Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 33 views

    12 Aerosol Pioneer ASchmauss

    Uploaded by

    Narinder Singh
    August Schmauß was a German meteorologist born in 1877 who pioneered the concept of viewing the atmosphere as a colloid. In 1919, he first proposed that the atmosphere resembles a metastable colloidal solution, able to change constantly over years in unpredictable ways. In 1920, he published a more detailed paper explicitly comparing colloid chemistry and meteorology, suggesting that atmospheric aerosols and clouds be called "aerosols". Schmauß headed the University of Munich's Institutes of Meteorology from 1922 until retiring in 1948. He published widely on topics including water vapor, thermodynamics, and applied meteorology, but is particularly known for his early conceptualization of the atmosphere as a colloid.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    12 Aerosol Pioneer ASchmauss

    Uploaded by

    Narinder Singh
    33 views2 pages
    August Schmauß was a German meteorologist born in 1877 who pioneered the concept of viewing the atmosphere as a colloid. In 1919, he first proposed that the atmosphere resembles a metastable colloidal solution, able to change constantly over years in unpredictable ways. In 1920, he published a more detailed paper explicitly comparing colloid chemistry and meteorology, suggesting that atmospheric aerosols and clouds be called "aerosols". Schmauß headed the University of Munich's Institutes of Meteorology from 1922 until retiring in 1948. He published widely on topics including water vapor, thermodynamics, and applied meteorology, but is particularly known for his early conceptualization of the atmosphere as a colloid.

    Original Description:

    History and Facts about Aerosol

    Original Title

    12AerosolPioneerASchmauss

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    August Schmauß was a German meteorologist born in 1877 who pioneered the concept of viewing the atmosphere as a colloid. In 1919, he first proposed that the atmosphere resembles a metastable colloidal solution, able to change constantly over years in unpredictable ways. In 1920, he published a more detailed paper explicitly comparing colloid chemistry and meteorology, suggesting that atmospheric aerosols and clouds be called "aerosols". Schmauß headed the University of Munich's Institutes of Meteorology from 1922 until retiring in 1948. He published widely on topics including water vapor, thermodynamics, and applied meteorology, but is particularly known for his early conceptualization of the atmosphere as a colloid.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    33 views2 pages

    12 Aerosol Pioneer ASchmauss

    Uploaded by

    Narinder Singh
    August Schmauß was a German meteorologist born in 1877 who pioneered the concept of viewing the atmosphere as a colloid. In 1919, he first proposed that the atmosphere resembles a metastable colloidal solution, able to change constantly over years in unpredictable ways. In 1920, he published a more detailed paper explicitly comparing colloid chemistry and meteorology, suggesting that atmospheric aerosols and clouds be called "aerosols". Schmauß headed the University of Munich's Institutes of Meteorology from 1922 until retiring in 1948. He published widely on topics including water vapor, thermodynamics, and applied meteorology, but is particularly known for his early conceptualization of the atmosphere as a colloid.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    You are on page 1of 2

    August Schmau

    26 November 1877 10 October 1954

    August Schmau, The atmosphere as a colloid

    The Atmosphere as a Colloid Pioneering Work of August Schmau.


    In the first half of the twentieth century, the research of atmospheric particles was quite
    active, as Podzimek [2000] showed very nicely. However, in contrast to the title History of
    Atmospheric Aerosol Science Between 1900 and 1950 of his contribution to the History of
    Aerosol Science might suggest, the term Atmospheric Aerosol was not yet coined nor
    realized at the beginning of the time span under consideration. It was not a colloid being
    investigated, but rather a kind of particle zoo: condensation nuclei, soil, sea salt, dust, and
    smoke particles, fine droplets, large ions, ice, sublimation nuclei, and so forth.
    Among many scientists working in the field, Podzimek mentioned Schmau and Wigand.
    They published a small book together [Schmau and Wigand, 1929] with the title Die
    Atmosphre als Kolloid (The Atmosphere as a Colloid). That was not the first mention of
    the term colloid in connection with atmospheric particles, but it was a comprehensive
    discussion of the subject. To my knowledge, the first mention of the atmosphere as a
    colloidal solution was 10 years earlier [Schmau, 1919]. He remarked, I have the impression
    that the explanation of cloud and precipitation formation is missing several weather
    elements. Under otherwise identical conditions it sometimes rains and sometimes does not.

    The atmosphere resembles in such times a metastable mix moving towards a stable
    condition. A colloidal solution for instance could exist for years constantly changing, but
    making a forecast about the time the change occurs, is impossible. 1
    In 1920, a more detailed paper appeared [Schmau, 1920], comparing colloid chemistry
    and meteorology: Nothing hinders the dust [the context always talked about water] from
    being called a colloidal solution of water [droplets] in air. Since solutions of colloids in
    water are called hydrosols, in alcohol alkosols, dust should be called an aerosol. It is
    interesting to note, that at that time aerosol and clouds were seen as an entity, the atmospheric
    aerosol. In this paper Schmau attributed the apparent stability of the atmospheric aerosol
    mainly to electrical forces.
    August Schmau was born on November 26, 1877 in Munich, Germany. In 1900, his
    dissertation was ber anomale elektromagnetische Rotationsdispersion. In 1922, the
    University Munich created a Lehrstuhl for Meteorology and Climatology and from that time
    forward, PhDs in meteorology became possible. August Schmau headed that institute and
    another Institute for Meteorology in Munich until retirement in 1948.
    Schmau was trained in experimental physics and published about 7 papers in that field.
    The majority of his published papers were, however, in meteorology. His interest was rather
    broad. So he covered water vapour, condensation and hydrometers; thermodynamics; wind
    and atmospheric flow; free atmosphere and aerology; correlation and cyclic systems;
    singularities and waves; climate variations; applied meteorology; meteorological optics and
    acoustics; general meteorology; methodology and instruments [Zierl, 1948]. But also topics
    like meteorology in the war [Schmau, 1940].

    References
    Podzimek, J. (2000), History of Atmospheric Aerosol Science Between 1900 and 1950,
    History of Aerosol Science, pp 57-68, edited by O. Preining and E. J. Davis, Verlag der
    sterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna.
    Schmau, A. (1919), Randbemerkungen II, Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 36, 11-16.
    Schmau, A. (1920), Kolloidchemie and Meteorologie, Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 37 (1/2),
    1-8.
    Schmau, A., and A. Wigand (1929), Die Atmosphre als Kolloid, 74 pp, Vieweg,
    Braunschweig.
    Schmau, A. (1940), Der Krieg als meteorologischer Erzieher, Zeitschrift fr angewandte
    Meteorologie, 57, 400-401.
    Zierl, H. (1948), Literaturverzeichnis zu den wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten (1900-1947) von
    August Schmau, Meteorologische Rundschau, 1, 170-175.

    Biography prepared by
    Ruprecht Jaenicke

    In this collection of remarks, Schmau probably is the first who documented cloud seeding: 8. An airplane
    is dissipating a cloud veil: A faint cloud veil at about 500 m altitude was present. By chance an airplane
    crossed this veil and left behind a blue trace. The cloud in the trace was consumed by the airplane.

    You might also like