Title:

Letter from Richard Willstatter, Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule to Michael Heidelberger

Creator:

Willstatter, Richard
Eidgenössische technische Hochschule Zürich

Recipient:

Heidelberger, Michael

Date:

4 August 1912

Description:

To qualify for a desirable academic position in chemistry in the United States, scientific training at a European University was an indispensable credential before World War I. With financial support from his father, Heidelberger spent the year 1911-1912 in the laboratory of the organic chemist and 1915 Nobel Laureate, Richard Willstatter, at the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland. There, Heidelberger helped prepare cyclooctatetraene, the next higher analog of benzene, consisting of a ring with eight carbon atoms and four double bonds, a relatively reactive, colorless liquid used in organic chemistry research. As Heidelberger recalled, it was in Willstatter's laboratory that he "really began to learn how to deal with difficult things in chemistry." "Better training than that you couldn't have . . .". In this letter of reference, Willstatter commends Heidelberger for his "extraordinary effort," and "as a hard-working chemist and as a young researcher of absolute reliability. His precision during observations and measurements also made a positive difference during physical [chemistry] investigations."

Location:

Box: 1. Folder: 1

Rights:

Courtesy of Michael Heidelberger.

Disclaimer:

The National Library of Medicine's Profiles in Science program has made every effort to secure proper permissions for posting items on the web site. In this instance, however, it has either not been possible to identify or contact the current copyright owner. If you have information regarding the copyright owner, please contact https://support.nlm.nih.gov.

Genre:

Letters (correspondence)

Format:

Text

Extent:

1 pages

Language:

German

Legacy ID:

DHBBCS

NLM ID:

101584940X36

Profiles Collection:

The Michael Heidelberger Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584940X36

Story Section:

Biographical Information