LOVITZ Toviy Egorovich (Johann Tobias)
(25.IV. 1757 - 17.XII. 1804)
Russian chemist, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1793)
Born in Gottingen. In 1768, together with his father, astronomer G.M. Lovitz, he came to Russia. After the tragic death of his father, who was on a scientific expedition, during the Pugachev rebellion, the young man was taken in by the famous mathematician Leonhard Euler. Toviy Lowitz was a student at the Main Pharmacy in St. Petersburg (until 1780).
He studied at the University of Gottingen (1780-1782). In 1784-1797 again worked at the Main Pharmacy in St. Petersburg, where he carried out a significant part of his research.
From 1797 he worked in his home laboratory, while officially serving at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences as a professor of chemistry.
Research focuses on various problems chemistry. Discovered (1785) phenomenon adsorption coal in liquid medium and studied these processes in detail. He proposed using coal to purify water, alcohol and vodka, pharmaceuticals and organic compounds.
At the same time I was researching crystallization of salts from solutions. Discovered (1794) phenomenon supersaturation And supercooling of solutions; established the conditions for growing crystals.
He suggested using individual salts when analyzing salts. crystal modifications; for this purpose he made 288 models - standards - various substances and classified them according to chemical characteristics.
Developed a number of recipes for cooling mixtures.
Discovered (1789) a method of obtaining glacial acetic acid. First time I received crystal glucose (1792), sodium chloride dihydrate And crystalline caustic alkalis(1795). Prepared (1796) anhydrous (absolute) diethyl ether And ethanol ; the latter was used to separate barium, strontium and calcium salts.
Based on materials from the biographical reference book "Outstanding Chemists of the World" (authors V.A. Volkov and others) - Moscow, " graduate School", 1991
(1757-04-25 )Johann Tobias (Toviy Egorovich) Lovitz(German: Johann Tobias Lowitz; April 25, 1757 - December 7, 1804) - Russian chemist, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1793).
Biography
But the disease continued to progress. In 1780, he left for Germany to visit his only close relative, his maternal uncle, officially formalizing the trip as a business trip “to acquire knowledge.” In Germany, he studied at the University of Göttingen (1780-1782), but the studies turned out to be too expensive and lengthy for Lowitz to complete.
In order to improve his health, Lovitz began to practice long walks, which had a positive effect on his well-being. Having made a seven-month journey through European countries for his final recovery, Lovitz decides to return to St. Petersburg. And in 1784, he returned to Russia forever and got a job at the same Main Pharmacy in St. Petersburg, where he subsequently carried out a significant part of his research.
Since 1797, he worked in his home laboratory, while officially serving at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences as a professor of chemistry.
Scientific work
Research is devoted to various problems of chemistry. In 1784 he discovered the phenomenon of supersaturation and supercooling of solutions; established the conditions for growing crystals.
Discovery of the phenomenon of adsorption of dissolved substances by coal
Lovitz conducted numerous experiments studying the properties of coal as an adsorbent on various contaminated liquids. He found out that charcoal purifies dirty (“brown”) salt solutions, clarifies the color of honey, syrup and other juices, and discolors solutions of dyes. I found out the effect of coal on various odorous substances, for example, that coal deprives simple vodka of the smell and taste of fusel oil and purifies stagnant water. He also discovered the antiseptic effect of coal.
His work “Indicating a new method of making water fit for drinking during sea voyages” was immediately found practical use: drinking water on ships began to be stored in wooden barrels with a layer of coal and it did not rot for months. Also, Tovius Lowitz’s method began to be used in Russian vodka factories for the purification of raw wine spirit.
Lovitz's discoveries are widely used today: in medicine, ecology, chemical, pharmaceutical, food and defense industries.
Crystallization of salts from solutions
Lovitz was one of the first in the world to study the crystallization of salts from solutions. In order to use individual crystalline modifications in the analysis of salts, he made 288 models of various substances and classified them according to chemical characteristics. Developed several recipes for cooling mixtures.
