Ralph Edward Oesper

Ralph Edward Oesper (born June 14, 1886 in Cincinnati , † December 10, 1977 ) was an American chemist and chemical historian .

Oesper studied from 1904 at the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor's degree in 1908 and a master's degree in 1909. He received his doctorate in 1914 under Lauder William Jones , was briefly at New York University and Smith College and in 1918 became a faculty member and later professor the University of Cincinnati, where he remained until his retirement in 1951 and thereafter until his death as Professor Emeritus.

He wrote around 300 essays on analytical and organic chemistry, colloid chemistry and the history of chemistry. He spoke good German and translated many chemistry books and articles from German (such as the Geschichte der Physik by Max von Laue or Spot Tests in Inorganic Analysis and Spot Tests in Organic Analysis by Fritz Feigl ). He wrote numerous short biographies of chemists and gave lectures on the history of chemistry.

In 1956 he received the first Dexter Award . He bequeathed his extensive library to the University of Cincinnati. He was an honorary doctorate from the University of Cincinnati.

He was Associate Editor of the Journal of Chemical Education , Chymia and Mikrochemie / Microchimica Acta .

literature

• Obituary by George B. Kauffman , Isis, Volume 70, 1979, pp. 141-143

Fonts

• The human side of scientists, 1975