Abstract
IN Otto Wallach, German chemistry loses one of its organic pillars. He is almost the.last to go of a great generation which believed in the serious study of materials at the laboratory bench as the prime and proper occupation of the chemist and could express itself in plain, straightforward, honest language, free from illusions and pretence. The split p and the proton leaning-post have changed all that: the beginner no longer learns even to determine the molecular weight of oxygen, although he is prepared to discuss the ‘in ards’ of its atomsanalysis is a meaningless word to himhe is not really to be trusted to analyse anything, either by word or deed. What was a moral science is fast becoming mere superstition to the majority. The example of a craftsman like Wallach is therefore of special value. Devoting himself to the study of one of the great groups of plant products, the essential oils, he developed consummate analytical skill in unravelling Nature's most tangled mixtures, thus laying not only foundations for the future study of vital products but also contributing largely to the development of a most remunerative industry.
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ARMSTRONG, H. Prof. Otto Wallach. Nature 127, 601–602 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/127601a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/127601a0