Cato Maximilian Guldberg (11 August 1836 – 14 January 1902) was a Norwegian mathematician and

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

. Guldberg is best known as a pioneer in physical chemistry.

Background

Guldberg was born on 11 August 1836, in Christiania. He was the eldest son of Carl August Guldberg (1812–92) and Hanna Sophie Theresia Bull (1810–54). He was the brother of nurse and educator Cathinka Guldberg as well as mathematician Axel Sophus Guldberg. He attended Aug. Holths private latinskole in Christiania. Guldberg studied mathematics and physics at the University of Christiania and took his diploma in 1859. That same year he received the Crown Prince's gold medal (''Kronprinsens gullmedalje'') for a dissertation in pure mathematics. He received a travel and education scholarship in 1861, studying applied mathematics and machine learning in what is now Germany, Switzerland and France.

Career

Guldberg first taught at Hartvig Nissens skole in Christiania. Gulberg worked at the Royal Frederick University becoming a college fellow in 1867 and received a professorship in applied mathematics in 1869. Together with his brother-in-law,

Peter Waage Peter Waage (29 June 1833 – 13 January 1900) was a Norwegian chemist and professor of chemistry at the University of Kristiania. Along with his brother-in-law Cato Maximilian Guldberg, he co-discovered and developed the law of mass action ...

, he proposed the

law of mass action In chemistry, the law of mass action is the proposition that the rate of a chemical reaction is directly proportional to the product of the activities or concentrations of the reactants. It explains and predicts behaviors of solutions in dy ...

. This law attracted little attention until, in 1877,

Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff Jr. (; 30 August 1852 – 1 March 1911) was a Dutch physical chemistry, physical chemist. A highly influential theoretical chemistry, theoretical chemist of his time, Van 't Hoff was the first winner of the Nobe ...

arrived at a similar relationship and experimentally demonstrated its validity. In 1890, he published what is now known as the Guldberg rule, which states that the normal

boiling point The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor. The boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding envi ...

of a liquid is two-thirds of the

critical temperature Critical or Critically may refer to: *Critical, or critical but stable, medical states **Critical, or intensive care medicine *Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences. *Critical Software, a company specializing in ...

when measured on the

absolute scale There is no single definition of an absolute scale. In statistics and measurement theory, it is simply a ratio scale in which the unit of measurement is fixed, and values are obtained by counting. Another definition tells us it is the count of the ...

. From 1866 to 1868, 1869 to 1872 and 1874 to 1875, he was the chairman of the Norwegian Polytechnic Society.

Honours

Sweden-Norway Sweden and Norway or Sweden–Norway (; ), officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and known as the United Kingdoms, was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Sweden and Norway under a common monarch and common foreign poli ...

: ** Knight of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

, ''1866'' ** Knight of the Polar Star, ''1882'' ** Knight of St. Olav, ''1891''; Commander 2nd Class, ''21 January 1896'' ** Knight of the

Order of Charles XIII The Royal Order of Charles XIII () is a Swedish order (honour), order of merit, founded by King Charles XIII of Sweden, Charles XIII in 1811. Membership The Lord and Master of the Order is the Monarch, King of Sweden, currently King Carl XVI Gust ...

, ''28 January 1899'' * : Knight of the Dannebrog, ''30 August 1872''

References

Publications

* * - English translation of Waage and Guldberg's 1864 paper (above)

External links