Leopold Pfaundler

Leopold Pfaundler von Hadermur (14 February 1839 - 6 May 1920) was an Austrian physicist and chemist born in Innsbruck. He was the father of pediatrician Meinhard von Pfaundler (1872-1947), and the father-in-law of pediatrician Theodor Escherich (1857-1911).

He studied under chemist Heinrich Hlasiwetz (1825-1875) at Innsbruck, with Justus von Liebig (1803-1873) at the University of Munich, and with Henri Victor Regnault (1810-1878) and Charles Adolphe Wurtz (1817-1884) in Paris. In 1861 he received his doctorate, and in 1867 was appointed professor of physics at the University of Innsbruck. In 1891 he succeeded Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) as professor of physics at the University of Graz. In 1887 he became a full member of the Vienna Academy of Sciences.

Pfaundler is remembered today for his kinetic-molecular explanation of gas reactions under the condition of equlibrium.[1][2] He was the inventor of a number of scientific apparatuses, such as a temperature regulator (1863), a Stromkalorimeter (1869), a differential air thermometer (1875), a seismograph (1897) and a Distanzmesser (1915), to name a few. He is also credited with creating a device for optical demonstration of Lissajous figures (1873).[3]

In 1863-64 he performed a survey of the Stubaier Alps with Ludwig Barth zu Barthenau (1839-1890), and in 1864 he was the first person to ascend to the summit of the Hofmannspitze (3112m).[4]

Selected written works

References

  1. ↑ A treatise on the principles of chemistry Matthew Moncrieff Pattison Muir - 1884
  2. ↑ FORGOTTEN ACHIEVEMENTS OF AUSTRIAN CHEMISTS. THE DISCOVERY OF THE ACTIVATED COMPLEX BY LEOPOLD PFAUNDLER FORGOTTEN ACHIEVEMENTS OF AUSTRIAN CHEMISTS. Rudolf Werner Soukup
  3. ↑ phsik.uibk Pfaundler's apparatus
  4. ↑ FORGOTTEN ACHIEVEMENTS OF AUSTRIAN CHEMISTS. THE DISCOVERY OF THE ACTIVATED COMPLEX BY LEOPOLD PFAUNDLER FORGOTTEN ACHIEVEMENTS OF AUSTRIAN CHEMISTS. Rudolf Werner Soukup
  5. ↑ Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
  6. ↑ Worldcat Identities