View source for Walther Nernst

{{Short description|German physical chemist (1864–1941)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Walther Nernst
| honorific_suffix  = {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Foreign Member of the Royal Society|FRS]]|size=100%}}<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Cherwell | last2 = Simon | first2 = F. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1942.0010 | title = Walther Nernst. 1864-1941 | journal = [[Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 4 | issue = 11 | pages = 101 | year = 1942 | s2cid = 123003922 }}</ref>
| image             = Walther Nernst 1900s.jpg
| birth_name        =
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1864|6|25|df=y}}
| birth_place       = Briesen, [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]<br>(now [[Wąbrzeźno]], [[Poland]])
| death_date        = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|1941|11|18|1864|6|25|df=y}}}}
| death_place       = Zibelle, [[Gau Lower Silesia]], [[Nazi Germany]]<br>(now [[Niwica, Żary County|Niwica]], Poland)
| nationality       = [[Germans|German]]
| fields            = [[Chemistry]]
| workplaces        = [[Georg August University of Göttingen]]<br>[[University of Berlin|Friedrich Wilhelm University]]<br>[[Leipzig University]]
| alma_mater        = [[University of Zurich]]<br>[[University of Berlin|Friedrich Wilhelm University]]<br>[[University of Graz]]<br>[[Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg]]
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Friedrich Kohlrausch (physicist)|Friedrich Kohlrausch]]{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}
| academic_advisors = [[Ludwig Boltzmann]]
| doctoral_students = [[Francis Simon|Sir Francis Simon]] <br>[[Richard Abegg]] <br>[[Irving Langmuir]] <br>[[Leonid Andrussow]] <br>[[Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer]]<br>[[Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell|Frederick Lindemann]]<br>[[William Duane (physicist)|William Duane]]<br>[[Margaret Eliza Maltby]] <br>[[Arnold Eucken]]
| notable_students  = [[Gilbert N. Lewis]]<br>[[Max Bodenstein]]<br>[[Robert von Lieben]]<br>[[Kurt Mendelssohn]]<br>[[Theodor Wulf]]<br>[[Emil Bose]]<br>[[Hermann Irving Schlesinger]]<br>[[Claude Hudson]]
| known_for         = [[Third Law of Thermodynamics]]<br>[[Nernst lamp]]<br>[[Nernst equation]]<br>[[Nernst effect]]<br>[[Nernst heat theorem]]<br>[[Nernst potential]]<br>[[Nernst–Planck equation]]<br>[[Distribution law|Nernst's distribution law]] <!--- [[electric grand piano|Electric piano]]<br>[[Cubic zirconia|Cubic stabilized zirconia (CSZ)]] -->
| awards            = [[List of recipients of the Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts|Pour le Mérite]] (1917) <br> [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] (1920)<br>[[Franklin Medal]] (1928) <br> [[Fellow of the Royal Society|ForMemRS]] (1932)
| signature         = Walther Hermann Nernst sig.gif
| spouse            = Emma Lohmeyer<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1920/nernst/biographical/ | title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1920 }}</ref> 
}}
[[File:Nernst-9.jpg|alt=Title page to The New Theorem of Heat (1926)|thumb|298x298px|''The New Heat Theorem'' (1926)]]
'''Walther Hermann Nernst''' {{postnominals|country=UK|ForMemRS}} ({{IPA|de|ˈvaltɐ ˈnɛʁnst|-|De-Walther Nernst.ogg}}; 25 June 1864 – 18 November 1941) was a German  [[physical chemist]] known for his work in [[thermodynamics]], [[physical chemistry]], [[electrochemistry]], and [[solid-state physics]]. His formulation of the [[Nernst heat theorem]] helped pave the way for the [[third law of thermodynamics]], for which he won the 1920 [[Nobel Prize in chemistry|Nobel Prize in Chemistry]]. He is also known for developing the [[Nernst equation]] in 1887.

He studied physics and mathematics at the universities of [[University of Zurich|Zürich]], [[University of Berlin|Berlin]], [[University of Graz|Graz]] and [[University of Würzburg|Würzburg]], where he received his [[Doctor of Science|doctorate]] 1887.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mendelssohn |first1=K. |title=The World of Walther Nernst |date=1973 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |isbn=978-0-8229-1109-8 |page=39}}</ref> In 1889, he finished his [[habilitation]] at [[Universität Leipzig|University of Leipzig]].