Discovered (1789) a method for producing glacial acetic acid. For the first time received: (1788) betulin (crystalline organic substance contained in birch water and also contained in birch tar; a white resinous substance that fills the cavities of cork tissue cells on birch trunks and gives it a white color), (1792) crystalline glucose, sodium chloride dihydrate salts and crystalline caustic alkalis (1795). Prepared (1796) anhydrous (absolute) diethyl ether and ethyl alcohol; the latter was used to separate barium, strontium and calcium salts. Discovered and described (1790) the Lowitz arcs named after him - an optical phenomenon that sometimes accompanies
(14(25).04.1757 - 27.11.1804)
In 1768, the German astronomer Georg Lowitz was invited to St. Petersburg by the Academy of Sciences. Lowitz was appointed head of the Astrakhan astronomical expedition for research in the southeast European Russia. The expedition was designed to last several years.
Lovitz's only son, Tobias, was not in good health, and his father took him with him, hoping that the trip would benefit the boy. In June 1774, on the way to St. Petersburg, a tragic event occurred: the expedition encountered the defeated retreating troops of Emelyan Pugachev... A.S. Pushkin wrote in “The History of Pugachev”: “Pugachev fled along the banks of the Volga. Then he met the astronomer Lowitz and asked what kind of man he was. Hearing that Lovitz observed the flow of the heavenly bodies, he ordered him to be hung closer to the stars.” A seventeen-year-old boy miraculously escaped death. He experienced a severe shock from which he never fully recovered.
In St. Petersburg, Tobias found himself completely alone. At the government expense he was assigned to Academic gymnasium. There he was destined for a difficult life. Well versed in mathematics, physics and astronomy (thanks to his father), he essentially had no liberal arts education and had poor command of Russian. Cruel and rude morals reigned in the gymnasium. The time spent in it became a complete nightmare for Tobias. Of the seven years allotted for training, he only lasted two years.
He was almost twenty, but he had difficulty imagining his future. It is not known exactly whether anyone gave good advice, or whether the decision came to him on his own, but in February 1777 he became an apprentice at the Main St. Petersburg Pharmacy. It was better equipped than the chemical laboratory of the Academy of Sciences, which after the death of M.V. Lomonosov gradually fell into disrepair.
This is how Lovitz began his passion for chemistry. The pharmacy library had many books containing various chemical information. The obsession of the apothecary student only caused surprise and even ridicule from those around him. In May 1779, Tobias became an assistant pharmacist, but this appointment only intensified the persecution from his “colleagues.”
The result was a serious illness. Few hoped for a favorable outcome. However, Tobias survived. He later admitted: “I came to my senses and regained my sanity... but I only felt the full extent of my distress.” He had no family, no loyal friends, no basic amenities of life. He realized that he could save life only by dramatically changing its course. And Lowitz decides to return to his homeland, to Gottingen. His only close relative lived there - his maternal uncle. And those few people who knew and remembered his father.
He enters the University of Göttingen to study medicine - too expensive and time-consuming to complete. And Tobias himself understands that the path of Aesculapius is not his path. He increasingly remembers classes in the laboratory of the St. Petersburg pharmacy. In addition, relations with my uncle and his family did not work out.
Lovitz fell in love with travel. At first these were short walks, then he began to take long excursions. My health has improved dramatically - physical and spiritual. In 1782 he travels over 200 miles through Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy. Climbing the Bernese Glacier in the Alps. And climbs Mont Blanc. “My passionate desire to visit the highest point in Europe was so great that I climbed with the greatest difficulty and danger to the highest peak of this wonderful mountain...” Tobias wrote to one of his St. Petersburg acquaintances.
Further stay in Göttingen became increasingly hopeless. The decision to return to St. Petersburg is ripening. He requests the leadership of the Academy and in the spring of 1783 receives assurance that he can count on his former place in the pharmacy.
On a May morning in 1784, Toviy Egorovich Lovitz (that’s how he would be called in Russian) sails to St. Petersburg. Now he will forever remain in Russia, he will be a part of its history.
