Ralph E. Oesper

Ralph Edward Oesper (14 June 1886 – 10 December 1977) was an American chemist and historian of chemistry. He is noted for his biographies of scientists, emphasizing their personal lives in addition to their scientific contributions. Oesper translated significant works in the field of chemistry to various languages especially English. As an independent investigator, he developed improved analytical methods. These contributions included new reagents for certain types of titrations. One such new reagent, Oesper's Salt, is named after him.

Personal life and education Oesper was born in Cincinnati and attended public schools before enrolling at the University of Cincinnati in 1904. There he earned a bachelor's degree in 1908, a master's degree in 1909, and a PhD in 1914 with Lauder William Jones as his thesis advisor. These degrees were all in the field of chemistry or analytical chemistry.

On 29 June 1910 he married Helen Gertrude Wilson (1885–1972).

Career Following completion of his PhD degree, Oesper taught for a brief time at New York University and then at Smith College as a non-tenure track faculty member. He then in 1918 became a tenure track faculty member and later a full professor at the University of Cincinnati, where he remained until his retirement in 1951 as professor emeritus. In retirement, he remained active as an occasional lecturer, a journal editor, and a translator of scientific books and articles.

Oesper wrote approximately 300 scientific articles on analytical and organic chemistry, colloid chemistry and chemical history. He was fluent in the German language and translated about 20 chemistry books and numerous articles from German into English. He also translated chemistry articles from French and Dutch into English.

Biographies and translations Following extensive European travel in the 1920s, Oesper began writing and compiling biographies of notable European chemists. These biographies were published in the United States in 1929 in a journal article entitled "What a Chemist May See in Europe". The publication included 24 biographies, examples including Fritz Haber, Alfred Nobel, Wilhelm Ostwald, Joseph Priestley, Jeremias Benjamin Richter amongst others.

As part of his career as a researcher in analytical chemistry, in 1938 Oesper translated a significant treatise on analytical methods from the German language into English, thereby making the information more broadly available. From then, Oesper continued to translated important scientific works.

Honors and legacy In 1954, Oesper received the 5th annual Eminent Chemist award by the American Chemical Society. In 1966 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Cincinnati. This included a financial endowment to fund projects on the history of chemistry.

Oesper was also known for his efforts to preserve the history of chemistry. In addition to his work as a translator and historian, he helped establish one of the most comprehensive collections of historical chemical apparatus and literature in the United States, now housed at the University of Cincinnati.

Selected publications Articles

Cohen, Stuart; Oesper, Ralph E.

Books As translator:

As author: Oesper, Ralph E. The Human Side of Scientists, University Publications, 1975.