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Concept
Carl Auer von Welsbach
Summary
Carl Auer von Welsbach (1 September 1858 – 4 August 1929), who received the Austrian noble title of Freiherr Auer von Welsbach in 1901, was an Austrian scientist and inventor, who separated didymium into the elements neodymium and praseodymium in 1885. He was also one of three scientists to independently discover the element lutetium (which he named cassiopeium), separating it from ytterbium in 1907, setting off the longest priority dispute in the history of chemistry.
He had a talent not only for making scientific advances, but also for turning them into commercially successful products. His work on rare-earth elements led to the development of the ferrocerium "flints" used in modern lighters, the gas mantle that brought light to the streets of Europe in the late 19th century, and the metal-filament light bulb. He took the phrase plus lucis, meaning "more light", as his motto.
Carl Auer was born in Vienna on 1 September 1858 to Alois Auer and his wife, Therese Neuditschka. He was the youngest of four children, his elder siblings being Leopoldine, Alois and Amalie. His father, ennobled in 1860 (as Alois Ritter Auer von Welsbach), was director of the Imperial printing office (K.-k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei) in the days of the Austrian Empire.
Carl went to high schools in Mariahilf and Josefstadt. He attended the Realschule Josefstadt from 1873 to 1877, matriculating on July 16, 1877.
Next, he joined the Austro-Hungarian Army for one year of voluntary military service. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He joined on October 1, 1877, and received his patent as a lieutenant on December 15, 1878.
In 1878, Auer entered the University of Vienna, studying mathematics, general chemistry, engineering physics, and thermodynamics. He then moved to the University of Heidelberg in 1880, where he continued his studies in spectroscopy under the direction of Robert Bunsen, (inventor of the Bunsen burner). In 1882, he received his Ph.D.
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