Paul Wagner (agronomist)

Paul Wagner (born March 7, 1843 in Liebenau near Nienburg / Weser , † August 25, 1930 in Darmstadt ) was a German agricultural chemist .

Life path

Paul Wagner, the son of a pharmacist, studied chemistry and pharmacy in Erlangen and worked from 1867 to 1872 at the agricultural chemistry laboratory at the University of Göttingen . Here he supervised the chemical internships of the studying farmers and dealt with questions of plant nutrition . In 1869 he received his doctorate in Göttingen with the dissertation " Vegetation experiments on the nitrogen nutrition of plants " and in 1871 he received the Venia legendi for agricultural chemistry with the habilitation thesis " The behavior of phosphoric acid in the soil " . From 1872 to 1923 he was director of the Agricultural Research Station in Darmstadt , which under his aegis developed into a leading agricultural chemical research facility.

Wagner was married to a daughter of the lawyer and writer Wilhelm Franz Francke . This marriage resulted in Else Wagner , who later became the wife of Emil Fuchs . The Francke family is also the old Hanoverian parish family from which August Hermann Francke , the founder of the Halle orphanage, today's Francke Foundations, came from .

Research priorities

During the first few years of his activity in Darmstadt, Wagner was mainly concerned with analytical work. He improved chemical investigation methods and examined the behavior of fertilizers in arable soil. Since 1877 he has devoted himself particularly to the methodological issues involved in setting up fertilization experiments. He tested the effect of fertilizers on small parcels bordered with cement walls in four to six times. In contrast to the often contradicting results from large-scale field tests, he not only received relatively reliable average values, but was also able to determine the error limits of his test results. This “small parcel method” was soon adopted by most of the other agricultural research stations in Germany.

From around 1885, the agricultural research station in Darmstadt, headed by Wagner, which was equipped in an exemplary manner with the construction of new laboratories and greenhouses as well as enlarged test areas, was the center of fertilization research in Germany. From then on, one of the focal points of the work was studies on phosphate fertilization. Wagner recognized the high value of the finely ground Thomas slag at an early stage and developed analytical methods for the commercial evaluation of this fertilizer. But he has also examined the still unresolved questions of optimal nitrogen fertilization of the crop plants in numerous tests, partly in close cooperation with the fertilizer department of the German Agricultural Society . Wagner has published the results of his research in over 300 journal articles and in around 40 books or independent writings.

In 1910, the Munich agricultural chemist Franz von Soxhlet , as a board member of the Association of Agricultural Experimental Stations in the German Empire, accused Wagner of having falsified analytical data in scientific papers on the value of Thomas phosphate in order to simulate a more beneficial effect of the fertilizer. Wagner then resigned from the association and took a public position against this accusation in 1911 with the extensive text “ The Soxhlet case. One answer ". There was also a judicial process. (Details from A. Finck: see the literature section).

honors and awards

Due to his extraordinary services in the field of plant nutrition and fertilizer theory, Wagner was considered one of the great agricultural chemists of his time. Of his numerous honors and awards are highlighted here:

• 1881 Awarded the title of professor by Grand Duke Ludwig IV (Hessen-Darmstadt).
• 1891 Award of the North Star Order by the King of Sweden.
• 1897 Appointment as a Privy Councilor by Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig IV. (Hessen-Darmstadt).
• 1907 Awarded the Golden Liebig Medal - the highest award in German agriculture.
• 1909 Awarded the Order of Saint Olav by King Haakon VI. from Norway.
• 1910 Honorary doctorate (Dr.-Ing.hc) from the Technical University of Darmstadt.
• 1911 admission to the Académie des Sciences
• 1923 Honorary doctorate (Dr. agr. H. C) from the Agricultural University of Berlin.
• 1923 Award of the eagle shield of the German Reich by the Reich President Friedrich Ebert .
• 1923 honorary member of the German Agricultural Society.
• 1923 Establishment of the "Paul Wagner Foundation".
• 1950 The Association of German Agricultural Investigation and Research Institutes donates the "Paul Wagner Prize". It is given to young scientists for excellent work in the field of plant nutrition and fertilizer theory.

Fonts (selection)

• Textbook of fertilizer production and instructions for chemical analysis of commercial fertilizers . Braunschweig 1877 = textbook on the rational practice of agricultural trades, vol. 12.
• Contributions to the establishment and training of an exact method of fertilization experiments . In: Journal für Landwirthschaft Vol. 28, 1880, pp. 9–57.
• The fertilizer value and the rational use of Thomas slag compared to superphosphate, bone meal, raw peruguano and coprolite meal . Darmstadt 1888 = research in the field of fertilizer theory H. 1.
• Research in the field of plant nutrition. Part I: The nitrogen fertilization of agricultural crops . (together with R. Dorsch). Berlin 1892. - Review by Georg Liebscher in: Journal für Landwirtschaft, Vol. 40, 1892, pp. 369–381.
• Use of artificial fertilizers . Berlin 1900; 8th edition 1926 = Thaer-Bibliothek vol. 100.
• The Soxhlet case. One answer . Darmstadt 1911.

literature

• Prof. Dr. Paul Wagner in Darmstadt . In: Fühling's Landwirthschaftliche Zeitung, vol. 41, 1892, pp. 675–677 (with picture on p. 655).
• Paul Wagner . Fixed number (several contributions). In: The nutrition of the plant, vol. 19, 1923, pp. 41-48 u. three enclosures (with picture and list of publications).
• O. Eckstein, O. Neubauer, Th. Remy u. H. Rössler: Paul Wagner † . In: The nutrition of the plant vol. 26, 1930, pp. 501–506 (with picture).
• S. Gericke: Paul Wagner's life's work - a German task . In: Die Phosphorsäure Vol. 11, 1942/43, pp. 205-214.
• L. Schmitt: The services of Paul Wagner to the theory of plant nutrition and fertilizers. A reminder for his 100th birthday . In: Der Forschungsdienst Vol. 15, 1943, pp. 138–151.
• L. Schmitt and K. Wagner-Roemmich: Paul Wagner as researcher and person . Published by the Paul Wagner Foundation. Darmstadt 1943.
• Ludwig Schmitt: When the wheat fields rustle. Paul Wagner's research life for agriculture . Frankfurt / Main 1957 (with picture and list of publications).
• Emil Fuchs : My life. First part. Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1957, pp. 198-207.
• Arnold Finck : Paul Wagner (1843-1930) . In: VDLUFA series of publications, vol. 28 / I, Bonn Congress Volume 1988. Darmstadt 1989, pp. 171–175.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ List des membres, correspondants et associés étrangers de l'Académie des sciences depuis sa création en 1666 - W ( Memento of March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive )