Shridhar R Gadre is a professor of physical chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, University of Pune. He has been actively working in the area of theoretical and computational chemistry. He feels that the history of the development of a concept should be inextricably woven into the teaching of a topic. Similarly, the subject could be made more lively by incorporating brief biographical sketches as well as anecdotes of the pioneers who developed the discipline. History of science, chess and trekking are his hobbies.

The Nobel Prize in 1909 for Chemistry was awarded to Wilhelm Ostwald, for his pioneering work on catalysis, as well as fundamental studies on chemical equilibria and reaction rates. At the time of award, Ostwald had already retired as a Professor from Leipzig University. It is due to the efforts of Wilhelm Ostwald, more than any other scientist, that physical chemistry came to be recognized as a branch of chemistry in its own right. Apart from his pathbreaking researches, he founded Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie in 1887 and himself edited 100 volumes of it up to 1922. He also established the Deutsche Electrochemische Gesellschaft (German Electrochemical Society) in 1894. This was expanded in 1902 into the Deutsche Bunsen-Gesellschaft für Angewandte Physikalische Chemie (German Bunsen Society for Applied Physical Chemistry). Ostwald wrote several textbooks including Lehrbuch der Allgemeine Chemie (Textbook of General Chemistry), Gründriâ der Allgemeinen Chemie (Outline of General Chemistry) and Hand- und Hilfsbuch Physikalisch-Chemischer Messungen (Handbook and Manual for Physicochemical Measurements). These activities are an indication of Ostwald being a gifted author and organizer, apart from being a highly creative scientist.

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Address for Correspondence

Shridhar R Gadre
Department of Chemistry, University of Pune
Pune 411 007, India.