Wilhelm Biltz
Encyclopedia
Wilhelm Biltz was a German chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...

 and scientific editor. Wilhelm Biltz was the son of Karl Friedrich Biltz who was a scientist of literature
Scientific literature
Scientific literature comprises scientific publications that report original empirical and theoretical work in the natural and social sciences, and within a scientific field is often abbreviated as the literature. Academic publishing is the process of placing the results of one's research into the...

 and theatre critic
Theatre criticism
Theatre criticism is a genre of art criticism, and the act of writing or speaking about the performing arts such as a play or opera.Most major national newspapers of first world countries cover the arts in some form and theatre criticism may be included as a part of this arts coverage.Specialist...

. He remained single and childless.

Life and career

After his university entrance diploma at the Royal Grammar School (Königliches Wilhelm-Gymnasium) in Berlin in 1895 and influenced by his elder brother Heinrich Biltz
Heinrich Biltz
Heinrich Biltz was a German chemist and professor. Heinrich Biltz was the son of Karl Friedrich Biltz who was a scientist of literature and theatre critic and married to Freya de la Motte Fouqué, a daughter of a physician in Kiel...

 he began studying chemistry in the Humboldt University of 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...

, the University of Heidelberg and continued his studies in 1898 with professor Friedrich Wilhelm Semmler in the University of Greifswald where he was awarded his doctorate in natural science with research on the chemistry of Terpene
Terpene
Terpenes are a large and diverse class of organic compounds, produced by a variety of plants, particularly conifers, though also by some insects such as termites or swallowtail butterflies, which emit terpenes from their osmeterium. They are often strong smelling and thus may have had a protective...

s.

Since 1900 he worked as an assistant and since 1903 as an associate professor with Otto Wallach
Otto Wallach
Otto Wallach was a German chemist and recipient of the 1910 Nobel prize in Chemistry for his work on alicyclic compounds.-Biography:...

 at the University of Göttingen. There he concentrated his work firstly on the determination of vapour density
Vapour density
Vapour density is the density of a vapour in relation to that of hydrogen. It may be defined as mass of a certain volume of a substance divided by mass of same volume of hydrogen....

 in solutions of inorganic compounds and later he was engaged in researches into the chemistry of colloid
Colloid
A colloid is a substance microscopically dispersed evenly throughout another substance.A colloidal system consists of two separate phases: a dispersed phase and a continuous phase . A colloidal system may be solid, liquid, or gaseous.Many familiar substances are colloids, as shown in the chart below...

s. . He gained further scientific and practical experiences in the university research institute of Clemens Winkler
Clemens Winkler
Clemens Alexander Winkler was a German chemist who discovered the element germanium in 1886, solidifying Dmitri Mendeleev's theory of periodicity.- Life :...

 in analytical
Analytical chemistry
Analytical chemistry is the study of the separation, identification, and quantification of the chemical components of natural and artificial materials. Qualitative analysis gives an indication of the identity of the chemical species in the sample and quantitative analysis determines the amount of...

 and inorganic chemistry
Inorganic chemistry
Inorganic chemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the properties and behavior of inorganic compounds. This field covers all chemical compounds except the myriad organic compounds , which are the subjects of organic chemistry...

 and later in Metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...

 in Göttingen with Gustav Tamman. During these years he also investigated the influence of temperature on the properties of non-metallic systems as for example Polysulfide
Polysulfide
Polysulfides are a class of chemical compounds containing chains of sulfur atoms. There are two main classes of polysulfides: anions and organic polysulfides. Anions have the general formula Sn2−. These anions are the conjugate bases of the hydrogen polysulfides H2nSn...

s of Rubidium
Rubidium
Rubidium is a chemical element with the symbol Rb and atomic number 37. Rubidium is a soft, silvery-white metallic element of the alkali metal group. Its atomic mass is 85.4678. Elemental rubidium is highly reactive, with properties similar to those of other elements in group 1, such as very rapid...

 and Caesium
Caesium
Caesium or cesium is the chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali metal with a melting point of 28 °C , which makes it one of only five elemental metals that are liquid at room temperature...

 by the use of thermal analysis
Thermal analysis
Thermal analysis is a branch of materials science where the properties of materials are studied as they change with temperature. Several methods are commonly used - these are distinguished from one another by the property which is measured:...

