Walther Nernst

• Preface
• p. v

• 1
• Development of Physics and Physical Chemistry from about 1800 until 1870
• p. 1

• 2
• Youth and University Period (1864 - 1887)
• p. 9

• 2.1
• Ancestors and Parents
• p. 9

• 2.2
• Youth and High School in Graudenz
• p. 10

• 2.3
• University Studies in Zurich and Berlin
• p. 16

• 2.4
• Graz: The "Second Scientific Home"
• p. 19

• 2.4.1
• University and physics in Graz: Ludwig Boltzmann and Albert von Ettingshausen
• p. 19

• 2.4.2
• The Ettingshausen-Nernst effects and the Nernst effect
• p. 26

• 2.5
• Conclusion of the University Studies in Wurzburg
• p. 30

• 3
• Habilitation in Leipzig (1887 - 1889)
• p. 35

• 3.1
• The Sciences at the University of Leipzig
• p. 36

• 3.2
• Wilhelm Ostwald
• p. 38

• 3.3
• The Completion of the Thermodynamics of Electrochemistry: The Nernst Equation
• p. 40

• 3.4
• The "Ionists" versus the "Anti-Ionists"
• p. 51

• 4
• The Gottingen Period: The Rise to World Fame (1890 - 1905)
• p. 57

• 4.1
• The Georgia Augusta University in Gottingen
• p. 58

• 4.2
• Eduard Riecke, Felix Klein, and Mathematics in Gottingen
• p. 59

• 4.3
• Early Studies in Gottingen: The Nernst Distribution Law
• p. 62

• 4.4
• Marriage with Emma Lohmeyer and the Walther Nernst Family
• p. 68

• 4.5
• The Textbook "Theoretical Chemistry from the Standpoint of Avogadro's Rule and Thermodynamics"
• p. 73

• 4.6
• The First Professorship and the Establishment of a Chair of Physical Chemistry
• p. 80

• 4.7
• The New Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry
• p. 88

• 4.8
• Studies and Members in the New Institute
• p. 96

• 4.9
• The Nernst Lamp
• p. 104

• 4.10
• Nernst Law of Electrical Nerve Stimulus Threshold (Reizschwellengesetz)
• p. 114

• 4.11
• The Construction of Instruments
• p. 117

• 4.12
• Mathematics and Chemistry
• p. 126

• 5
• Professor of Physical Chemistry in Berlin (1905 - 1922)
• p. 133

• 5.1
• The Friedrich-Wilhelm University and Other Academic Institutions in Berlin and Charlottenburg
• p. 133

• 5.2
• The Famous Year 1905
• p. 139

• 5.3
• The Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Berlin
• p. 142

• 5.4
• The First Lecture in Berlin - Announcement of a Fundamental Law of Nature
• p. 146

• 5.5
• The Nernst Law of Heat or the Third Law of Thermodynamics
• p. 150

• 5.5.1
• Remarks on the First and Second Law of Thermodynamics
• p. 150

• 5.5.2
• The problem and its solution given by Nernst
• p. 154

• 5.5.3
• The calculation of chemical equilibria
• p. 165

• 5.5.4
• Specific heats and low-temperature physics
• p. 169

• 5.5.5
• Quantum Theory
• p. 177

• 5.5.6
• The impossibility of reaching the absolute zero of temperature
• p. 184

• 5.5.7
• Formulation of the Third Thermal Law by Max Planck
• p. 187

• 5.5.8
• Research between 1906 and 1916, the monograph, and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• p. 189

• 5.5.9
• Critique and priority conflict
• p. 195

• 5.6
• Other Scientific Studies during this Period
• p. 198

• 5.7
• Organization of Science
• p. 206

• 5.7.1
• Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes
• p. 206

• 5.7.2
• German Electrochemical Society
• p. 213

• 5.7.3
• Other developments
• p. 218

• 5.7.4
• Rector of the University and the German Institute for Foreigners
• p. 223

• 5.8
• Managing a Country Estate, Hunting, and Fish Farming
• p. 229

• 5.9
• The First World War
• p. 236

• 5.9.1
• War-related research: gas warfare, explosives, ballistics
• p. 237

• 5.9.2
• The effort on peace negotiations
• p. 248

• 5.10
• Political Activities
• p. 257

• 5.11
• Visits to the USA and to South America
• p. 260

• 6
• President of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR) (1922 - 1924)
• p. 267

• 6.1
• Brief History of the PTR
• p. 267

• 6.2
• Activities of Nernst at the PTR
• p. 273

• 7
• Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Berlin (1924 - 1933)
• p. 283

• 7.1
• Solutions of Strong Electrolytes
• p. 287

• 7.2
• Vibrating Strings and the Neo-Bechstein Grand Piano
• p. 292

• 7.3
• Studies in Cosmology and Astrophysics
• p. 306

• 8
• The Final Years (1933 - 1941)
• p. 327

• 8.1
• Attitude to the Fascism
• p. 327

• 8.2
• An Attempt to Participate in the War-Related Research during the Second World War
• p. 335

• 8.3
• The End in the Village of Zibelle
• p. 337

• 9
• Honors and Memorials
• p. 341

• References
• p. 347

• Name Index
• p. 373