Daniel Vorländer was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 chemist

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

 who synthesized most of the liquid crystals known until his retirement in 1935.

Vorländer was born in Eupen

Eupen

Eupen is a municipality in the Belgian province of Liège, from the German border , from the Dutch border and from the "High Fens" nature reserve...

 in Rhenish Prussia. He studied chemistry at Kiel

University of Kiel

The University of Kiel is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the Academia Holsatorum Chiloniensis by Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and has approximately 23,000 students today...

, Munich, and Berlin

Humboldt University of Berlin

The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...

, after which he became a professor at University of Halle-Wittenberg

University of Halle-Wittenberg

The Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg , also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg within Saxony-Anhalt, Germany...

.

Vorländer applied his knowledge of molecular structure

Molecular structure

The molecular structure of a substance is described by the combination of nuclei and electrons that comprise its constitute molecules. This includes the molecular geometry , the electronic properties of the...

 to select those exhibiting the crystaline liquid state. In particular a linear molecular geometry

Linear molecular geometry

In chemistry, the Linear molecular geometry describes the arrangement of three or more atoms placed at an expected bond angle of 180º. Linear organic molecules, e.g. acetylene, are often described by invoking sp orbital hybridization for the carbon centers. Many linear molecules exist, prominent...

 was conducive. "Over the years Vorländer and his students synthesized hundreds of liquid crystaline compounds. An interesting discovery was that amongst the slimy liquid crystals were many soap

Soap

In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...

 and soap-like compounds." (Dunmur & Sluckin p 48)

Vorländer served as a volunteer during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, during which he received the Iron Cross

Iron Cross

The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....

. He died in Halle.

External links

• catalogus-professorum-halensis