January 9 is reserved to Richard Abegg

January 9 is reserved to Richard Abegg
Today is the birthday of chemist Richard Abegg, who was born in Danzig, Prussia (now Gdańsk, Poland), in 1869. He received his doctorate from the University of Berlin in 1891. Abegg studied the properties of solutions and determined that adding solute lowers the temperature at which the solvent freezes. He is best known for his research into valence, the ability of atoms to combine with one another.

Around the turn of the century Abegg determined that a configuration of eight outer (or valence) electrons provides atoms with the most stability. That insight was particularly impressive considering the electron had just been discovered in 1897. Abegg died at age 41 when the balloon he was riding in crashed.

Bio:
http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095343573

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