==Life and career==

===Early years===
Nernst was born in Briesen, Germany (now [[Wąbrzeźno]], Poland) to Gustav Nernst (1827–1888) and Ottilie Nerger (1833–1876).<ref>{{cite book|last=Barkan|first=Diana|title=Walther Nernst and the transition to modern physical science|year=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-44456-9}}</ref><ref>Bartel, Hans-Georg, (1999) [http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz71086.html "Nernst, Walther"], pp. 66–68 in ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'', Vol. 19</ref> His father was a country judge. Nernst had three older sisters and one younger brother. His third sister died of [[cholera]]. Nernst went to elementary school at [[Graudenz]], Germany (now [[Grudziądz]], Poland).

===Studies===

[[File:Walther Nernst.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Walther Nernst in 1889.]]
Nernst started undergraduate studies at the [[University of Zurich|University of Zürich]] in 1883, then after an interlude in [[university of Berlin|Berlin]], he returned to Zürich.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nernst.de/|title=Walther Nernst Memorial|website=www.nernst.de}}</ref> He wrote his thesis at [[University of Graz]], where [[Ludwig Boltzmann]] was professor, though he worked under the direction of [[Albert von Ettingshausen|Albert von Ettinghausen]]. They discovered the [[Ettingshausen effect|Ettingshausen]] and [[Nernst effect]]s: that a magnetic field applied perpendicular to a metallic conductor in a temperature gradient gives rise to an electrical potential difference, reciprocally, an electric potential difference produces a thermal gradient. Next, he moved to the [[University of Würzburg]] under [[Friedrich Kohlrausch (physicist)|Friedrich Kohlrausch]] where he submitted and defended his thesis.

=== Professional career ===
[[Wilhelm Ostwald]] recruited him to the first department of physical chemistry at [[Leipzig University]]. Nernst moved there as an assistant, working on the thermodynamics of electrical currents in solutions. Promoted to lecturer, he taught briefly at the [[Heidelberg University]] and then moved to the [[University of Göttingen]]. Three years later, he was offered a professorship in [[University of Munich|Munich]]. To keep him in Prussia the government created a chair for him at Göttingen. There, he wrote a celebrated textbook ''Theoretical Chemistry'', which was translated into English, French, and Russian. He also derived the [[Nernst equation]] for the electrical potential generated by unequal concentrations of an ion separated by a membrane that is permeable to the ion. His equation is widely used in cell physiology and neurobiology.

The [[Incandescent light bulb|carbon electric filament lamp]] then in use was dim and expensive because it required a vacuum in its bulb. Nernst invented a solid-body radiator with a filament of rare-earth oxides, known as the [[Nernst lamp|Nernst glower]], it is still important in the field of [[infrared spectroscopy]]. Continuous [[Joule heating|ohmic heating]] of the filament results in conduction. The glower operates best in wavelengths from 2 to 14 micrometers. It gives a bright light but only after a warm-up period. Nernst sold the patent for one million marks, wisely not opting for royalties because soon the tungsten filament lamp filled with inert gas was introduced. With his riches, Nernst in 1898 bought the first of the eighteen automobiles he owned during his lifetime and a country estate of more than five hundred hectares for hunting. He increased the power of his early automobiles by carrying a cylinder of [[nitrous oxide]] that he could inject into the carburetor.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cherwell|first1=F. Simon|title=Walther Nernst, 1864–1941|journal=Obit. Not. Fell. R. Soc. Lond.|date=1942|volume=4|issue=11|page=1022}}</ref> After eighteen productive years at Göttingen, investigating [[osmotic pressure]] and [[electrochemistry]] and presenting a theory of how nerves conduct, he moved to Berlin, and was awarded the title of ''[[Geheimrat]]''.

[[File:Nernst, Walther 1912.jpg|left|thumb|Nernst 1912, portrait by [[Max Liebermann]]]]