. .

At the age of 28, on March 15, 1905 he succeeded on being promoted to professor at the Clausthal University of Technology
Clausthal University of Technology
The Clausthal University of Technology is an institute of technology in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Lower Saxony, Germany...

 where he lectured until 1921. His work was interrupted when he participated in World War I as a 2nd Lt from the beginning to the end and he was honoured with 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....

 first class. He commanded the German A7V
A7V
The A7V was a tank introduced by Germany in 1918, near the end of World War I. One hundred vehicles were ordered during the spring of 1918, but only 21 were delivered. It was nicknamed "The Moving Fortress" by the British because of the shape of the hull...

 tank that took part in first ever tank-versus-tank battle, during the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux
Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux
The Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux came during the period of the battle of Lys, 24–27 April 1918, but was launched against the British lines in front of Amiens.The Germans developed a small number of tanks, and used them in this offensive...

 in 1918.

One of the next important steps in the further period of his life was his appointment as professor and director of the inorganic-chemical institute of the Technical University of Hanover on March 22, 1921. Here he had his the most successful years and he supported young talents as for example Wilhelm Klemm or Werner Fischer.

During his activities as a long-time member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences
Göttingen Academy of Sciences
The Göttingen Academy of Sciences is the second oldest of the seven academies of sciences in Germany. It has the task of promoting research under its own auspices and in collaboration with academics in and outside Germany...

, as member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina of Halle
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...

 and as constant member of the board of the German Bunsen Society he applied his energies for the further development of sciences and research.

In addition to the above memberships he acquired renown as an author of textbooks and some of them he wrote together with his brother Heinrich Biltz
Heinrich Biltz
Heinrich Biltz was a German chemist and professor. Heinrich Biltz was the son of Karl Friedrich Biltz who was a scientist of literature and theatre critic and married to Freya de la Motte Fouqué, a daughter of a physician in Kiel...

. Furthermore he was an academic author of the ‘journal for inorganic and general chemistry’ for many years until his early retirement due to impairment to health.

Publications and books (options)

  • Wilhelm Biltz and Heinrich Biltz
    Heinrich Biltz
    Heinrich Biltz was a German chemist and professor. Heinrich Biltz was the son of Karl Friedrich Biltz who was a scientist of literature and theatre critic and married to Freya de la Motte Fouqué, a daughter of a physician in Kiel...

    ;: ’’Übungsbeispiele aus der unorganischen Experimentalchemie’’. 1. Aufl. 1907; 3.und 4. Aufl. 1920, Engelmann, Leipzig
  • Wilhelm Biltz: ’’Ausführung qualitativer Analysen’’. 4. Aufl. 1930, Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Leipzig
  • Wilhelm Biltz: ’’Raumchemie der festen Stoffe’’. L. Voss, Leipzig, 1934. Bd. X, 338 S.
  • Wilhelm Biltz works in Wiley Interscience:
  • Willhelm Biltz works in Library of Congress
    Library of Congress
    The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

    :,,,,,,,.
  • Wilhelm Biltz works in the catalogue of the German National Library
    German National Library
    The German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany...

    :

Certificate of honours

  • 22. Juni 1927 honorary doctor of the University of Stuttgart
    University of Stuttgart
    The University of Stuttgart is a university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized in 10 faculties....

  • 3. Oktober 1929 honorary professor of the University of Göttingen
  • 7. Mai 1932 honorary doctor of the Czech Technical University in Prague
    Czech Technical University in Prague
    Czech Technical University in Prague is one of the largest universities in the Czech Republic, and the oldest institute of technology in Central Europe....

  • 1934 honorary citizen of Heidelberg
    Heidelberg
    -Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

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