Curt Netto | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1847-08-21)August 21, 1847 |
| Died | February 7, 1909(1909-02-07) (aged 61) |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation(s) | metallurgist, educator |
Curt Adolph Netto (August 21, 1847 – February 7, 1909) was aGermanmetallurgist andeducator. He is regarded as a precursor for the industrial utilization ofaluminium. He was active in earlyMeiji periodJapan.[1]
Netto was born inFreiberg, Saxony, where his father, Gustav Adolph Netto was a mining official. As a youth, he relocated with his family toSchneeberg, Saxony, but returned to Freiberg by 1860. He enrolled in theFreiberg University of Mining and Technology in 1864. He left school in 1869, and volunteered for the military, joining themountain troops corps. He saw combat in theFranco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, and was decorated with theIron Cross (second class). After the war, in 1871, he obtained a job as a chemist working with enamels at the workshop ofErnst August Geitner. In 1873, he was recruited by theJapanese government as aforeign advisor and was placed in charge of modernizing theKosaka mines, a lead, copper and zinc mine atKosaka, Akita in northern Honshu. He was one of the co-founders of the German Society of Natural History and Ethnology of Asia (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens).[1]
The mines were privatized in 1877, and Netto travelled toTokyo, where he obtained a job as a lecturer on metallurgy atTokyo Imperial University in 1878. He took a one-yearsabbatical leave from 1882 to 1883 for research in Europe, Mexico and the United States.[2] In June 1885,Emperor Meiji conferred upon him theOrder of the Rising Sun.[3] Netto's contract with Tokyo Imperial University expired in November 1885, and he returned to Germany in 1886. However, soon after his return, he was forced to sell much of his large collection of Japaneseukiyo-ewoodblock prints as he lost all of his savings in abank failure.[1]
After briefly working inParis, Netto obtained a job withKrupp from 1887–1889, where he invented a new patented process to producealuminium by the sodium reduction ofcryolite. The revolutionary new process promised to drastically reduce production costs for aluminium, which until that point had been valued more highly thangold due to its scarcity and difficulty to produce. However, Netto's process was quickly rendered obsolete by the development ofelectrolysissmelting.[4] In 1889, on the recommendation of noted chemistClemens Winkler, Netto accepted a post as head of the technical department ofMetallgesellschaft inFrankfurt am Main.[1][5]
Netto married in 1899 and had three children. He retired in 1902 for health reasons and from 1906 resided at thespa resort ofBad Nauheim inHesse. He died February 7, 1909, in Frankfurt.[1]
Netto published two books from his experiences in Japan:
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