Prof. J. H. Van't Hoff

Abstract

IT is with the deepest regret that we record the death of Prof. J. H. van't Hoff, which occurred on March 1, at Steglitz, near Berlin. It was known that his health has not been good for the last two or three years, but the unexpected news of his death at the comparatively early age of fifty-eight years will come as a very heavy blow to the world of science. For a generation the name of van't Hoff has been familiar to students of science in every part of the civilised worlds It would be difficult indeed to mention any branch of modern scientific inquiry which has not been advanced by his fundamental discoveries. Certainly physiology, biology, and geology, as well as every branch of chemistry, owe a deep and undying debt of gratitude to the genius of van't Hoff. The memory of his name and the influence of his work will outlive the centuries, an integral part of the incorruptible heritage of science.