Ira Remsen

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Ira Remsen

Ira Remsen (born February 10, 1846 in New York , † March 4, 1927 in Carmel , California ) was an American chemist . Remsen discovered the artificial sweetener saccharin in 1879 together with Constantin Fahlberg (1850–1910) . He was the second president of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore .

Life

Born in New York, Remsen initially studied medicine at the request of his parents at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, from which he graduated in 1867 as a doctor of medicine ( MD ). He then traveled to Germany to pursue his actual goal, studying chemistry. In 1870 he received another doctorate from Rudolph Fittig at the University of Göttingen . Remsen continued his studies at the University of Tübingen , where he was an assistant for theoretical chemistry from 1870 to 1872.

On his return to the United States in 1875, he accepted a professorship at Williams College in Massachusetts, where he wrote his most important work, The principles of theoretical chemistry . It was through this publication, among other things, that Daniel Coit Gilman became aware of him and invited him to found the chemistry faculty at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In 1875 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 1879 he founded the American Chemical Journal here , of which he was editor for 35 years and which is one of the most important chemical journals today. In the same year he discovered - more by chance - the artificial sweetener saccharin. He had worked with coal tar compounds in the laboratory and, after not thoroughly cleaning his hands at a meal, noticed their sweet taste on his fingers. Together with his partner Constantin Fahlberg , he followed this trail and published the newly found substance in 1880. In later years there was a falling out with Fahlberg, who had claimed the patent rights to the saccharin for himself.

In 1901 he was named President of Johns Hopkins University. He held this office until 1912. Ira Remsen was president of the National Academy of Sciences from 1907 to 1913 , of which he had been a member since 1882.

He spent his retirement in Carmel , California. After his death, the new chemistry building at Johns Hopkins University was named Remsen Hall after him , and his ashes found their final resting place there behind a plaque.

His work concerned inorganic as well as organic chemistry, he made himself best known in Germany through a number of both peculiar and excellent textbooks: The principles of theoretical chemistry (3rd edition, Philad. 1887); Introduction to the study of the compounds of carbon, or Organic chemistry (5th ed., Bost. 1890); An introduction to the study of chemistry (last New York 1889); The elements of chemistry (last ibid. 1889); Inorganic chemistry advanced course (2nd edition, ibid. 1890). All of these works have also been published in German (Tübingen), and some in other languages.

According to him, which is Remsen Award named the ACS.

literature

Web links

  • Article in Meyers Konversationslexikon

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biographies, publications and academic family tree of Ira Remsen at academictree.org, accessed on January 1, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Remsen, Ira
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American chemist
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH new York
DATE OF DEATH March 4, 1927
Place of death Carmel , California