In 1905, he proposed his "New Heat Theorem", later known as the [[Third law of thermodynamics]]. He showed that as the temperature approached absolute zero, the [[entropy]] approaches zero {{mdash}} while the [[Gibbs free energy|free energy]] remains above zero. This is the work for which he is best remembered, as it enabled chemists to determine free energies (and therefore equilibrium points) of [[chemical reaction]]s from heat measurements. [[Theodore William Richards|Theodore Richards]] claimed that Nernst had stolen his idea, but Nernst is almost universally credited with the discovery.<ref>{{cite book | last=Coffey | first=Patrick| pages=[https://archive.org/details/cathedralsscienc00coff/page/n98 78]–81 | title=Cathedrals of Science: The Personalities and Rivalries That Made Modern Chemistry | url=https://archive.org/details/cathedralsscienc00coff | url-access=registration | location=Oxford | publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-19-532134-0}}</ref> Nernst became friendly with [[Wilhelm I|Kaiser Wilhelm]], whom he persuaded to found the [[Kaiser Wilhelm Society|''Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft'']] for the Advancement of the Sciences with an initial capital of eleven million marks. Nernst's laboratory discovered that at low temperatures [[specific Heat|specific heats]] fell markedly and would probably disappear at absolute zero. This fall was predicted for liquids and solids in a 1909 paper of [[Albert Einstein]]'s on the [[quantum mechanics]] of specific heats at cryogenic temperatures. Nernst was so impressed that he traveled all the way to [[Zürich]] to visit Einstein, who was relatively unknown in Zürich in 1909, so people said: "Einstein must be a clever fellow if the great Nernst comes all the way from Berlin to Zürich to talk to him."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stone|first1=A. Douglas|title=Einstein and the quantum : the quest of the valiant Swabian|url=https://archive.org/details/einsteinquantumq0000ston|url-access=registration|date=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/einsteinquantumq0000ston/page/146 146]|isbn=9780691139685 }}</ref> Nernst and Planck lobbied to establish a special professorship in Berlin and Nernst donated to its endowment. In 1913 they traveled to Switzerland to persuade Einstein to accept it; a dream job: a named professorship at the top university in Germany, without teaching duties, leaving him free for research.<ref>Stone 2013, p. 165.</ref>

In 1911, Nernst and [[Max Planck]] organized the first [[Solvay Conference]] in Brussels. In the following year, the [[impressionist]] painter [[Max Liebermann]] painted his portrait.

=== World War I ===
In 1914, the Nernsts were entertaining co-workers and students they had brought to their country estate in a private railway car when they learned that war had been declared. Their two older sons entered the army, while thé father enlisted in the voluntary driver's corps. He supported the German army against their opponent's charges of barbarism by signing the [[Manifesto of the Ninety-Three]], On 21 August 1914, he drove documents from Berlin to the commander of the German right wing in France, advancing with them for two weeks until he could see the glow of the Paris lights at night. The tide turned at the [[First Battle of the Marne|battle of the Marne]]. When the stalemate in the trenches began, he returned home. He contacted Colonel [[Max Bauer]], the staff officer responsible for munitions, with the idea of driving the defenders out of their trenches with shells releasing tear gas.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Van der Kloot|first1=W.|title=April 1918: Five Future Nobel prize-winners inaugurate weapons of mass destruction and the academic-industrial-military complex|journal=Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond.|date=2004|volume=58|issue=2|pages=149–160|doi=10.1098/rsnr.2004.0053|s2cid=145243958}}</ref> When his idea was tried one of the observers was [[Fritz Haber]], who argued that too many shells would be needed, it would be better to release a cloud of heavier-than-air poisonous gas; the first [[chlorine]] cloud attack on 22 April 1915 was not supported by a strong infantry thrust, so the chance that gas would break the stalemate was irrevocably gone. Nernst was awarded the [[Iron Cross]] second class. As a Staff Scientific Advisor in the [[Imperial German Army]], he directed research on explosives, much of which was done in his laboratory where they developed [[guanidine]] perchlorate. Then he worked on the development of trench mortars. He was awarded the Iron Cross first class and later the ''[[Pour le Mérite]]''. When the high command was considering unleashing unrestricted submarine warfare, he asked the Kaiser for an opportunity to warn about the enormous potential of the United States as an adversary. They would not listen, General [[Erich Ludendorff]] shouted him down for "incompetent nonsense."<ref>Mendelssohn 1973, p. 92</ref>

=== Return to research ===
Nernst published his book ''The Foundations of the New Heat Theorem''. In 1918, after studying [[photochemistry]], he proposed the atomic chain reaction theory. It stated that when a reaction in which free atoms are formed that can decompose target molecules into more free atoms would result in a chain reaction. His theory is closely related to the natural process of [[Nuclear Fission|nuclear fission]].

