author
Svante Arrhenius
1859–1927
A founder of physical chemistry, he helped explain how substances split into ions in solution and opened new paths in chemical science. He is also remembered for early work on how carbon dioxide could influence Earth’s temperature.
3 Audiobooks
Worlds in the making: The evolution of the universe
by Svante Arrhenius
A világegyetem élete és megismerésének története a legrégibb időtől napjainkig
by Svante Arrhenius
The Destinies of the Stars
by Svante Arrhenius
About the author
Born in Sweden in 1859, Svante Arrhenius became one of the key scientific figures of his era. Trained as a physicist but celebrated mostly as a chemist, he is best known for developing the theory of electrolytic dissociation, which explained why dissolved salts, acids, and bases conduct electricity.
That work earned him the 1903 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, making him the first Swedish Nobel laureate in the field. He later led the Nobel Institute for Physical Chemistry and helped shape the young discipline of physical chemistry through research, teaching, and wide-ranging scientific writing.
Arrhenius also worked far beyond one specialty. Among his lasting contributions is an 1890s study of the greenhouse effect, in which he explored how changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide might affect global temperature. He died in Stockholm in 1927, but his name still appears throughout science, from the Arrhenius equation to discussions of climate history.