Nernst, Walther Hermann (väl`tər hĕr`män nĕrnst), 1864–1941, German physicist and chemist, a founder of modern physical chemistry. After doing outstanding research on osmotic pressure and electrochemistry, he turned to thermodynamics Carnot cycle after the French physicist Sadi Carnot , who first discussed the implications of such cycles. During the Carnot cycle occurring in the operation of a heat engine, a definite quantity of heat is absorbed from a reservoir at high temperature; part of this heat is
..... Click the link for more information. , establishing in 1906 a new tenet (often called the third law of thermodynamics) that dealt with the behavior of matter at temperatures approaching absolute zero. For his work in thermodynamics he won the 1920 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He later specialized in electroacoustics and astrophysics. Nernst invented (1898) an electric metallic-filament lamp, a link between the carbon lamp and the incandescent lamp. His works include Theoretical Chemistry from the Standpoint of Avogadro's Rule and Thermodynamics (1893, 5th Eng. ed. 1923) and The New Heat Theorem (1918, tr. 1926).

Bibliography

See biography by K. A. G. Mendelssohn (1973).

Nernst, Walther Hermann

(born June 25, 1864, Briesen, Prussia—died Nov. 18, 1941, Muskau, Ger.) German scientist, one of the founders of modern physical chemistry. He taught at the Universities of Göttingen and Berlin until forced to retire in 1933 by the Nazi regime. Nernst's researches on the theory of electric cells (see battery), the thermodynamics of chemical equilibrium, the properties of vapours at high temperatures and of solids at low temperatures, and the mechanism of photochemistry have had important applications. His formulation of the third law of thermodynamics gained him a 1920 Nobel Prize. He also invented an improved electric light and an electronically amplified piano.