Evil fate continues to hover over Lovitz. It turned out well family life, but four young children die one after another, and then his wife goes to the grave. His second marriage was also sad. In the obituary about Lovitz they will write: “His life was darkened by a thousand sorrows and his days were a tangle of suffering.” But it also contained the following words: “He knew no other joys than those that his chemical discoveries brought him.”
In the person of Tovius Lowitz, Russian natural science acquired the most prominent chemist of the 18th century, versatile in interests and successful in achievements. However, is there no exaggeration in such a statement? After all, it was M.V. Lomonosov is considered the founder Russian chemistry. It was he who created the first Chemical Laboratory in our state and conducted extensive research in it. There are no words: according to the “Hamburg account” the figures of Lomonosov and Lovitz are incomparable. What the work of the great encyclopedist meant for Russia requires no comment. But to be impartial, it is not so easy to name specific chemical discoveries made by Lomonosov; discoveries that would certainly find a place in the chronological chronicle of the development of chemistry. Lowitz's achievements would occupy several obvious positions in this chronology. P.I. Walden wrote: “By the originality of his scientific works, in terms of their exemplary experimental implementation and in terms of the scientific significance of the new data he obtained, T. Lovitz should be recognized as the best experimental chemist of the 18th century in Russia. His work is equally concerned with analytical, physical and organic chemistry. “And,” Walden will add, “if eighteenth-century Russia had been destined to have... just one more chemist who would have combined the far-sighted plans of Lomonosov the philosopher with the patient ingenuity of Lowitz the experimenter, then chemical science in Russia would have risen to the same level as Western European science." During all the time he worked in St. Petersburg, Lovshch had almost no assistants or students. Except, perhaps, K. S. Kirchhoff, who discovered the first catalytic chemical reaction in 1811.
It is worthy of surprise how much Lovitz did - a tireless researcher, in whose personal life one tragic event followed another, and ailments became more and more pronounced; a truly obsessive researcher - a brilliant, self-taught chemist with essentially no education.
His discovery of adsorption (absorption) from solutions of substances by charcoal dates back to the day (June 5, 1785). “It [this discovery] alone would have made Lovitz immortal,” his biographer A.I. would later write. Scherer. This was the first step towards the creation in the future of the most important scientific discipline - the physicochemistry of surface phenomena. Lovitz used charcoal to purify a wide variety of products (medicines, drinking water, bread vodka, honey and other sugary substances, saltpeter, etc.). Practical effect was so great that the name of the author of the discovery became widely known abroad, and St. Petersburg Academy Sciences in 1787 elected Lowitz a corresponding member (he became a full member in 1793). Lovitz was one of the first in the world to systematically study crystallization processes; he can be considered the founder of the study of the mechanism of formation of crystals from solutions. He coined the concepts of “supersaturation” and “hypothermia.” He isolated caustic alkalis in crystalline form, prepared glacial acetic acid and, after treating it with chlorine, observed the formation of chloroacetic acids; Finally, he obtained anhydrous alcohol (“pure alcohol”). He was the first in Russia to become interested in the chemistry of sugars and established the difference between honey and cane sugar.
As an analytical chemist, Lovitz analyzed minerals and improved methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis (for example, he proposed a method for the qualitative determination of substances by their crystalline form). Independently of the Scottish researchers A. Crawford and W. Cruickshank discovered a new chemical element strontium in heavy spar. Knowing nothing about the discovery of chromium by the French analyst L. Vauquelin, Lovitz almost simultaneously isolated this element from the mineral crocoite. Started studying the chemistry of titanium and niobium. Perhaps the scientist could be called the first specialist in the field of chemistry of rare elements in Rus'... In addition, he developed new method analysis of natural silicates and silica. He published more than 170 works in Russian, German, French and Latin languages. The excellent style of presentation indicates that Russian has become his native language.
