Johann Böhm (20 January 1895 – 27 November 1952) was a German Bohemian

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 ...

who focused on

photochemistry Photochemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the chemical effects of light. Generally, this term is used to describe a chemical reaction caused by absorption of ultraviolet (wavelength from 100 to 400 Nanometre, nm), visible ligh ...

and

radiography Radiography is an imaging technology, imaging technique using X-rays, gamma rays, or similar ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation to view the internal form of an object. Applications of radiography include medical ("diagnostic" radiog ...

. The

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

-containing mineral ''

boehmite Boehmite or böhmite is an aluminium oxide hydroxide (γ-AlO(OH)) mineral, a component of the aluminium ore bauxite. It is dimorphous with diaspore. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic dipyramidal system and is typically massive in habit. It is ...

'' (or ''böhmite'') was named after him. Wiley Online Library

Biography

Böhm studied at the German Polytechnic University in Prague and then worked with

Fritz Haber Fritz Jakob Haber (; 9 December 1868 – 29 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydrog ...

in Berlin where he re-designed and considerably improved the Weissenberg x-ray

goniometer A goniometer is an instrument that either measures an angle or allows an object to be rotated to a precise angular position. The term goniometry derives from two Greek words, γωνία (''gōnía'') 'angle' and μέτρον (''métron'') ' me ...

.Johannes Böhm, '' Das Weissenbergsche Röntgengoniometer. '' In: ''Zeitschrift für Physik'' 39 (1926) pp. 557–561.Martin J. Buerger (MIT):
''Karl Weissenberg and the development of X-ray crystallography, '' part 4: ''Further Developments of Weissenberg’s Method.'' (PDF) In 1926

George de Hevesy George Charles de Hevesy (born György Bischitz; ; ; 1 August 1885 – 5 July 1966) was a Hungarian radiochemist and Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate, recognized in 1943 for his key role in the development of radioactive tracers to study ch ...

, then a professor at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

, invited Böhm to co-operate with him on a series of experiments in spectrographic analysis. Afterwards Böhm worked at Freiburg University as an assistant and later as an associate professor. L. Dobiášová:
'Structure of microworld - the world seen by invisible rays. Struktura mikrosvěta – Svět viděný nedviditelnými paprsky.'' Abstract. In: ''Materials Structure'', vol. 7, No. 1 (2000)], p. 29University calendar
of Freiburg University, summer term 1935 From October 1935 he was a professor of physical chemistry at the Charles University in Prague#Split into Czech and German universities, German University in Prague. After World War II Böhm was allowed to remain in the country and become again a citizen of Czechoslovakia because he had been active in the anti-Nazi movement supporting Czech scientists such as

Jaroslav Heyrovský Jaroslav Heyrovský (; 20 December 1890 – 27 March 1967) was a Czech chemist and inventor who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1959 for his invention of polarography. Life and work Jaroslav Heyrovský was born in Prague on December 2 ...

, but was not permitted to continue his academic career. He worked in an industrial research institute in Rybitví (''Výzkumný ústav organických syntéz'').Web of Science v České republice
A few days before his death he was appointed Corresponding Member of the

Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences The Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (Czech: ''Československá akademie věd'', Slovak: ''Česko-slovenská akadémia vied'') was established in 1953 to be the scientific center for Czechoslovakia. It was succeeded by the Czech Academy of Science ...

. He died in Prague on 27 November 1952.

References

External links

Contains short biography of Böhm (in Czech)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bohm, Johann 1895 births 1952 deaths Scientists from České Budějovice German Bohemian people Czechoslovak chemists 20th-century German chemists Czech Technical University in Prague alumni