In 1920, he and his family briefly fled abroad because he was one of the scientists on the [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] list of war criminals. Later that year he received the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] in recognition of his work on [[thermochemistry]]. He was elected Rector of [[Humboldt University of Berlin|Berlin University]] for 1921–1922. He set up an agency to channel government and private funds to young scientists and declined becoming Ambassador to the United States. For two unhappy years, he was the president of the ''Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt'' (National Physical Laboratory), where he could not cope with the "mixture of mediocrity and red tape".<ref>Mendelssohn 1973, p. 138.</ref> In 1924, he became director of the ''Institute of Physical Chemistry'' at Berlin.

In 1927, the decrease in specific heat at low temperatures was extended to gases. He studied the theories of cosmic rays and cosmology.

Although a press release described him as "completely unmusical",<ref>Mendelssohn 1973, p. 139.</ref> Nernst developed an [[electric grand piano|electric piano]], the [[Neo-Bechstein|Neo-Bechstein-Flügel]] in 1930 in association with the [[C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik|Bechstein]] and [[Siemens]] companies, replacing the [[sounding board]] with [[Valve amplifier|vacuum tube amplifiers]]. The piano used electromagnetic [[Pick up (music technology)|pickup]]s to produce electronically modified and amplified sound in the same way as an [[electric guitar]]. In fact, he was a pianist, sometimes accompanying Einstein's violin.{{Circular reference|date=April 2018}}

=== Rejection of antisemitism ===
In 1933, Nernst learned that a colleague, with whom he had hoped to collaborate, had been dismissed from the department because he was a Jew. Nernst immediately taxied to see Haber to request a position in his Institute, which was not controlled by the government, only to learn that Haber was moving to England. Soon, Nernst was in trouble for declining to fill out a government form on his racial origins. He retired from his professorship but was sacked from the board of the [[Kaiser Wilhelm Society|Kaiser Wilhelm Institute]]. He lived quietly in the country; in 1937 he traveled to the [[University of Oxford]] to receive an honorary degree, also visiting his eldest daughter, her husband, and his three grandchildren.

=== Death ===
Nernst had a severe heart attack in 1939. He died in 1941 at Zibelle, Germany (now [[Niwica]], Poland). He was buried three times.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Laidler |first1=Keith J. |title=To Light such a Candle |date=1993 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=56–59}}</ref> He was buried the first time near the place of his death. However, his remains were moved to Berlin, where he was buried a second time. Finally they were moved again and buried near the graves of [[Max Planck]], [[Otto Hahn]] and [[Max von Laue]] in [[Göttingen]], Germany.<ref name="Nobel">{{Nobelprize}}</ref>

== Personal life and family ==
Nernst married Emma Lohmeyer in 1892 with whom he had two sons and three daughters. Both of Nernst's sons died fighting in World War I.

With his colleagues at the University of Leipzig, [[Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff|Jacobus Henricus van’t Hoff]] and [[Svante Arrhenius]], he was establishing the foundations of a new theoretical and experimental field of inquiry within chemistry and suggested setting fire to unused coal seams to increase the global temperature.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.socphyschemserb.org/media/publications/pc2016.pdf |title=Physical Chemistry 2016,13th International Conference on Fundamental and Applied Aspects of Physical Chemistry |publisher=The Society of Physical Chemists of Serbia |year=2016 |isbn=978-86-82475-33-0 |volume=II |pages=880}}</ref> He was a vocal critic of [[Adolf Hitler]] and of [[Nazism]], and two of his three daughters married [[Jew]]ish men. After Hitler came to power they emigrated, one to England and the other to Brazil.

=== Personality ===
Nernst was mechanically minded in that he was always thinking of ways to apply new discoveries to industry. His hobbies included hunting and fishing.<ref name="Nobel" /> His friend Albert Einstein was amused by "his childlike vanity and self-complacency"<ref>{{Cite web |title=W. Nernst (A. Einstein, 1942) |url=http://www.nernst.de/nernst_einstein1942.htm |website=nernst.de}}</ref> "His own study and laboratory always presented aspects of extreme chaos which his coworkers termed appropriately 'the state of maximum entropy'".<ref>Mendelssohn 1973, p. 70.</ref>

==Honours==
* 1923, botanist [[Ignatz Urban]] published ''[[Nernstia]]'', which is a [[genus]] of [[flowering plant]]s from Mexico, in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Rubiaceae]] and named in his honour.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nernstia mexicana (Zucc. & Mart. ex DC.) Urb.|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-135216|website=The Plant List |accessdate=25 March 2016}}</ref>
* Honorary membership of the [[Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society]] 5 April 1910.<ref>Memoirs And Proceedings Of The Manchester Literary And Philosophical Society Vol-46-47 (1947)</ref>

