NEPNCT Walter

June 25, 1864, Mr.. - November 18, 1941
German chemist Walther Hermann Nernst was born in Brizene, a town of East Prussia (now Wд?brzeе?no, Poland). N. was the third child of a Prussian judges in civil cases Gustav Nernst and Ottilie (Nerger) Nernst. In high school in Graudenz he studied natural sciences, literature and classical languages, and in 1883 graduated its first student in the class. N. wanted to become a poet, but his chemistry teacher aroused his interest in science
From 1883 to 1887, Mr. H. studied physics at the universities of Zurich (in Henri Weber), Berlin (with Hermann von Helmholtz), Graz (the Ludwig Boltzmann) and Wurzburg (Frederick VG. Kohlrausch) Boltzmann, who attached great importance to the interpretation of natural phenomena, based on the theory of atomic structure of matter, led H. to study the confounding effects of magnetism and heat to electric current Job, . carried out under the leadership of the Kohlrausch, . led to the discovery of a metallic conductor, . heated at one end and perpendicular to the electric field, . generates electricity,
. For this study N. 1887, Mr. received his doctorate.
Around the same time, H. met with chemists Svante Arrhenius, Wilhelm Ostwald and Jacob van't Hoff. Ostwald and van't Hoff had just started to produce 'Journal of Physical Chemistry' ( "Zeitschnft fur physikalische Chemie"), in which they reported on the increasing use of physical methods to solve chemical problems. In 1887, Mr.. N. became assistant Ostwald at Leipzig University, and soon it began to be considered one of the founders of a new discipline - physical chemistry, despite the fact that he was much younger than Ostwald. Van't Hoff and Arrhenius.
In Leipzig, H. worked on the theoretical and practical problems of physical chemistry. In 1888 and 1889. He studied the behavior of electrolytes (solutions of electrically charged particles, or ions) when an electric current and discovered the fundamental law, known as the Nernst equation. The law establishes the relationship between the electromotive force (potential difference) and the ion concentration Nernst equation allows to predict the maximum working capacity, . which can be obtained as a result of electrochemical interactions (eg, . maximum potential difference of chemical battery), . when known only simple physical parameters: pressure and temperature,
. Thus, this law relates to the thermodynamics of the electrochemical theory in solving problems related to very dilute solutions. Through this work, 25-year N. won international recognition.
In 1890 1891 he. N. studied substances that when dissolved in liquids do not mix with each other. He developed his law distribution and described the behavior of these substances as a function of the concentration of Henry's Law, which describes the solubility of gas in the liquid, later became known as a special case of a more general law of Nernst. Nernst distribution law is important for medicine and biology, as it allows to study the distribution of substances in different parts of a living organism
In 1891, Mr.. N. was appointed associate professor of physics at the University of GцІttingen. Two years later, was written by him published a textbook of physical chemistry of 'Theoretical Chemistry from the standpoint of Avogadro's law and thermodynamics' ( "Theoretical Chemistry From the Standpoint of Avogadro's Rule and Thermodynamics"), . which has gone into 15 editions and served more than three decades,
. Considering himself a physicist involved in chemistry, H. identified a new object of physical chemistry as 'the intersection of two sciences, is still to some extent independent of each other'
The basis of the physical chemistry of H. put the hypothesis of the Italian chemist Amedeo Avogadro, who believed that equal volumes of any gas always contains the same number of molecules N. called it a 'cornucopia' molecular theory. Of equal importance was the thermodynamic law of conservation of energy, which underlies all the natural processes of H. emphasized that the basis of physical chemistry is to use these two main principles to the solution of scientific problems.
In 1894, Mr.. N. became professor of physical chemistry at Gottingen University and created the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry of Kaiser Wilhelm. However, acceded to a group of scientists from different countries, he dealt with it the study of problems such as polarization, dielectric constants and chemical equilibrium.
In 1905, Mr.. N. left GцІttingen to become a professor of chemistry at the University of Berlin. In the same year, he set out his 'heat theorem', now known as the third law of thermodynamics. This theorem allows us to use the thermal data to calculate the chemical equilibrium - in other words, to predict how far will this reaction before equilibrium is reached. During the following decade, H. defended constantly checking the correctness of the theorem, which was later used in such totally different purposes, as a test of quantum theory and the industrial synthesis of ammonia - an important step in the production of explosives.
. In 1912, Mr.
. N., on the basis of the extracted heat of the law, substantiated the inaccessibility of absolute zero. 'Impossible, he said, to create a heat engine in which the temperature of the substance would be reduced to absolute zero'. Based on this conclusion, H. suggested that as the temperature approaches absolute zero, there is a tendency to the disappearance of physical activity substances. From the third law of thermodynamics depends on low temperature physics and solid state physics.
H. still young motorist was an amateur and in the First World War served as a volunteer driver in the car division. He also worked to develop chemical weapons, which is considered the most humane, as it is, in his opinion, would do away with a fatal confrontation on the Western Front. After the war, H. returned to his Berlin laboratory.
In 1921, Mr.. scientist was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded in 1920. 'in recognition of his work on thermodynamics'. In his Nobel lecture H. reported that 'more than 100 he had conducted experimental studies have allowed to gather enough evidence to support a new theorem with the error, which allows for accurate time is very complex experiments'.
From 1922 to 1924. N. was president of the Imperial Institute of Applied Physics at Jena, . however, . when the post-war inflation made him the opportunity to exercise in the institute the changes, . that he wanted to, . He returned to Berlin University as a professor of physics,
. Until the end of his professional activity N. studied the cosmological problems that have arisen as a result of the opening of the third law of thermodynamics (especially the so-called heat death of the universe, against which he played), as well as photochemistry and chemical kinetics.
In 1892, Mr.. N. married Emma Lohmeyer, daughter of a famous surgeon in GцІttingen. They had two sons (both died during the First World War) and daughter. Man with strong identity, H. passionately loved life, knew how clever joke. Through all his life carried a passion for academic literature and theater, he especially admired the works of Shakespeare. Excellent organizer of scientific institutes, H. Solveyskuyu helped convene the first conference to establish Germanskoe electrochemical society and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
When in 1933. Adolf Hitler came to power, H. resisted Nazi efforts to cast doubt on the contribution of Albert Einstein and other scientists of the Jews, saying his colleagues that anti-Semitism, Philipp von Lenard, Johannes Stark and others will impede progress in physics and chemistry. In 1934, Mr.. N. retired and moved to his home in Luzatii, where in 1941. died suddenly of a heart attack. N. was a member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of London.