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The Karlsruhe Congress was an international meeting of chemists held in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe is a city in the south west of Germany, in the States of Germany Baden-W?rttemberg, located near the France-German border.Founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, the surrounding town became the seat of two of the highest courts in Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany whose decisions have the force of a law, and the...
, Germany from September 3, 1860 to September 5, 1860.

The meeting
The Karlsruhe Congress was called so that European chemists could discuss matters of chemical nomenclature, notation, and atomic weights. The organization, invitation, and sponsorship of the conference were handled by Kekulé
Kekulé

Kekule can refer to a German chemist, his son, or the various things named after them :*Friedrich August Kekul? von Stradonitz , German organic chemist...
, Wurtz, and Karl Weltzien
Karl Weltzien

Karl Weltzien , was a German scientist who was Professor of Chemistry at the Technische Hochschule of Karlsruhe from 1848 to 1869. Starting about 1840, Weltzien constructed new laboratories for chemistry research and teaching at Karlsruhe....
. As an example of the problems facing the delegates, Kekulé's Lehrbuch der Organischen Chemie gave nineteen different formulas used by chemists for acetic acid
Acetic acid

Acetic acid, CH3COOH, also known as ethanoic acid, is an organic acid which gives vinegar its sour taste and pungent smell. Pure, water-free acetic acid is a colourless liquid that absorbs water from the environment , and freezes at 16.7 Celsius to a colourless crystalline solid....
, as shown in the figure on this page.

The Karlsruhe meeting ended with no firm agreement on the vexing problem of atomic and molecular weights.






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The Karlsruhe Congress was an international meeting of chemists held in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe is a city in the south west of Germany, in the States of Germany Baden-W?rttemberg, located near the France-German border.Founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, the surrounding town became the seat of two of the highest courts in Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany whose decisions have the force of a law, and the...
, Germany from September 3, 1860 to September 5, 1860.

The meeting


The Karlsruhe Congress was called so that European chemists could discuss matters of chemical nomenclature, notation, and atomic weights. The organization, invitation, and sponsorship of the conference were handled by Kekulé
Kekulé

Kekule can refer to a German chemist, his son, or the various things named after them :*Friedrich August Kekul? von Stradonitz , German organic chemist...
, Wurtz, and Karl Weltzien
Karl Weltzien

Karl Weltzien , was a German scientist who was Professor of Chemistry at the Technische Hochschule of Karlsruhe from 1848 to 1869. Starting about 1840, Weltzien constructed new laboratories for chemistry research and teaching at Karlsruhe....
. As an example of the problems facing the delegates, Kekulé's Lehrbuch der Organischen Chemie gave nineteen different formulas used by chemists for acetic acid
Acetic acid

Acetic acid, CH3COOH, also known as ethanoic acid, is an organic acid which gives vinegar its sour taste and pungent smell. Pure, water-free acetic acid is a colourless liquid that absorbs water from the environment , and freezes at 16.7 Celsius to a colourless crystalline solid....
, as shown in the figure on this page.

The Karlsruhe meeting ended with no firm agreement on the vexing problem of atomic and molecular weights. However, on the meeting's last day reprints of Cannizzaro's
Stanislao Cannizzaro

Stanislao Cannizzaro, Fellow of the Royal Society was an Italy chemist. He is remembered today largely for the Cannizzaro reaction and for his influential role in the atomic-weight deliberations of the Karlsruhe Congress in 1860....
 1858 paper on atomic weights, in which he utilized earlier work by Avogadro, were distributed. Cannizzaro's efforts exerted a heavy and, in some cases, an almost immediate influence on the delegates. Lothar Meyer later wrote that on reading Cannizzaro's paper, "The scales seemed to fall from my eyes."

