Emil Erlenmeyer is remembered today only as the inventor of his eponymous flask, but he was a central figure in the chemistry of his day. He began his career as a scientifically educated pharmacist, industrial consultant, and professor of applied chemistry, but about 1860 he suddenly re-invented himself as one of the most imaginative and prolific theoreticians in the remarkable early years of the development of structure theory. Then in 1868 he returned to his roots, accepting a professorship at the Technische Hochschule in Munich. The speaker will use Erlenmeyer's early career as a vehicle to explore the relationship between pure and applied chemistry in mid-19th-century Germany.

"Science vs. practice" and the German chemist ca. 1860: Erlenmeyer in context

248th National Meeting (2014)

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