Johann Wilhelm Ritter | |
|---|---|
 Ritter in the uniform of theBavarian Academy of Sciences, about 1804. | |
| Born | (1776-12-16)16 December 1776 |
| Died | 23 January 1810(1810-01-23) (aged 33) |
| Known for | Ultraviolet light Electrolysis Electroplating |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
Johann Wilhelm Ritter (16 December 1776 – 23 January 1810)[1] was aGermanchemist,physicist andphilosopher. He is associated with theGerman Romanticism. He is also known for discovering theultraviolet part of theelectromagnetic spectrum. He is also credited for the first achieved sustainedelectrolysis of water and the discovery ofelectroplating.
He was born inSamitz (Zamienice) nearHaynau (Chojnów) inSilesia (then part ofPrussia, since 1945 inPoland), and died inMunich.
Ritter belonged to theGerman Romantic movement.[2] He was personally acquainted withJohann Wolfgang von Goethe,Alexander von Humboldt,Johann Gottfried Herder andClemens Brentano. He was strongly influenced byFriedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, who was the main philosopher of theNaturphilosophie movement. In 1801,Hans Christian Ørsted visited Jena and became his friend. Several of Ritter's researches were later reported by Ørsted, who was also strongly influenced by the philosophical outlook ofNaturphilosophie.[3]
Johann Wilhelm Ritter's first involvement with science began when he was 14 years old. He became an apprentice to an apothecary inLiegnitz (Legnica), and acquired a deep interest in chemistry. He began medicine studies at theUniversity of Jena in 1796. A self-taught scientist, he made many experimental researches on chemistry, electricity and other fields.[1]
Ritter's first scientific researches concerned some galvanic phenomena. He interpreted the physiological effects observed byLuigi Galvani and other researchers as due to the electricity generated by chemical reactions. His interpretation is closer to the one accepted nowadays than those proposed by Galvani (“animal electricity”) andAlessandro Volta (electricity generated by metallic contact), but it was not accepted at the time.
In 1800, shortly after the invention of thevoltaic pile,William Nicholson andAnthony Carlisle discovered that water could be decomposed by electricity. Shortly afterward, Ritter independently discovered the same effect, independently. Besides that, he collected separately and measured the amounts of hydrogen and oxygen produced in the reaction. He also discovered the process ofelectroplating.[4] In 1802 he built his firstelectrochemical cell, with 50 copper discs separated by cardboard disks moistened by a salt solution.[5][6]
Ritter made several self-experiments applying the poles of a voltaic pile to his own hands, eyes, ears, nose and tongue.[7] He also described the difference between the physiological effects of the two poles of the pile, although some of the effects he reported were not confirmed afterwards.
Many of Ritter's researches were guided by a search for polarities in the several "forces" of nature, and for the relation between those "forces" – two of the assumptions ofNaturphilosophie. In 1801, after hearing about the discovery of "heat rays" (infrared radiation) byWilliam Herschel (in 1800), Ritter looked for an opposite (cooling) radiation at the other end of the visible spectrum. He did not find exactly what he expected to find, but after a series of attempts he noticed thatsilver chloride was transformed faster from white to black when it was placed at the dark region of the Sun's spectrum, close to its violet end. The "chemical rays" found by him were afterwards calledultraviolet radiation.[8][9][10]
Some of Ritter's researches were acknowledged as important scientific contributions, but he also claimed the discovery of many phenomena that were not confirmed by other researchers. For instance: he reported that the Earth had electric poles that could be detected by the motion of a bimetallic needle; and he claimed that he could produce the electrolysis of water using a series of magnets, instead of Volta's piles.[3]
Ritter had no regular income and never became a university professor, although in 1804 he was elected a member of theBavarian Academy of Science (in Munich).
He married in 1804 and had four children,[1] but he was unable to provide the needs of his family. Plagued by financial difficulties and suffering from weak health (perhaps aggravated by his electrical self-experimentation),[citation needed] he died young in 1810, as a poor man.