An important long-term result of the Karlsruhe Congress was the adoption of the now-familiar atomic weights (actually, atomic masses). Prior to the Karlsruhe meeting, and going back to Dalton's
John Dalton

John Dalton Fellow of the Royal Society was an England chemist, meteorologist and physicist. He is best known for his pioneering work in the development of modern atomic theory, and his research into Color blindness ....
 work in 1803, several systems of atomic weights were in use. In one case, a value of 1 was adopted as the weight of hydrogen (the base unit), with 6 for carbon and 8 for oxygen. As long as there were uncertainties over atomic weights then the compositions of many compounds remained in doubt. Following the Karlsruhe meeting, values of about 1 for hydrogen, 12 for carbon, 16 for oxygen, and so forth were adopted. This was based on a recognition that certain elements, such as hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, were composed of diatomic molecules and not individual atoms.

Ihde has argued that the Karlsruhe meeting was the first international meeting of chemists and that it led to the eventual founding of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry is a non-governmental organization established in 1919 for the advancing of chemistry. Its members are national chemistry societies....
.

Attendance


According to Wurtz's list, the congress was attended by the scientists listed below.

  1. Belgium. Brussels: Stas
    Jean Stas

    Jean Servais Stas was a Belgium analytical chemistry.Stas was born in Leuven and trained initially as a physician. He later switched to chemistry and worked at the ?cole Polytechnique in Paris under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Dumas....
    ; Ghent: Donny, A. Kekulé
  2. Germany. Berlin: Ad. Baeyer
    Adolf von Baeyer

    Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer was a Germany chemistry who synthesized indigo dye, and was the 1905 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry....
    , G. Quinke
    Georg Hermann Quincke

    Georg Hermann Quincke was a Germany physicist.Born at Frankfurt , Quincke was the son of prominent physician Geheimer Medicinal-Rath Hermann Quincke and the older brother of physician Heinrich Quincke....
    ; Bonn: H. Landolt
    Hans Heinrich Landolt

    Hans Heinrich Landolt was a Swiss chemist and discovered iodine clock reaction.Reference...
    ; Breslau: Lothar Meyer; Kassel: Guckelberger,
    Carl Gustav Guckelberger

    Carl Gustav Guckelberger was an Germany chemist....
    ; Klausthal: Streng; Darmstadt: E. Winkler; Erlangen: v. Gorup-Besanez
    Eugen Freiherr von Gorup-Besanez

    Eugen Freiherr von Gorup-Besanez was an Austrian-Germany chemist.References*...
    ; Freiburg i. B.: v. Babo
    Lambert Heinrich von Babo

    Lambert Heinrich von Babo was an Germany chemist....
    , Schneyder; Giessen: Boeckmann, H. Kopp
    Hermann Franz Moritz Kopp

    Hermann Franz Moritz Kopp , Germany chemist, was born at Hanau, where his father, Johann Heinrich Kopp , a physician, was professor of chemistry, physics and natural history at the local lyceum....
    , H. Will; Göttingen: F. Beilstein
    Friedrich Konrad Beilstein

    Friedrich Konrad Beilstein , Russian name "??????????, ????? ?????????", was a chemist and founder of the famous Handbuch der organischen Chemie ....
    ; Halle a. S.: W. Heintz
    Wilhelm Heinrich Heintz

    Wilhelm Heinrich Heintz was a Germany structural chemist who earned his PhD at Berlin in 1844 under Heinrich Rose.He was one of six founding members of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft and the only chemist....
    ; Hanover: Heeren
    Friedrich Heeren

    Friedrich Heeren was an Germany chemist.References...
    ; Heidelberg: Becker, O. Braun, R. Bunsen
    Robert Bunsen

    Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen was a Germany chemist. He investigated electromagnetic spectroscopy of heated elements, and with Gustav Kirchhoff he discovered cesium and rubidium....
    , L. Carius
    Georg Ludwig Carius

    Georg Ludwig Carius was a Germany chemist born in Heidelberg. He studied under Friedrich W?hler and was assistant to Robert Bunsen for 6 years....
    , E. Erlenmeyer, O. Mendius, Schiel; Jena: Lehmann, H. Ludwig; Karlsruhe: A. Klemm, R. Muller, J. Nessler
    Julius Neßler

    Julius Ne?ler was an Germany chemist.He discovered the Nessler's reagent....
    , Petersen, K. Seubert, Weltzien; Leipzig: O. L. Erdmann
    Otto Linné Erdmann

    Otto Linn? Erdmann was a Germany chemist. He was the son of Karl Gottfried Erdmann 1 - 18 the physician who introduced vaccination into Saxony, was born at Dresden on the 11th of April 1804....
    , Hirzel, Knop, Kuhn; Mannheim: Gundelach, Schroeder; Marburg a. L.: R. Schmidt
    Rudolf Schmitt

    Rudolf Schmitt was a German chemist who together with Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe disovered the Kolbe-Schmitt reaction....
    , Zwenger; Munich: Geiger; Nuremberg: v. Bibra
    Ernst von Bibra

    ?Dr. Ernst Freiherr von Bibra was a German Naturalist and author. ?Ernst was a botanist, zoologist, metallurgist, chemist, geographer, travel writer, novelist, duellist, art collector and ?trailblazer in ethnopsychopharmacology....
    ; Offenbach: Grimm; Rappenau: Finck; Schönberg: R. Hoffmann; Speyer: Keller, Mühlhaüser; Stuttgart: v. Fehling
    Hermann von Fehling

    Hermann von Fehling was a Germany chemist, famous as the developer of Fehling's solution used for estimation of sugar.He was born in L?beck....
    , W. Hallwachs; Tübingen: Finckh, A. Naumann, A. Strecker
    Adolph Strecker

    Adolph Strecker was a Germany chemist who is remembered primarily for his work with amino acids....
    ; Wiesbaden: Kasselmann, R. Fresenius
    Carl Remigius Fresenius

    Carl Remigius Fresenius , was a Germany chemist, known for his studies in analytical chemistry....
    , C. Neubauer; Würzburg: Scherer, v. Schwarzenbach
  3. United Kingdom. Dublin: Apjohn A.
    James Apjohn

    James Apjohn was the Irish chemist....
    ; Edinburgh: Al. Crum Brown
    Alexander Crum Brown

    Alexander Crum Brown Fellow of the Royal Society was a Scotland Organic chemistry.Born in Edinburgh, he studied at the Royal High School , and in London and Leipzig, before returning to take a teaching post at the University of Edinburgh in 1863....
    , Wanklyn
    James Alfred Wanklyn

    James Alfred Wanklyn was a nineteenth-century English chemist who is remember today chiefly for his "ammonia method" of determining water quality and for his fierce arguments with those, such as Edward Frankland, who opposed him over matters related to water analysis....
    , F. Guthrie; Glasgow: Anderson; London: B. F. Duppa, G. C. Foster, Gladstone
    John Hall Gladstone

    Dr. John Hall Gladstone Fellow of the Royal Society was a UK chemist.Born in Metropolitan Borough of Hackney, London, he was educated at University College, London, and the University of Giessen in Germany....
    , Müller, Noad, A. Normandy, Odling
    William Odling

    William Odling was an English Chemistry who contributed to the development of the periodic table.In the 1860s Odling, like many chemists, was working towards a Periodic table....
    ; Manchester: Roscoe
    Henry Enfield Roscoe

    Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe Fellow of the Royal Society was an English chemist. He is particularly noted for early work on vanadium and for photochemistry studies....
    ; Oxford: Daubeny, G. Griffeth, F. Schickendantz; Woolwich: Abel
  4. France. Montpellier: A. Béchamp
    Antoine Béchamp

    Pierre Jacques Antoine B?champ was a French biology. He studied silkworm parasites, and was the first to synthesise Atoxyl....
    , A. Gautier, C. G. Reichauer; Mülhousen i. E.: Th. Schneider; Nancy: J. Nicklčs; Paris: Boussingault
    Jean Baptiste Boussingault

    Jean Baptiste Joseph Dieudonne Boussingault was a French chemist....
    , Dumas
    Jean-Baptiste Dumas

    Jean Baptiste Andr? Dumas , was a French chemist, best known for his works on organic analysis and synthesis, as well as the determination of atomic weights by measuring vapor densities....
    , C. Friedel
    Charles Friedel

    Charles Friedel was a France chemist and Mineralogy. A native of Strasbourg, France, he was professor of chemistry at the University of Paris....
    , L. Grandeau, Le Canu, Persoz, Alf. Riche, P. Thénard, Verdét, C.-A. Wurtz
    Charles-Adolphe Wurtz

    Adolphe Wurtz was a French chemist of German extraction. He is perhaps best remembered by chemists for the Wurtz reaction, to form carbon-carbon bonds by reacting alkyl halides with sodium, and for his discoveries of ethylamine and ethylene glycol....
    ; Strasbourg i. E.: Jacquemin, Oppermann, F. Schlagdenhaussen, P. Schützenberger
    Paul Schützenberger

    Paul Sch?tzenberger , France chemist, was born at Strasbourg, where his father Georges Fr?d?ric Sch?tzenberger was professor of law, and his uncle Charles Sch?tzenberger professor of chemical medicine....
    ; Tann: Ch. Kestner, Scheurer-Kestner
  5. Italy. Genoa: Cannizzaro; Pavia: Pavesi.
  6. Mexico. Posselt
  7. Austria. Innsbruck: Hlasiwetz
    Heinrich Hlasiwetz

    Heinrich Hlasiwetz was an Austrians chemist.References...
    ; Lemberg: Pebal
    Leopold von Pebal

    Leopold von Pebal was an Austrian chemist.Pebal was a professor at the University of Lemberg until 1865, after which he became a professor at the University of Graz....
    ; Pesth: Th. Wertheim
    Theodor Wertheim

    Theodor Wertheim was an Austrians chemist.References...
    ; Vienna: V. v. Lang
    Viktor von Lang

    Viktor von Lang was an Austrians chemist.References...
     , A. Lieben
    Adolf Lieben

    Adolf Lieben was an Austrian Jewish chemist. He was born in Vienna as son of Ignatz Lieben. He studied at the University of Vienna, University of Heidelberg , and Paris, and subsequently held the positions of privat-docent at the University of Vienna , and professor in the universities of Palermo , Turin , and Prague ....
    , Folwarezny, F. Schneider
  8. Portugal. Coďmbra: Mide Carvalho
  9. Russia. Kharkov: Sawitsch; St. Petersburg: Borodin
    Alexander Borodin

    Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian composer of Georgian people-Russian people parentage who made his living as a notable chemistry. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five , who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music....
    , Mendeleev, L. Schischkoff, Zinin N.
    Nikolay Zinin

    Nikolay Nikolaevich Zinin was a Russian Organic chemistry....
    ;
  10. Poland. Warsaw: T. Lesinski, J. Natanson
  11. Sweden. Harpenden: J. H. Gilbert
    Joseph Henry Gilbert

    Sir Joseph Henry Gilbert was an England chemist born at Kingston upon Hull on the 1st of August 1817.He studied chemistry first at Glasgow under Thomas Thomson; then at University College London, in the laboratory of A....
    ; Lund: Berlin, C. W. Blomstrand
    Christian Wilhelm Blomstrand

    Christian Wilhelm Blomstrand was a Sweden mineralogist and chemist.Blomstrand was born in V?xj?, Sweden and studied chemistry at the University of Lund, where he received his Ph.D in 1850 and his habilitation in 1854....
    ; Stockholm: Bahr
  12. Switzerland. Bern: C. Brunner, H. Schiff
    Hugo Schiff

    Hugo Schiff was a Germany Chemist . He discovered Schiff bases and other imines, and was responsible for research into aldehydes and had the Schiff test named after him....
    ; Geneva: C. Marignac
    Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac

    Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac was a Switzerland chemistry whose work with atomic weights suggested the possibility of isotopes and the packing fraction of cell nucleus and whose study of the rare earth elements led to his discovery of ytterbium in 1878 and codiscovery of gadolinium in 1880....
    ; Lausanne: Bischoff; Reichenau bei Chur: A. v. Planta; Zurich: J. Wislicenus
    Johannes Wislicenus

    Johannes Adolf Wislicenus was a Germany chemist who was born in Klein-Eichstedt in Thuringia. He studied in Z?rich and later attained the chair of chemistry at W?rzburg and Leipzig ....
  13. Spain. Madrid: R. de Suna


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