Walther Nernst

In 1892, Walther Nernst married Emma Lohmeyer. The couple had five children; two sons and three daughters. His sons, Gustav and Rudolf Nernst died in action during the First World War.

His daughters Hildegard Cahn, Angela Hahn and Edith Von Zanthier were married to Jews. It was one of the reasons why he had to resign from his job in 1933.

He died on 18 November 1941, in Zibelle, Germany and is buried in Göttingen, close to the graves of his peers Max Planck, Otto Hahn and Max von Laue.

Walther Hermann Nernst was born on 25 June 1864 in Wąbrzeźno, Poland. The town was then known as Briesen and was part of West Prussia. Walther’s father, Gustav Nernst, was a country judge. His mother’s name was Ottilie (Nerger) Nernst. He was born fourth of his parents’ five children.

Walther began his education at a gymnasium at Graudenz, now known as Grudziadz. Since gymnasiums put more stress on humanities young Walther became more interested in poetry, literature, and drama. Sometime now, he even decided to become a poet. However, his ambition changed after his graduation in 1881.

He attended the Universities of Zürich, Berlin and Graz, studying physics and mathematics. Ultimately he majored in physics and joined University of Würzburg for his doctoral degree. Here, he began to work on the effects of magnetism and heat on electrical conductivity finally receiving his PhD in 1887.

After completing his PhD, Walther Nernst joined German physical chemist Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald at the University of Leipzig. Here he began to work on diffusion coefficient of electrolytes for infinitely dilute solutions and subsequently established Nernst Equation. The work was developed further and became the basis of Habilitation thesis, which he finished in 1889.

In 1891, Nernst was appointed as an associate professor at the University of Göttingen. Sometime now he also began to write a text book on physical chemistry. Titled ‘Theoretische Chemie vom Standpunkte der Avogadroschen Regel und der Thermodynamik’ (Theoretical Chemistry from the Standpoint of Avogadro's Rule and Thermodynamics) the book was published in 1893.

The book became so popular that it sold 15 editions in 33 years. In 1893, he was inspired by Arrhenius theory of ionization and began to work on it. He developed a theory for the breakdown of ionic compounds in water.

In 1894, Nernst received multiple offers. He was invited to the Physics Chairs of University of Munich and University of Berlin and at the same, to the Physical Chemistry Chair in Göttingen. He chose Göttingen. There he founded the Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry and became its Director.

He soon launched number of ambitious projects in different branches of science. Along with his research In chemistry and electrology, he also worked on developing the existing incandescent lamp and in 1897, invented the Nernst Lamp. He then sold the technology to commercial establishments and became financially secure.

Walther Nernst is best known for his discovery of the ‘Third Law of Thermodynamics’. Initially known as ‘New Heat Theorem’, it explained the behavior of matters approaching absolute zero.

Although he first presented his paper in December 1905 he kept on working on it till 1912. Finally he established that ‘it would be possible to reach absolute zero only by a series of infinite steps’. It meant that one can get close to absolute zero, but can never actually reach it.

He was also a great academic and had taught an array of notable scientists including Sir Frances Simon, Richard Abegg, Irving Langmuir, Leonid Andrussow, Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer, Frederick Lindemann, William Duane etc.