Liebig’s Kaliapparat and the origins of scientific glassblowing

Journal article

In the fall of 1830, a young chemist named Justus Liebig developed a new piece of apparatus for organic analysis called the Kaliapparat. The use of the Kaliapparat enabled Liebig to establish a reputation as one of Europe’s leading analytical chemists and ultimately assured his status as one of the nineteenth century’s greatest chemists. But the Kaliapparat changed much more than the course of Liebig’s career. As this essay explains, Liebig’s decision to produce the Kaliapparat by bending and blowing glass tubing radically changed the way that chemists do experimental work so much so that an image of this device was incorporated into the logo of the American Chemical Society. This transformation of chemical practice had profoundly important consequences. As chemists came to rely on hollow glassware, they sought skilled assistance in its manufacture. This is the origin of the scientific glassblower.

Authors: Drier, T; Jackson, C

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Scientific Glassblowers Society
• Journal: Fusion: Journal of the American Scientific Glassblowers Society More from this journal
• Pages: 19-24
• Publication date: 2017-02-01
• Acceptance date: 2016-11-01
• Keywords: FFR