Kurt Gustav Karl Peters (17 August 1897 – 23 May 1978) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n chemist. His work focused on the area of fuel technology, physical chemistry and catalytic reactions as well as the separation of rare gases and hydrocarbons.

History

After serving in the

Austrian army The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of nati ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he studied chemistry at the Technical University of Vienna (Vienna TH, today

Vienna University of Technology TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...

) between 1918 and 1921. In 1923 he earned his doctorate at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

under Walther Nernst. In 1927, Peters and

Friedrich Paneth Friedrich Adolf Paneth (31 August 1887 – 17 September 1958) was an Austrian-born British chemist. Fleeing the Nazis, he escaped to Britain. He became a naturalized British citizen in 1939. After the war, Paneth returned to Germany to bec ...

published their results on the transformation of

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

, now known as

Cold fusion Cold fusion is a hypothesized type of nuclear reaction that would occur at, or near, room temperature. It would contrast starkly with the "hot" fusion that is known to take place naturally within stars and artificially in hydrogen bombs and p ...

. They later retracted the results, saying they had measured background helium from the air. After working for a number of years as an assistant, in 1928 he was promoted to Head of Department at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Coal Research. In 1937 he moved into industry and worked in the department of experimental high-IG Farben under Matthias Pier in the field of catalyst development. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the American military government appointed him as trustee for a portion of the confiscated property of the Company

IG Farben Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG (), commonly known as IG Farben (German for 'IG Dyestuffs'), was a German chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Formed in 1925 from a merger of six chemical companies—BASF, ...

. In 1949 he returned to academia, and was appointed as professor at the Department of ordinary fuel at TH Vienna. From 1952 to 1954 he was Dean of the chemistry department and in the years 1955 and 1956, Rector of the TH Vienna.

References

Manfred Rasch ''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction. B ...

: ''Peters, Kurt''. In: ''

Neue Deutsche Biographie ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' (''NDB''; literally ''New German Biography'') is a biographical reference work. It is the successor to the ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, Universal German Biography). The 26 volumes published thus far cover ...

(NDB). Band 20'',

Duncker & Humblot Duncker is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alexander Duncker (1813–1879), German publisher and bookseller * Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Duncker (1781–1869), German publisher * Franz Duncker (1822–1888), German publisher, polit ...

, Berlin 2001, S.246f 1897 births 1978 deaths 20th-century Austrian chemists People from Liesing TU Wien alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Humboldt University of Berlin faculty Academics of TU Wien {{Chemist-stub