Part 1: Riga-Dorpat-Riga: My parental home and childhood -- Youth -- The growing boy -- Student years -- The start of my scientific career -- Teaching and marriage -- My first appointment -- The professorship in Riga -- Germany -- Back in Riga -- My colleague -- Progress -- The appointment in Leipzig -- Part 2: Leipzig: Leaving home -- The new work place and the first fruits -- The laboratory -- At the writing desk -- The Leipzig circle -- The spread of the concept in Germany -- Impact at a distance -- Energetics -- Overload, breakdown and recovery -- The electrochemical society -- Catalysis and the new institute -- Nitrogen -- Natural philosophy -- First journey to America -- Taking leave of chemistry -- An international congress of all the arts and sciences -- Free! -- Part 3: Großbothen and the world -- The doctrine of happiness and its applications -- The exchange professor -- Country house “Energy” -- Great men and the schools -- The world language -- Festive days -- The Monist Society -- The International Union of Chemists -- The Bridge -- The energetic imperative -- World war and revolution -- The theory of colour -- The beauty of the law -- The noise of the streets and the peace of the garden.

This book is the translated and commented autobiography of Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1932), who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1909. It is the first translation of the German original version “Lebenslinien: Eine Selbstbiographie,” published by Ostwald in 1926/27, and has been painstakingly translated. The book includes comments and explanations, helping readers to understand Ostwald’s text in the historical context of Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. In his autobiography, Ostwald describes his impressive research career and his life from his own personal view. Readers will find information on how Ostwald immortalized himself through his research on catalysis, chemical equilibria, technical chemistry, and especially as one of the founders of modern physical chemistry. His broad interests in science, ranging from philosophy to the theory of colors and the idea of a universal scientific language are further remarkable aspects covered. This work will appeal to a broad audience of contemporary scientists: Wilhelm Ostwald has been tremendously influential for the development of chemistry and science, and many of today’s best-known international scientific schools can be traced back to Ostwald’s students. Ostwald was active in Germany and what is now Latvia and Estonia, while also travelling to the USA, England and France. In his discussions and analyses of the working conditions of the time, readers will find many issues reflected that continue to be of relevance today.

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