Growth into a Scientific Discipline: The Nineteenth Century - Important Figures of Analytical Chemistry from Germany in Brief Biographies - page 51

the President of the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Bavarian Academy
of Sciences), and his topics went through many editions and translations into 34
languages.
Liebig and his work are dealt with in numerous topics and articles.
Otto Linné E rdmann (born 11 April 1804, Dresden; died 9 October 1869,
Leipzig).
After an early start as an apprentice in pharmacy, he finished his education in a
gymnasium in Leipzig and studied medicine and sciences in Dresden from 1820
and in Leipzig 1823-1824, where he was graduated to Dr. phil. in 1824. Then,
he worked for one year as director of the Blaufarbenwerk (Blue Color Works)
Hasserode (now part of Wernigerode/Saxony-Anhalt), returned back to Leipzig
and habilitated at the university 1825 (thesis De natura affinitatis chemicae ),
where he was appointed Professor of Technical Chemistry in 1827 (Extraordinary
Professor) and 1830 (Ordinary Professor).
Erdmann performed many analyses of ores, stones and slags, worked on indigo
and other dyes, together with Marchand on coal gas, determined atomic weights
(relative atomic masses) and suggested the Schwimmer - Burette for the parallax-free
reading of volumes in volumetric analysis. He became well known by several text-
books [ 14 , 15 ] and for the initiation of scientific journals: he founded the Journal
für technische und ökonomische Chemie (Leipzig 1828-1833) and the Journal für
praktische Chemie (Leipzig 1833, in continuation Journal für technische und ökono-
mische Chemie, together with RF Marchand, FW Schweigger-Seidel and G Werther).
He was also active in forensic chemistry with analyses and expertises, and he
even corresponded with Liebig on these matters. In a letter (dated Nov. 12, 1861
[ 16 ]), he explained his examination of suspicious blood stains in a murder case,
which he could identify as caused by red algae. He emphasized therefore that the
detection of blood in forensic cases can only be ascertained by the combination of
microscopical and chemical investigation, while the optical appearance alone can
be seriously misleading [ 17 ].
Besides his scientific work and academical teaching [ 18 ], Erdmann (for por-
trait, see Fig. 3.3 ) developed several public and social activities and connections:
Rector of the Universität Leipzig 1849, 1854-1856 and 1862-1863, member of
the Eisenbahndirektorium (railway board)—because he had developed a proce-
dure to remove the sulphur content of the domestic coal, which then could be used
instead of the more expensive imported coals, Member of Parliament of Saxony
1839-1840, Member of the Free Masons Lodge Apollo in Leipzig since 1827 and
Member of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Saxonian Academy of
Sciences). In 1843, he initiated the building of the Chemical Laboratory of the
Universität Leipzig. For further details, see [ 19 - 24 ].
Carl Friedrich M ohr (born 4 November 1806, Koblenz; died 26 September
1879, Bonn).
Born as the son of a pharmacist, Mohr studied botany, chemistry and miner-
alogy at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, worked in his
father's pharmacy and began to study pharmacy at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität