Worth H. Rodebush

Worth Huff Rodebush (born May 24, 1887 near Selden (Kansas) , † August 16, 1959 in Chicago ) was an American chemist ( physical chemistry ), known for his role in the development of the theory of hydrogen bonds .

Live and act

Rodebush came from a farming family, but both parents were educated and he had access to many books at home. He had to finance his high school education himself and took a long break to work as a teacher. He began his studies at the University of Kansas with George Hamilton Cady with a bachelor's degree in 1912 and a master's degree in 1914. He was an assistant for several years and had, among other things, Wendell Latimer as a student, with whom he later became a lifelong friend with whom he developed the concept and theory of hydrogen bonds at the University of Berkeley (1919/20). He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1917 , and worked in industry and public service (Bureau of Mines, US Industrial Alcohol Company) for two years before returning to Berkeley University. In 1921 he became an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , where he taught physical chemistry and did pioneering work in infrared spectroscopy for the elucidation of molecular structures, particularly those with hydrogen. For a long time (until the development of neutron scattering processes and isotope chemistry) this was the only way to explain the proportion of hydrogen in the structure, since it contributes little to X-ray diffraction. In 1924 he became a professor. He served on the National Defense Research Committee during World War II and continued to contribute to military research, particularly into rocket fuels, after the war. From 1948 he was on the scientific advisory board of the Naval Ordnance Test Station and advisor to their chemistry department. He headed the department of physical chemistry at his university until 1953, after which he devoted himself only to research. In 1955 he retired. After that, he continued to research, among other things, on the cloud physics project at the University of Chicago and on a research project at the University of Florida on water in biological materials.

In addition to hydrogen bonding and infrared spectroscopy, he dealt with the third law of thermodynamics (quantitative formulation), vapor pressure of metals, entropy of condensed gases and in general with statistical mechanics, the absolute charge of the earth's surface, ionization of electrolytes, reaction mechanisms in the gas phase and atomic structures.

In 1938 he became a member of the National Academy of Sciences .

He had been married to Esther Kittredge since 1919 and had three daughters. Esther Rodebush was also a chemist with whom he wrote an introduction to physical chemistry. Rodebush died of a stroke while visiting his daughter in Chicago.

Fonts (selection)

• with Latimer: Polarity and Ionization from the Standpoint of the Lewis Theory of Valence, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Vol. 42, 1919, p. 1419
• The Third Law of Thermodynamics, in: HS Taylor (Ed.), Treatise on Physical Chemistry, Van Nostrand 1924, pp. 1131-1214
• The Third Law of Thermodynamics, J. Chem. Phys., Vol. 2, 1934, p. 668
• with EF Fiock: The measurement of absolute charge of the earth's surface, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., Vol. 11, 1925, p. 402
• with AM Buswell: Hydrogen Bond and Infrared Absorption, J. Chem. Phys., Volume 6, 1938, p. 296
• with Esther Rodebush: An introductory course in physical chemistry, Van Nostrand, 2nd edition 1938

literature

• Carl S. Marvel, Frederick T. Wall: Worth Huff Rodebush (1887-1959), Biographical Memoirs National Acad. Sci. 1962, online

Web links

• Biography at the University of Illinois