Ernst Richard Escales

Ernst Richard Escales (born July 8, 1863 in Zweibrücken , † September 9, 1924 in Munich ) was a chemist, explosives expert and editor of specialist journals such as "Fiber and Spinning Plants", "Noble Earths and Ores", "Journal for the whole of shooting and Explosives "and" Plastics ". He is considered to be the namesake of the plastics material class .

Life

Portrait of Ernst Richard Escales with signature. Drawing by the artist Marie Stoppe, created around 1911

Escales was born as the son of the Zweibrücken factory owner Gustav Escales. After graduating from high school , he turned to chemistry studies and studied at the universities of Würzburg , Erlangen , Munich , Freiburg im Breisgau and Zurich . “About compounds of phenyl mercaptan with ketonic acids ” was the title of his dissertation in 1886 in Würzburg, which received the predicate summa cum laude (Latin “with the highest praise”).

After a brief activity at the Royal Higher Weaving School (1886–1887), he headed his father's factory for almost a decade. But he was drawn back to science : in 1896 he joined the laboratory of the professor at Bayer (today: Bayer AG ).

His interest in applied chemistry led him to the manufacture and research of explosives . From 1902 to 1907 he headed the explosives test laboratory he founded on the site of the pyrotechnic factory of Meisenbach in Munich-Schwabing and acquired several patents in the course of his activities. Escales began to summarize his experience in this field from 1903 in the basic work "Explosives". Seven volumes dealt with the manufacture, properties and use of explosives. The resulting professional contacts gave Escales the idea of ​​founding a specialist journal for this specialty area ("Journal for the entire shooting and explosives industry") in order to document the progressive development and to offer the experts current information. Another magazine then followed in 1911 under the title “ Kunststoffe ”, which was available to the specialist public as a “magazine for the production and use of refined or chemically manufactured substances”.

To introduce it, Escales wrote in the new magazine on January 1, 1911: “The last 50 years have brought extraordinary successes to chemical engineering in the field of artificial production of dyes, medicines and fragrances, which in the past had to be laboriously and costly obtained from plants can now be artificially constructed from cheap raw materials. Furthermore, people were not satisfied with imitating natural substances; similar, in some cases more effective, at any rate more varied chemical compounds were also produced, generally adhering to the type given by nature; With increasing knowledge of the laws that are effective for the desired purpose, one has finally come to the production of artificial colors, drugs and fragrances, of a different composition than natural products, but equivalent or superior to them in effect. "

With this introduction, the program of the rapidly developing plastics was designed which still applies today - plastics substitute previously natural substances and try to excel in terms of chemical resistance , durability , elasticity , function or feel .

From 1914 Escales served as a war volunteer and brought it to the rank of captain . Until the end of the war he served in the mine throwing school in Munich .

After the end of the war he founded the “German-Mexican Society” and the “German-Mexican Rundschau”. The Mexican government appointed him their technical correspondent in 1923.

From 1924 his son, the chemist Dr. Erich Escales, following in his father's footsteps. He carried out this life's work in 1945/46 with the help of the publisher Dr. Carl Hanser continues. From 1958 the magazine Kunststoffe appeared in English (“Kunststoffe / German Plastics”), from 1957 as a reference to Escales sen. also as a Spanish-language sister edition Plásticos, which has since enjoyed a high reputation, especially in Latin America.

Escales also dealt with two fields outside of his professional competence: 1. The construction of canals in Germany to connect large rivers, and 2. the direct use of solar energy.

Escales is considered to be the creator of the word for the material class of "refined or chemically manufactured substances", which has endured in German-speaking countries and beyond , thanks to the chosen title plastics .

Dr. Richard Escales Prize

In memory of Escales, the Carl Hanser Verlag has awarded the Dr. Richard Escales Prize since 1998 . The media prize is awarded every three years for special merits in the plastics industry. In addition to the certificate, the 2019 prize winner received a specially designed trophy for the first time. It consists of an additively manufactured replica of the mosaic, reduced to around half, which the Italian artist Lady Be created in 2019 for the publisher based on the model of the Escales portrait from small colored plastic figures.

Award winners

• 1998: Erwin Bürkle
• 2001: Tim Osswald
• 2004: Erwin Baur
• 2007: Christian Bonten
• 2010: Georg Steinbichler
• 2013: Erich Wintermantel
• 2016: Sonja Pongratz
• 2019: Andreas Gebhardt

swell

• Kunststoffe magazine 1/1911
• Kunststoffe magazine 10/1924
• Kunststoffe magazine 1/1988

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Dr. Richard Escales Prize. In: www.kunststoffe.de. Retrieved April 3, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Award-winning 3D rebirth. In: www.kunststoffe.de. Retrieved April 3, 2020 . 
3. ↑ VDI / Hanser: Dr-Ing. Erwin Baur received the Dr. Richard Escales Prize 2004. In: www.kunststoffe.de. Retrieved January 6, 2017 . 
4. ^ VDI / Hanser: Media Prize for Christian Bonten. In: www.kunststoffe.de. Retrieved January 6, 2017 . 
5. ↑ Georg Steinbichler receives the Dr. Richard Escales Prize 2010. In: www.kunststoffe.de. Retrieved January 6, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Plastic communication with surgical precision. In: www.kunststoffe.de. Retrieved January 6, 2017 . 
7. ↑ The reward of persistence. In: www.kunststoffe.de. Retrieved January 6, 2017 . 
8. ↑ With 3D printing to the trophy. In: www.kunststoffe.de. Retrieved April 3, 2020 .