Carl Auer, Freiherr von WelsbachBorn 1 Sep 1858; died 4 Aug 1929 at age 70.Carl Auer Freiherr (baron) von Welsbach was an Austrian chemist, physicist and engineer whose invention of the gas mantle greatly improved the brightness of light that could be obtained from gas lamps. While doing flame tests to examine the spectrum of certain rare earth compounds, he observed the small beads of test material on a platinum wire became white-hot and incandescent. He then had the idea to soak cotton webbing with a solution of the salts, then burn out the cotton leaving a matrix of the compound. His experiments began with slightly promising results with lanthanum oxide, then a mixture with magnesia. He also tried zirconium oxides and others before adding thorium oxide which made commercially viable mantles. His invention was adopted around the world wherever manufactured gas was available, meaning he had a profitable business improving and manufacturing them.« |
