Historical Figures Codexery

Friedrich Wöhler

German chemist who first isolated beryllium and yttrium in pure metallic form and synthesized urea, challenging vitalism.

He is known for first isolating the elements beryllium and yttrium in pure metallic form and for synthesizing urea from inorganic substances.[1][2]

Quick Facts

Born
31 July 1800
Birthplace
Eschersheim, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, Holy Roman Empire (now Frankfurt-Eschersheim, Hesse, Germany)
Education
Heidelberg University
Died
23 September 1882
Place of death
Göttingen, Province of Hanover, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Field
Organic chemistry; Biochemistry
Workplaces
  • Berliner Gewerbeschule
  • Höhere Gewerbeschule at Kassel
  • University of Göttingen
Doctoral advisor
Leopold Gmelin; Jöns Jakob Berzelius

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

After studying at Marburg University in 1820, he passed examinations as a Doctor of Medicine at Heidelberg University in 1823.[3][4] Wöhler taught at the Gewerbeschule in Berlin from 1826 to 1831 and then at Kassel until 1836.[5] In spring 1836 he became Ordinary Professor of Chemistry at the University of Göttingen, holding the chair for 46 years.[5] He married his cousin Franziska Maria Wöhler in 1828, and after her death married Julie Pfeiffer in 1834.[6][7]

What the cited sources add

The same source describes Wöhler’s accidental synthesis of urea in 1828 while attempting to prepare ammonium cyanate.[8] The Scientific American Supplement states that Wöhler proved by artificial preparation of urea that the vitalist view could not be maintained.[9] That supplement also reports that Wöhler and Sainte Claire Deville discovered crystalline boron, and Wöhler and Buff discovered hydrogen compounds of silicium.[9] The Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig records that Wöhler was a professor of medicine, chemistry, and pharmacy at Göttingen and a pioneer of organic chemistry and biochemistry.[10]

The BBC account by Philip Ball notes that Wöhler created urea from decidedly non-living substances in 1828.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Friedrich Wöhler" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Justus von Liebig and Friedrich Wöhler", sciencehistory.org, June 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Friedrich Wöhler" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Life and Work of Friedrich Wöhler (1800–1882)", Bautz, 2005; "Justus von Liebig and Friedrich Wöhler", sciencehistory.org, June 2016; Kinne-Saffran, "Vitalism and synthesis of urea. From Friedrich Wöhler to Hans A. Krebs", American Journal of Nephrology, 1999, p. 290–294; Ball, "Urea and the Wohler Myth", BBC (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Friedrich Wöhler" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Weeks, "The discovery of the elements", Journal of Chemical Education, 1956; Partington, "History of Chemistry, vol. 4", Macmillan, 1964, p. 320–331 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Friedrich Wöhler" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Weeks, "The discovery of the elements", Journal of Chemical Education, 1956; Kauffman, "Friedrich Wöhler (1800–1882), on the Bicentennial of His Birth", The Chemical Educator, 2001, p. 121–133 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Friedrich Wöhler" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Partington, "History of Chemistry, vol. 4", Macmillan, 1964, p. 320–331 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Friedrich Wöhler" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Friedrich Wöhler", Encyclopædia Britannica (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Friedrich Wöhler" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Wöhler, Friedrich", Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig; "Hessian Biography: Wöhler, Friedrich", Hessian Regional History Information System (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Justus von Liebig and Friedrich Wöhler", sciencehistory.org, June 2016. facts only, no text reused. sciencehistory.org
  9. Scientific American Supplement No. 362, 9 Dec 1882. Fullbooks.com. Retrieved on 28 May 2014.. facts only, no text reused. fullbooks.com
  10. "Wöhler, Friedrich", Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig. facts only, no text reused. drw.saw-leipzig.de
  11. Ball, "Urea and the Wohler Myth", BBC. facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Friedrich Wöhler (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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