h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Big Al's University Project: Some Prominent 19th Century German Chemists

A38445096 Friedrich Wohler
A38425575 Baron Justus von Liebig
A38483995 Leopold Gmelin
A38528111 Friedrich August Kekule
A38558325 Johann Von Baeyer
A38371647 Robert Bunsen
A38567154 Richard Erlenmeyer
A38614656 August Wilhelm von Hofmann

page turner

Post 18

and I believe that's me up-to-date

Oops, I'm a ing idiot!

Ref.von Baeyer:

'first to point out that the angle subtended by the corners and centre of a regular tetrahedron 109°C28', lies between the values of the angles in a regular pentagon (108°C) and a regular hexagon (120°C). '

The 'C' shouldn't be in the codes at all, as they're angles, not temperatures!. So,

> '...regular tetrahedron 109°28', lies between the values of the angles in a regular pentagon (108°) and a regular hexagon (120°). '

What was I thinking of!



A

done

A38614656 August Wilhelm von Hofmann:

was a (aromatic) hydrocarbon >> was an aromatic hydrocarbon
The brackets are unnecessary. Also you should add a footnote to *aromatic* to the effect that this generally means organic compounds derived from benzene. I know you have covered this elsewhere in the series, but this is the first mention of the word in this entry, and browsing readers may come to each entry directly and randomly. Don't add a link otherwise it will duplicate the link from the chapter bar at the top.

>>Hofmann was ennobled on his 70th birthday<< By whom and as what?

> was an aromatic hydrocarbon
The brackets are unnecessary.>


Well, the reason for the brackets is that Hoffman discovered the compound to be a hydrocarbon (not necessarily an aromatic one).






The fact that it is aromatic is incidental, which is why I didn't bother to define the term here.

I haven't been able to find any info in the most obvious places about Hoffman's ennoblement. There is just a line about it in a textbook that I have published by the Open University.

<Hofmann was ennobled on his 70th birthday<< By whom and as what?>

>Hofmann was raised to the rank of a nobleman of Prussia (von Hofmann) on his 70th birthday.

If you feel that aromatic is incidental then you could leave it out ...a (aromatic) hydrocarbon reads very awkwardly.

I couldn't find anything about Hofmann's ennoblement either, hence my question

A38371647 Robert Bunsen

In footnote 2, you could point out that both 'c's in 'cacodyl' are pronounced as 'k's and derive from the Greek 'kakodes', meaning 'stinking'

Trivial point: colours of the different precipitate*s*

In 1902, the German Chemists Society had a medal made in his honour, and it was given as a prize for outstanding achievements in chemistry. In 1952 it was taken over by the Society of German Chemists and is now given to people internationally) who aren't chemists but have earned special merits for the field of chemistry:

http://www.gdch.de/gdch/eps/preise/awvh_dm.htm


Maybe worth a mention?

Yes.

GB,
It would best come immediately after the penultimate para about the Hofmann-Haus.

A38558325 Johann Von Baeyer

You need to explain either in the body of the text, or in footnote, that the terms saturated and unsaturated refer to the absence or presence respectively of double- or triple carbon-carbon bonds.

GB, Ref A38371647 Robert Bunsen

FN2 >
'Cacodyl', also known as dicacodyl, is tetramethyldiarsine. It is a poisonous oily liquid with a garlicky odor. Both 'c's in 'cacodyl' are pronounced as 'k's and derive from the Greek 'kakodes', meaning 'stinking'. Cacodyl undergoes spontaneous combustion in dry air.

(Wonder if that's where we get the slang term ''cack' from (for sh*t) )


I agree with wha h5r suggests about > '...colours of the different precipitates...'

A

Well, although it is incidental, I considered that it was still important to point out that it was aromatic

GB,

It was two other German chemists, Emil and Otto Fischer who, in 1878, showed that the parent of rosaniline, magenta etc, was a (aromatic) hydrocarbon, triphenylmethane.

>It was two other German chemists, Emil and Otto Fischer who, in 1878, showed that the parent of rosaniline, magenta etc, was a hydrocarbon, triphenylmethane.

A38528111 Friedrich August Kekule

However, whilst at Gießen >> While at Gießen

trethylamine >> triethylamine

alternatining >> alternating

X-Ray >> X-ray

antracene >> anthracene

A38483995 Leopold Gmelin

Education, first para: Chemistry >> chemistry (x2)

>>It is a poisonous oily liquid with a garlicky odor.<<
Just checking, that should be *odour* - right?
Footnote in Bunsen changed althought I tweaked it slightly, put the Greek word into italics tags rather than single quotes
colours of the different precipitates
It was two other German chemists, Emil and Otto Fischer who, in 1878, showed that the parent of rosaniline, magenta etc, was a hydrocarbon, triphenylmethane.
While at Gießen
triethylamine
alternating
X-ray
anthracene
Education, first para: Chemistry >> chemistry (x2)

Query: In that same para, in that case, <> should Mineralogy be mineralogy? (in Gmelin A38483995)

Post 52: Is: It was von Baeyer who devised the eponymous Baeyer test for unsaturationThe terms saturated and unsaturated refer to the absence or presence respectively of double- or triple carbon-carbon bonds., whereby potassium manganate (VII) is decolorised in the presence of an alkene or alkyne.
<<
alright? (in Baeyer A38558325)

A38614656 von Hofmann last para changed to:
<>

Did I get everything?

Feel free to alter my translation about the medal if there's a way to put it better.

The only thing I would have queried was "the German Chemists Society" should it be <> ?? but otherwise it reads to me, thanks very much Bel