other notable students	Gilbert N. Lewis Max Bodenstein Robert von Lieben Kurt Mendelssohn Theodor Wulf Emil Bose Hermann Irving Schlesinger Claude Hudson
Known for	Third Law of Thermodynamics
Influenced	J. R. Partington
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in chemistry (1920)
Signature

Walther Hermann Nernst (25 June 1864 – 18 November 1941) was a German physicist who is known for his theories behind the calculation of chemical affinity as embodied in the third law of thermodynamics, for which he won the 1920 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Nernst helped establish the modern field of physical chemistry and contributed to electrochemistry, thermodynamics, solid state chemistry and photochemistry. He is also known for developing the Nernst equation.

Biography

Nernst was born in Briesen in West Prussia (now Wąbrzeźno, Poland), and although he considered himself as German, his mother was Polish¹ He studied physics and mathematics at the universities of Zürich, Berlin and Graz. After some work at Leipzig, he founded the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry at Göttingen. Nernst invented, in 1897, the Nernst lamp, an electric lamp using an incandescent ceramic rod (the successor to the carbon lamp and the precursor to the incandescent lamp). Nernst researched osmotic pressure and electrochemistry. In 1905, he established what he referred to as his "New Heat Theorem", later known as the Third law of thermodynamics (which describes the behavior of matter as temperatures approach absolute zero). This is the work for which he is best remembered, as it provided a means of determining free energies (and therefore equilibrium points) of chemical reactions from heat measurements. Theodore Richards claimed Nernst had stolen the idea from him, but Nernst is almost universally credited with the discovery.²

In 1920, he received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in recognition of his work in thermochemistry. In 1924, he became director of the Institute of Physical Chemistry at Berlin, a position from which he retired in 1933. Nernst went on to work in electroacoustics and astrophysics.

Nernst developed an electric piano, the "Neo-Bechstein-Flügel" in 1930 in association with the Bechstein and Siemens companies, replacing the sounding board with radio amplifiers. The piano used electromagnetic pickups to produce electronically modified and amplified sound in the same way as an electric guitar.

His device, a solid-body radiator with a filament of rare-earth oxides, and would later be known as the Nernst glower, is important in the field of infra-red spectroscopy, Continuous ohmic heating of the filament results in conduction. The glower operates best in wavelengths from two to 14 micrometers.

Nernst was a vocal critic of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, and he had two daughters who married Jews. In 1933, the rise of Nazism led to the end of Nernst's career as a scientist. Nernst died in 1941 and is buried near Max Planck in Göttingen, Germany.

Publications

• Walther Nernst, "Reasoning of theoretical chemistry: Nine papers (1889-1921)" (Ger., Begründung der Theoretischen Chemie : Neun Abhandlungen, 1889-1921). Frankfurt am Main : Verlag Harri Deutsch, c. 2003. ISBN 3817132905
• Walther Nernst, "The theoretical and experimental bases of the New Heat Theorem" (Ger., Die theoretischen und experimentellen Grundlagen des neuen Wärmesatzes). Halle [Ger.] W. Knapp, 1918 [tr. 1926]. [ed., this is a list of thermodynamical papers from the physico-chemical institute of the University of Berlin (1906-1916); Translation available by Guy Barr LCCN 27-2575
• Walther Nernst, "Theoretical chemistry from the standpoint of Avogadro's rule and thermodynamics" (Ger., Theoretische Chemie vom Standpunkte der Avogadroschen Regel und der Thermodynamik). Stuttgart, F. Enke, 1893 [5th edition, 1923]. LCCN po28-417

See also

• C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik

References

1. ^ http://www.wprost.pl/ar/140524/Z-ziemi-polskiej-do-Nobla/
2. ^ Coffey, Patrick (2008). Cathedrals of Science: The Personalities and Rivalries That Made Modern Chemistry. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp 78-81. ISBN 0195321340. 

• "Nernst: architect of physical revolution". Physics World, September 1999.
• Suhling, Lothar, "Walther Nernst and the ammonia synthesis after Haber and Bosch". ISBN 3928186159
• Katz, Eugenii, "Hermann Walther Nernst". Biographies of Famous Electrochemists and Physicists Contributed to Understanding of Electricity.

Further reading

• Mendelssohn, Kurt Alfred Georg (1973). The World of Walther Nernst: The Rise and Fall of German Science. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333148959. 
• Barkan, Diana Kormos (1998). Walther Nernst and the Transition to Modern Physical Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052144456X. 
• Bartel, Hans-Georg; Huebener, Rudolf P. (2007). Walther Nernst. Pioneer of Physics and of Chemistry. World Scientific. 
• Patrick, Coffey (2008). Cathedrals of Science: The Personalities and Rivalries That Made Modern Chemistry. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195321340. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Walther Hermann Nernst

• "Hermann Walther Nernst, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1920 : Prize Presentation". Presentation Speech by Professor Gerard de Geer, President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
• Schmitt, Ulrich, "Walther Nernst". Physicochemical institute, Göttingen