Walther Nernst

Walther Nernst
Born(1864-06-25)25 June 1864
Briesen, Prussia
(now Wąbrzeźno, Poland)
Died18 November 1941(1941-11-18) (aged 77)
Zibelle, Gau Lower Silesia, Nazi Germany
(now Niwica, Poland)
NationalityGerman
Alma materUniversity of Zurich
Friedrich Wilhelm University
University of Graz
Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg
Known forThird Law of Thermodynamics
Nernst lamp
Nernst equation
Nernst effect
Nernst heat theorem
Nernst potential
Nernst–Planck equation
Nernst's distribution law
SpouseEmma Lohmeyer[2]
AwardsPour le Mérite (1917)
Nobel Prize in chemistry (1920)
Franklin Medal (1928)
ForMemRS (1932)
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry
InstitutionsGeorg August University of Göttingen
Friedrich Wilhelm University
Leipzig University
Doctoral advisorFriedrich Kohlrausch[citation needed]
Other academic advisorsLudwig Boltzmann
Doctoral studentsSir Francis Simon
Richard Abegg
Irving Langmuir
Leonid Andrussow
Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer
Frederick Lindemann
William Duane
Margaret Eliza Maltby
Arnold Eucken
Other notable studentsGilbert N. Lewis
Max Bodenstein
Robert von Lieben
Kurt Mendelssohn
Theodor Wulf
Emil Bose
Hermann Irving Schlesinger
Claude Hudson
Signature
Title page to The New Theorem of Heat (1926)
The New Heat Theorem (1926)

Walther Hermann Nernst ForMemRS (German pronunciation: [ˈvaltɐ ˈnɛʁnst] ; 25 June 1864 – 18 November 1941) was a German physicist and physical chemist known for his work in thermodynamics, physical chemistry, electrochemistry, and solid-state physics. His formulation of the Nernst heat theorem helped pave the way for the third law of thermodynamics, for which he won the 1920 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He is also known for developing the Nernst equation in 1887.

He studied physics and mathematics at the universities of Zürich, Berlin, Graz and Würzburg, where he received his doctorate 1887.[3] In 1889, he finished his habilitation at University of Leipzig.

  1. ^ Cherwell; Simon, F. (1942). "Walther Nernst. 1864-1941". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society. 4 (11): 101. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1942.0010. S2CID 123003922.
  2. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1920".
  3. ^ Mendelssohn, K. (1973). The World of Walther Nernst. University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-8229-1109-8.