==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|3-8171-3290-5}}
* 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|27002575}}
* Walther Nernst, "''Theoretical chemistry from the standpoint of [[Avogadro's law]] and thermodynamics''" (Ger., Theoretische Chemie vom Standpunkte der Avogadroschen Regel und der Thermodynamik). Stuttgart, F. Enke, 1893 [5th edition, 1923]. {{LCCN|po28000417}}

==See also==
*[[German inventors and discoverers]]
*[[Chain reaction]]
*[[Cosmological constant problem]]
*[[Cosmic background radiation]]
*[[History of electrophoresis]]
*[[Einstein relation (kinetic theory)#Nernst–Einstein equation|Nernst–Einstein equation]]
*[[Electrode potential#Sign conventions|Nernst–Lewis–Latimer convention]]
*[[Solid state ionics]]
*[[Stochastic electrodynamics]]
*[[Threshold potential]]
*[[Tired light]]
*[[Zero-point energy]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Cited sources==
*Stone, A. Douglas (2013) ''Einstein and the Quantum''. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|1-4915-3104-5}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last=Barkan | first=Diana Kormos | title=Walther Nernst and the Transition to Modern Physical Science | location=Cambridge| publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=1998 | isbn=978-0-521-44456-9}}
* {{cite book | last=Bartel | first=Hans-Georg|author2=Huebener, Rudolf P. | title=Walther Nernst. Pioneer of Physics and of Chemistry | location=Singapore | publisher=[[World Scientific]] | year=2007 | isbn=978-981-256-560-0}}
* {{cite book | last=Mendelssohn | first=Kurt Alfred Georg | title=The World of Walther Nernst: The Rise and Fall of German Science | location=London| publisher=Macmillan | year=1973 | isbn=978-0-333-14895-2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* {{cite web | author = Katz, Eugenii | url = http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/nernst.htm | title = Hermann Walther Nernst | access-date = 5 December 2008 | archive-date = 6 October 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061006151835/http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/nernst.htm | url-status = dead }}
* {{cite web | url = http://physicsweb.org/article/review/12/9/3 | title = Nernst: architect of physical revolution | date = September 1999 | work = Physics World | access-date = 17 March 2004 | archive-date = 8 August 2004 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040808113955/http://physicsweb.org/article/review/12/9/3 | url-status = dead }} – Review of Diana Barkan's ''Walther Nernst and the Transition to Modern Physical Science''
* "''Hermann Walther Nernst, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1920 : [http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/nernst_nobel.htm Prize Presentation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040302083028/http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/nernst_nobel.htm |date=2 March 2004 }}''". Presentation Speech by Professor [[Gerard De Geer]], President of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]].
* Schmitt, Ulrich, "''[http://www.nernst.de/ Walther Nernst]''". Physicochemical institute, Göttingen
* {{cite web|url=http://218.246.35.11/edufullmirror/nobelmirror/nobelmirror02/chem1001290402_11264547.pdf|title=Walther Nernst|work=nobelmirror|access-date=14 February 2012|archive-date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314192615/http://218.246.35.11/edufullmirror/nobelmirror/nobelmirror02/chem1001290402_11264547.pdf|url-status=dead}}
* {{MathGenealogy}}
* {{PM20}}
* {{cite web | author = Cassius Klay Nascimento, João Pedro Braga | url = http://quimicanova.sbq.org.br/imagebank/pdf/AG20180394.pdf|title=Walther Nernst Lecture in Brazil}}
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture, 12 December 1921 ''Studies in Chemical Thermodynamics''

{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1901-1925}}
{{1920 Nobel Prize laureates}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nernst, Walther}}
[[Category:Walther Nernst| ]]
[[Category:1864 births]]
[[Category:1941 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Wąbrzeźno]]
[[Category:Scientists from the Province of Prussia]]
[[Category:German physical chemists]]
[[Category:Thermodynamicists]]
[[Category:Inventors of musical instruments]]
[[Category:19th-century German chemists]]
[[Category:20th-century German chemists]]
[[Category:Rare earth scientists]]
[[Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni]]
[[Category:University of Würzburg alumni]]
[[Category:University of Graz alumni]]
[[Category:People associated with the University of Zurich]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Göttingen]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:German Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry]]
[[Category:German people of World War I]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:Recipients of Franklin Medal]]