His creative activity did not weaken even when in 1800, due to a serious injury, he lost control of his left hand. The scientist even planned to carry out a balloon ascent. Perhaps here, too, obsession would allow Lovitz to achieve his goal. But on November 27, 1804, he died of apoplexy. And he was only 47 years old.
Unfortunately, Lovitz was destined for many years of oblivion. The Academy commissioned Scherer to prepare his scientific legacy for publication. He limited himself to writing a short article. Due to Scherer's fault, the most valuable archival documents were lost. The name Lowitz has become less and less common in literature - domestic and foreign. Very few chemists gave him credit for his achievements. Only in the mid-1950s. domestic historian of chemistry N.A. Figurovsky was the first to collect and comment on all the published works of the scientist.
Why was Lowitz's contribution to chemistry not properly appreciated in a timely manner?
The works of A. Lavoisier (oxygen theory of combustion) and J. Dalton (creation of the foundations of chemical atomism) contributed to early XIX V. rapid progress in chemistry. Outstanding discoveries followed one after another; a whole cohort of talented European scientists carried out a genuine chemical revolution. And against this enchanting background, the achievements of a researcher from distant and, for many, mysterious Russia were lost.
In our country, conditions have not yet developed for the significance of Lowitz’s discoveries to be properly understood and appreciated. Literally only a few natural scientists studied chemistry professionally; their names are now familiar only to meticulous historians of science. Essentially, systematic chemical research began in Russia in 1830-1840, when such luminaries as G.I. Hess, A.A. Voskresensky, N.N. Zinin. At the beginning of the century, Lovitz simply did not have any successors to his work.
On Lovitz’s tombstone was carved in no-Latin: “For yourself - little, for all of us - much” (the stone disappeared somewhere already in our unlucky times). Perhaps better words of memory could hardly have been chosen. They are like an epigraph to the life of a scientist, evidence that he has worthily overcome this “moment called life.”
Slide 3
Lowitz Toviy (Tobias) Egorovich Russian chemist, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1793). German by nationality. Born in Göttingen on April 25, 1757. The first world-class Russian scientist.
Slide 4
Lowitz's father Georg-Moritz Lowitz, a German by birth and an astronomer by profession, was the leader of the expedition of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences to study the passage of Venus through the solar disk. During the journey to the Caspian Sea, the expedition encountered a disorderly retreat of Pugachev's troops. Lovitz could not run away from danger; his entire family and other members of the expedition were with him. Lovitz hoped to find protection in a German colony, but one of the colonists betrayed him.
Slide 5
Pugachev demanded that both father and son Lovitz be brought to him. On the way, the Cossack escort took pity on the boy and pushed him out of the wagon. The shock experienced was so strong that it caused epilepsy in Lovitz Jr. Seizures of this disease tormented Tovius Lowitz almost all his life. Hearing that Lovitz was observing the flow of the celestial bodies, Pugachev ordered him to be hanged closer to the stars.
Slide 6
The stepmother did not accept Tobius, who escaped execution, into her family. Tovius Lowitz and his little sister Sophia were sheltered by the family of the famous mathematician, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences Leonhard Euler.
Slide 7
In St. Petersburg, he was assigned to the Academic Gymnasium at government expense. Well versed in mathematics, physics and astronomy (thanks to his father), he essentially did not have a humanities education and had poor command of the Russian language. Cruel and rude morals reigned in the gymnasium. The time spent in it became a complete nightmare for Tobias. Of the seven years allotted for training, he only lasted two years. In 1779, Tobias became an apprentice and then an assistant pharmacist. In the pharmacy library there were many books containing various chemical information - this is how Lovitz’s passion for chemistry began.
Slide 9
This, in fact, is where his scientific activity begins. In 1787, Lovitz became a correspondent of the Academy, and in 1793 - a full member. He now works mainly in his home laboratory, which is superior in capabilities to both pharmacy and academic ones. His greatest achievement was the discovery of the phenomenon of absorption and the methods based on it for purifying substances using activated carbon. Another method of purification of substances developed by Lovitz was purification through crystallization.
