Otto Redlich

Otto Redlich
Born	November 4, 1896(1896-11-04) Vienna, Austria
Died	August 14, 1978(1978-08-14) (aged 81) California, United States
Nationality	Austrian later American
Fields	physical chemist
Institutions	University of Vienna, Washington State College Shell Development Co., University of California, Berkeley
Alma mater	University of Vienna
Known for	Redlich-Kwong equation Teller-Redlich rule

Otto Redlich (4 November 1896–14 August 1978) was an Austrian physical chemist and chemical engineer who is best known for his development of equations of state like Redlich-Kwong equation.^[1][2] Besides this he had numerous other contributions to science.

Biography

Redlich was born 1896 in Vienna, Austria. He went to school in the Döbling district of Vienna. After finishing school in 1915 he joined the Austrian Hungarian Army and served as artillery officer mainly at the Italian front in World War I. He was wounded and became a prisoner of war in August 1918. H returned to Vienna after the war in 1919. He studied chemistry and received his Ph.D. in 1922 for work on the equilibrium of nitric acid, nitrous and nitric oxide. Redlich worked for one year in industry and than joined Emil Abel at the University of Vienna. He became lecturer in 1929 and professor in 1937. During this time he developed the Teller-Redlich isotopic product rule.^[3][4][5] After the Anschluss in March 1938, Austria had become a part of Nazi Germany and with the implementation of the Nuremberg Laws all government employed Jews lost their jobs, including academics. Like many other scientist Redlich tried to leave the Nazi governed Austria.^[1][2]

With the help of the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars he was able to emigrate to the United States in December 1938. He gave lectures at several universities and met Gilbert N. Lewis and Linus Pauling. Harold Urey helped him to get a position in Washington State College. In 1945 he left the College and started to work in industry, at Shell Development Co. in Emeryville, California. He published his paper on the improvement of the ideal gas equation in 1949, today known as the Redlich–Kwong equation of state.^[6]

In 1962 Redlich retired from Shell and received a position at University of California at Berkeley. He died in California in 1978.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Reif-Acherman, Simón (2008). "Otto Redlich: chemist and gentleman from the "old school"". Química Nova 31 (7): 1901–1908. doi:10.1590/S0100-40422008000700053. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Otto Redlich, 1896–1978: in memory and appreciation". Fluid Phase Equilibria 12: 1. 1983. doi:10.1016/0378-3812(83)85010-9. 
3. ^ Redlich, O. (1935). "Eine allgemeine Beziehung zwischen den Schwingungsfrequenzen isotoper Moleküln (nebst Bemerkungen über die Berechnung harmonischer Kraftkonstanten)". Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie B 28 (5): 371–382. 
4. ^ Schaad, L.J.; Bytautas, Laimutis; Houk, K.N. (1999). "Ab initio test of the usefulness of the Redlich-Teller product rule in computing kinetic isotope effects". Canadian Journal of Chemistry 77 (5–6): 875. doi:10.1139/cjc-77-5-6-875. 
5. ^ Angus, W. R.; Bailey, C. R.; Hale, J. B.; Ingold, C. K.; Leckie, A. H.; Raisin, C. G.; Thompson, J. W.; Wilson, C. L. (1936). "218. Structure of benzene. Part VIII. Assignment of vibration frequencies of benzene and hexadeuterobenzene". Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed): 971. doi:10.1039/JR9360000971. 
6. ^ Redlich, Otto; Kwong, J. N. S. (1949). "On the Thermodynamics of Solutions. V. An Equation of State. Fugacities of Gaseous Solutions". Chemical Reviews 44 (1): 233. doi:10.1021/cr60137a013. PMID 18125401.