William Dittmar facts for kids
William Dittmar (1833 – 1892) was an important scientist from Germany. He was known for being a great chemical analyst, which means he was very good at figuring out what things are made of. He spent most of his career working in Scotland. He did a lot of important analysis on samples collected during the famous Challenger expedition, which explored the world's oceans.
One of his biggest achievements was confirming something called the Principle of Constant Proportions. This idea, first suggested by Johan Georg Forchhammer, says that even though the amount of salt in the ocean changes, the mix of the main chemicals (ions) in the seawater always stays the same. Because of Dittmar's work, this idea is often called "Dittmar's Principle" or "Forchhammer's Principle." He also calculated the exact weight of atoms for the metal platinum.
William Dittmar's Life Story
William Dittmar was born in a town called Umstadt in western Germany on April 14 or 15, 1833. His father, Fritz Dittmar, worked as an assessor in Umstadt. When William was 15, in 1848, he started training to be a pharmacist in Darmstadt.
In 1857, Dittmar went to work in the famous laboratory of Robert Bunsen in Heidelberg. This is where he started focusing on chemical analysis. There, he met Henry Enfield Roscoe, who invited him to come to Britain. Dittmar became Roscoe's assistant at Owen's College in Manchester. In 1861, he got a job as the main laboratory assistant in the Chemistry Department at the University of Edinburgh, where he stayed until 1869.
His scientific work was recognized when he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1863. Later, in 1882, he also became a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, which is a very high honor for scientists.
In 1869, Dittmar returned to Germany for a short time. He worked as a lecturer in meteorology (the study of weather) at an agricultural college in Bonn. He was offered a top chemistry job in Kassel in 1872, but he decided to wait for a position back in the United Kingdom. In 1873, he returned to Owen's College as a lecturer. Then, in 1874, he became a full Professor at the Andersonian college in Glasgow, where he taught until he passed away.
The University of Edinburgh gave him an honorary doctorate degree (LLD) in 1887 to recognize his contributions. William Dittmar passed away suddenly at his home in Glasgow on March 9, 1892, shortly after giving his morning lecture.
His Family
William Dittmar had a son, also named William Dittmar (1859-1951), who came with him to Britain. It is believed that his son also became a chemist, following in his father's footsteps.