Slide 10
Lovitz discovered chromium in Russian chrome ores, proposed a “seed” method for obtaining well-cut crystals, and discovered the property of polybasic acids to produce two series of salts - acidic and intermediate, for example NaHC03 and Na2C03. Many of Lowitz's ideas were "discovered" a second time by French and German chemists.
Slide 11
Lovitz's personal life was not easy. In 1784 he married the daughter of the merchant Kunkel. This marriage produced six children, five of whom Lovitz buried one after another in early childhood. Soon his wife also died. The only son left alive. Lovitz remarried the elder sister of his late wife. Four years later, Lowitz’s second wife also died, giving birth to three daughters, of whom two remained alive. The new loss shocked the already middle-aged Lovitz so much that severe attacks of epilepsy returned to him.
Slide 12
In addition, while working, he once cut the tendons of his left hand with a piece of glass, the hand stopped working and “dried up.” In 1802, Lovitz tied the knot for the third time. He even wanted to take a hot air balloon flight in honor of this event, but due to severe bleeding from his throat, he was unable to carry out his plan.
Slide 13
In the times of Lowitz and Lomonosov, chemists, in addition to composition and description appearance substances determined its smell and taste. It is not surprising that burns of the nasal and oral mucosa, poisoning and other injuries constantly accompanied the work of chemists and made it very dangerous.
Slide 14
In 1793, Lovitz obtained the world's first crystals of acetic acid, which he called “glacial vinegar” or “glacial acetic acid.” He described the smell and taste of these crystals as follows: “The smell of molten ice vinegar is pungent, unbearable to the nose. The taste is very sour. One drop of this vinegar on the tongue causes pain that is felt for twenty hours ... "
Slide 15
Icy acetic acid
Slide 16
In 1800, Lovitz accidentally spilled concentrated acetic acid on the table. Collecting it with filter paper, Lovitz squeezed it out with his fingers over the glass. He soon noticed that his fingers had lost sensation, turned white and swollen. After a few days, the skin on my fingers began to burst and fall off in large, thick pieces. The injury led Lovitz to the idea of using concentrated acetic acid to remove calluses.
Slide 17
The word “alcohol” comes from the ancient Latin name for this substance – spiritus vini (“spirit of wine”). This term is still used in medicine when writing down prescriptions. In the 16th century in Western European languages, and in the 18th century in Russian, wine (ethyl) alcohol acquired a new name - alcohol (Arabic “al-kugul”). Anhydrous (absolute) ethyl alcohol was first obtained only in 1796 by the Russian chemist Toviy Egorovich Lovitz and the German scientist Jeremiah Veniamin Richter. For this purpose, they used substances that bind water, such as calcium oxide.
Slide 18
At the beginning of the last century, the Cossacks who lived in Transbaikalia decided to move to the banks of the Urov (a tributary of the Argun) - they were attracted here by good arable land and a good climate. But here’s the problem: after just a few years, many settlers fell ill with an unknown disease that twisted people and pierced their whole body with pain. Doctors came here more than once, but none of them could find out the cause of the mass disease. Only in our time, complex biogeochemical expeditions of the USSR Academy of Sciences were able to establish that the culprit of this serious illness was strontium, which the waters of those places were rich in.
Slide 19
Strontium was discovered in late XVIII century. The element owes its name to the small Scottish village of Strontian. In 1787, a rare mineral called strontianite was found in its vicinity. Research by English chemists A. Crawford and T. Hope, German chemist M. Klaproth and other scientists indicated that it contained “earth” (oxide) of a metal unknown to science at that time. Among the discoverers of strontium is the Russian chemist T.E. Lowitz
Slide 20
Scientists became acquainted with pure strontium a few years later, in 1808, when the Englishman G. Davy was able to first isolate this light (lighter than aluminum) silvery-white metal in its free form. Man became familiar with the chemical compounds of strontium long before the events described. Even in ancient India, when performing sacred rites in the twilight of temples, mysterious red lights suddenly flashed, instilling superstitious fear in those praying.