Johann RitterIn chemistry, Johann Ritter (1776-1810) was a German physical chemist noted for []

Overview
In circa 1800s, Ritter performed noted electrolysis and electrochemical work about which, in respect to human chemistry, he is said to have exchanged ideas on with German polyintellect Johann Goethe, which, according to German literature scholar Joseph Vogl, had some type of influence “on chemistry for Goethe’s Elective Affinities.” [1]

In 1808, Ritter, in his "Attempt a History of the Fate of the Chemical Theory in the Last Centuries", stated: [2]

“Another major advantage of the new or of the electrical view of hydrogen and oxygen is that, it is won with an explanation of chemical affinity, kinship, attraction, or the person who for the sake of looking at all body union and find. Anything that can be put anywhere and always in chemical processes of bodies have recently just hydrogen and oxygen untereinander.”

Ritter is also know for some type of "Ritterian fire", as Joseph Vogl calls it. [3]

American literature scholar Frederick Burwick states that Ritter's 1806 Die Physick als Kunst, and similarly Humphry Davy's 1807 “Parallels between Art and Science”, were two of the earliest publications themed on the two cultures issue. [6]

Ritter electrolosis experiment (1800)Ritter prism experiment
Left: Ritter’s 1800 electrolysis experiment, the measuring cup to catch the escaping gas and certain Ritter’s first time estimate of the ratio of hydrogen gas and oxygen gas right two-to-one. [2] Right: Ritter’s 1801 experiment to investigate the existence of energy beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum. Knowing that photographic paper would turn black more rapidly in blue light than in red light, he exposed the paper to light beyond violet. Sure enough, the paper turned black, proving the existence of ultraviolet light. [3]
References
1. (a) Vogl, Joseph. (1999). “Nomos der Ökonomie. Steuerungen in Goethes Wahlverwandtschaften.” MLN 114(3):503-27.
(b) Holland, Jocelyn. (2009). German Romanticism and Science: the Procreative Poetics of Goethe, Novalis, and Ritter (pg. 206). CRC Press.
(c) Joseph Vogl (German → English) – Wikipedia.
2. Ritter, Johann. (1808). "Versuch einer Geschichte der Schicksale der chemischen Theorie in den letzten Jahrhunderten." In: Journal für die Chemie, Physik und Mineralogie 7, S. 1–66, hier S. 47.
3. Blechschmidt, Stefan. (2010). "A Repository for the Present, an Archive of the Past: Who creates Order in Elective Affinities?” (“…eine Repositure für das Gegenwärtige, ein Archiv für das Vergangene”. Wer schafft Ordnung in den Wahlverwandtschaften?”), in: Goethes Wahlverwandtschaften: Werk Und Forschung (Goethe’s Elective Affinities: Work and Research) (editor: Helmut Huhn) (pgs. 383-402). Walter de Gruyter.
4. (a) First quantitative electrolysis of water by Johann Wilhelm Ritter, first published in "Voigt's magazine for the latest state of natural history", Vol.2 (1800) p.356-400.
(b) Erste quantitative Wasserelektrolyse durch Johann Wilhelm Ritter, zuerst veröffentlicht in "Voigts Magazin für den neuesten Zustand der Naturkunde", Bd.2 (1800) S.356-400.
5. Ultraviolet waves – MissionScience.Nasa.gov.
6. (a) Ritter, Johann. (1806). Die Physik als Kunst (Physics as Art). Lindauer.
(b) Burwick, Frederick. (1986). The Damnation of Newton: Goethe’s Color Theory and Romantic and Romantic Perception (pg. 3). Walter de Gruyter.
(b) Black, Joel. (1990). “Introduction: Newtonian Mechanics and the Romantic Rebellion”, in: Beyond the Two Cultures: Essays on Science, Technology, and Literature (editors: Joseph Slade and Judith Lee) (pg. 133). Iowa State University Press.

External links
Johann Wilhelm Ritter – Wikipedia.

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