Carl Reichenbach 2055641 223665331 2008-07-05T04:17:30Z Ewulp 998182 /* The Odic force */ ce; typo [[Image:Karl Reichenbach.jpg|thumb|200px|Carl Ludwig von Reichenbach]] [[Freiherr|Baron]] Dr. '''Carl (Karl) Ludwig von Reichenbach''' (full name: Karl Ludwig Freiherr von Reichenbach) ([[February 12]], [[1788]], [[Stuttgart]] - [[January 19]], [[1869]], [[Leipzig]], [[Germany]]) was a notable [[chemist]], [[geologist]], [[metallurgist]], [[natural history|naturalist]], [[industrialist]] and [[philosopher]], and a member of the prestigious [[Prussian Academy of Sciences]]. He is best known for his discoveries of several chemical products of economic importance, extracted from [[tar]], such as [[eupione]], waxy [[paraffin]], [[pittacal]] (the first synthetic [[dye]]) and [[phenol]] (an [[antiseptic]]). He also dedicated himself in his last years to research an unproved field of energy combining [[electricity]], [[magnetism]] and [[heat]], emanating from all living things, which he called the [[Odic force]].<ref>Much of this information is quoted from: http://books.google.com/books?vid=0mfUqc4DBV7x8P&id=5iMlMLNd4jsC&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=reichenbach+pittacal Reichenbach, Karl. The New American Cyclopedia, 1863 (in the [[public domain]]). Facsimile copy available on the Internet at [[Google Books]].</ref> ==Life== Reichenbach was educated at the [[University of Tübingen]], where he obtained the degree of [[doctor of philosophy]]. At the age of 16 he conceived the idea of establishing a new German state in one of the [[South Sea]] islands, and for five years he devoted himself to this project. He formed a large secret association in [[Württemberg]], until it was suppressed by the [[France|French]] authorities, on suspicion that its real objectives were political. Reichenbach was arrested and imprisoned for some months. Afterwards, directing his attention to the application of science to the [[industry|industrial]] arts, he visited most of the great [[manufacture|manufacturing]] and [[metallurgy|metallurgical works]] of France and Germany, and established the first modern metallurgical company, with [[forge]]s of his own in [[Villingen]] and [[Hausach]] in the [[Black Forest]] region of Southern Germany and later in [[Baden]]. In [[1821]], with [[Count Hugo of Salm]], he commenced a number of manufacturing operations in [[Blansko]], [[Moravia]] from which he soon secured an ample fortune; at about this time the King of Württemberg conferred on him the title of baron. Baron Von Reichenbach's [[castle]] at [[Reisenberg]] was provided with an extensive scientific [[library]] and several scientific collections, including one of the finest of the world on [[meteorite]]s as well as Sieber's great [[herbarium]]. ==Scientific contributions== Reichenbach conducted original scientific investigations in many areas. The first [[geology|geological]] monograph which appeared in [[Austria]] was his ''Geologische Mitteilungen aus Mähren'' ([[Vienna]], [[1834]]). His position as the head of the large [[chemical industry|chemical works]], [[iron]] [[furnace]]s and [[machine shop]]s upon the great estate of Count Hugo secured to him excellent opportunities for conducting large-scale experimental research. From [[1830]] to [[1834]] he investigated complex products of the [[distillation]] of [[organic chemistry|organic substances]] such as [[coal]] and [[wood]] [[tar]], discovering a number of valuable [[hydrocarbon]] compounds including [[creosote]], [[paraffin]], [[eupione]] and [[phenol]] ([[antiseptic]]s), [[pittacal]] and cidreret (synthetic [[dye]]stuffs), [[picamar]] (a [[perfume]] base), assamar, [[capnomor]], and others. Under the name of eupione, Reichenbach included the mixture of hydrocarbon oils now known as waxy paraffin or coal [[oil]]s. In his paper describing the substance, first published in the ''Neues Jahrbuch der Chemie und Physik'', B, ii, he dwelt upon the economical importance of this and of its associate paraffins, whenever the methods of separating them cheaply from natural [[bitumen|bituminous]] compounds would be established. ==The Odic force== '' See main article [[Odic force]]'' In 1839 Von Reichenbach retired from industry and entered upon an investigation of the pathology of the human [[nervous system]]. He studied [[neurasthenia]], [[somnambulism]], [[hysteria]] and [[phobia]], crediting reports that these conditions were affected by the moon. After interviewing many patients he ruled out many causes and cures, but concluded that such maladies tended to affect people whose sensory faculties were unusually vivid. These he termed "sensitives". Influenced by the works of [[Franz Anton Mesmer]] he hypothesised that the condition could be affected by environmental electromagnetism, but finally his investigations led him to propose a new imponderable force allied to [[magnetism]], which he thought was an emanation from most substances, a kind of "life principle" which permeates and connects all living things. To this [[vitalism|vitalist]] manifestation he gave the name ''[[Odic force]]''.<ref>Gerry Vassilatos, ''Lost Science,'' Adventures Unlimited Press (2000)ISBN-10: 0932813755 ISBN-13: 978-0932813756</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} ==Works== * ''Das Kreosot'' (1833) * ''Geologische Mitteilungen aus Mähren'' (''Geological and physiological news from Moravia'') (1834) * ''Physikalisch-physiologische Untersuchungen über die Dynamide des Magnetismus'' (1840) * ''Wer is sensitive, wer nicht?'' (''Who is sensitive, who is not?'') (1856) * ''Odisch-Magnetische Briefe'' (''Odic-magnetic letters'') (1852) * ''Der sensitive Mensch und sein Verhalten zum Ode'' (''The sensitive human and his behaviour towards Od'') (1854) * ''Odische Erweiterungen'' (1856) * ''Köhierglaube und Afterwissenschaft'' (1856) * ''Aphorismen über Sensibilität und Od'' (''Aphorisms on Sensitivity and Od'') (1866) * ''Die Odische Lohe'' (1867). ==Notes== {{German title Freiherr}} ==External links== *[http://www.paranormal.de/para/ballabene/okkultes_weltbild/aether/reichenbach/reichenbach1.htm Karl von Reichenbach und Od]. Paranormal Site (In German) *[http://www.stuttgart.de/sde/menu/frame/top.php?seite=http%3A//www.stuttgart.de/sde/item/gen/16373.htm Karl Ludwig von Reichenbach]. University of Stuttgart (in German) * [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/sgml/moa-idx?notisid=ABL5306-0015-126 Researches on Magnetism, Electricity, Heat and Light in their relations to Vital Forces]. Cornell University. * [http://www.luminet.net/~wenonah/history/odenergy.htm Luminous World]. Article by Gerry Vassilatos {{DEFAULTSORT:Reichenbach, Carl Ludwig von}} [[Category:1788 births]] [[Category:1869 deaths]] [[Category:19th century philosophers]] [[Category:German astrologers]][[Category:German chemists]] [[Category:German geologists]][[Category:German naturalists]] [[Category:Metallurgists]] [[Category:Occultists]] [[Category:Parapsychologists]] [[Category:People from Stuttgart]] [[bg:Карл фон Райхенбах]] [[de:Carl Reichenbach]] [[es:Carl Reichenbach]] [[fr:Karl von Reichenbach]] [[pt:Carl Reichenbach]]