Wilhelm Ostwald, the German chemist and philosopher became interested in chemistry at an early age; as an eleven year old he made his own fireworks. He developed the Ostwald process for the synthesis of nitric acid using a platinum-rhodium catalyst. He proposed that catalysts speed up chemical reactions by lowering the energy of

activation. He is one of the founders

physical chemistry, the theoretical branch of chemistry which deals with the

properties and reactions of ions, atoms and molecules. Curiously enough, although he was one of the most eminent chemists of his time, he did not accept the

developement of athomic theory until 1906. He was awarded the 1909 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on catalysis and on the conditions of chemical equilibrium and the velocities of chemical reactions.

1853 - 1932

Friedrich Wilhelm