Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

FISCHER, EMIL (1852– )

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 426 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

FISCHER, EMIL (1852– ) , See also:German chemist, was See also:born at See also:Euskirchen, in Rhenish See also:Prussia, on the 9th of See also:October 1852, his See also:father being a See also:merchant and manufacturer. After studying See also:chemistry at See also:Bonn, he migrated to See also:Strassburg, where he graduated as Ph.D. in 1874. He then acted as assistant to Adolf von See also:Baeyer at See also:Munich for eight years, after which he was appointed to the See also:chair of chemistry successively at See also:Erlangen (1882) and See also:Wurzburg (1885). In 1892 he succeeded A. W. von See also:Hofmann as See also:professor of chemistry at See also:Berlin. Emil Fischer devoted himself entirely to organic chemistry, and his investigations are characterized by an originality of See also:idea and readiness of resource which make him the See also:master of this See also:branch of experi- See also:mental chemistry. In his hands no substance seemed too complex to admit of See also:analysis or of See also:synthesis; and the more intricate and involved the subjects of his investigations the more strongly shown is the conspicuous skill in pulling, as it were, See also:atom from atom, until the See also:molecule stood revealed, and, this accomplished, the same skill combined atom with atom until the molecule was regenerated. His forte was to enter See also:fields where others had done little except break the ground; and his researches in many cases completely elucidated the problem in See also:hand, and where the See also:solution was not entire, his methods and results almost always contained the See also:key to the situation. In 1875, the See also:year following his engagement with von Baeyer, he published his See also:discovery of the organic derivatives of a new See also:compound of See also:hydrogen and See also:nitrogen, which he named See also:hydrazine (q.v.). He investigated both the aromatic and aliphatic derivatives, establishing their relation to the diazo compounds, and he perceived the readiness with which they entered into See also:combination with other substances, giving origin to a See also:wealth of hitherto unknown compounds. Of such condensation products undoubtedly the most important are the hydrazones, which result from the interaction with See also:aldehydes and See also:ketones. His observations, published in 1886, that such See also:hydra-zones, by treatment with hydrochloric See also:acid or See also:zinc chloride, yielded derivatives of indol, the See also:pyrrol of the See also:benzene See also:series and the See also:parent substance of See also:indigo, were a valuable See also:confirmation of the views advanced by his master, von Baeyer, on the subject of indigo and the many substances related to it.

End of Article: FISCHER, EMIL (1852– )

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
FISCHER 		[next]
FISCHER, ERNST KUNO BERTHOLD (1824–1907)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries