Van ‘t Hoff: first at the interface of chemistry and physics

In the first of three parts, we are introduced to the young Henri van ‘t Hoff, who reveals his exceptional talent at an early age. We follow him through schools and universities until 1877, when he is appointed lecturer in chemistry at the soon-to-be-founded University of Amsterdam. By this point, the 25-year-old Van ‘t Hoff has already shared his revolutionary Proposal on the tetrahedral structure of the carbon atom with the world, and his triumphant march to the pinnacle of science is in full swing.

Whilst in the Netherlands at that time organic chemistry is unequivocally the dominant discipline, Van ‘t Hoff finds himself captivated by physical chemistry. In doing so, he lays the foundations of a new field of research at the interface of chemistry and physics.

The laboratory on the Groenburgwal becomes his workplace. It quickly proves too cramped and outdated, and the call from abroad grows ever louder. The Amsterdam authorities pull out all the stops to keep him in the city and build him a brand-new laboratory. It will not be enough: a few years later, Van ‘t Hoff nonetheless opts for a position in Berlin, where he can devote himself exclusively to research without any obligation to teach — something he has a deep-seated aversion to. In Berlin, from 1895 onwards, the accolades begin to roll in: appointments and honours follow in quick succession, culminating in the first Nobel Prize in 1903.

Van ‘t Hoff proves to be a brilliant and ambitious rare talent who is demanding on substance and perpetually seeking recognition

Van den Berg writes that ‘a biography must be more than a simple account of a life and that it can serve as a particularly useful instrument for conducting scholarly historical research.’ In this ambition, Van den Berg has succeeded with flying colours. He paints a compelling portrait of an era in which Dutch chemical science flourishes magnificently. The syntheses and theories on which Van ‘t Hoff and his contemporaries worked are described in clear, accessible language.

Little was previously known about Van ‘t Hoff’s personality. Van den Berg fills that gap, all the more so because he had access to Van ‘t Hoff’s private archive, brimming with correspondence with colleagues and family, as well as a wealth of photographs. We come to know him as a brilliant and ambitious rare talent who is demanding on substance and perpetually seeking recognition. His diaries from the Berlin period prove to be stuffed with clippings of tributes and favourable reviews written in his honour — he cut them all out. Yet outside the laboratory he is almost shy, and ill at ease in the spotlight. He would sooner develop new theories than be obliged to debate them.

A Driven Outsider is a richly illustrated book about a brilliant, headstrong, yet thoroughly likeable scientist who, as Van den Berg aptly describes, ‘left his ego on the threshold of his laboratory’.