Frank Erhart Emmanuel Germann (December 6, 1887 – February 27, 1974) was an American physicist, physical chemist, and university professor. He was a founding member of the modern chemistry department of the University of Colorado.
Early life and education Germann was born in Peru, Miami County, Indiana, the second child of Mary Fredericke Mueller (1864–1942) and Gustave Adolph Germann (1860–1940). His only sibling was Albert Fredrick Ottomar Germann (1886–1976), who was also a physical chemist. Frank Germann graduated from Peru High School in 1906. He received the A.B. in physics from Indiana University Bloomington in 1911. He received the Sc.D. degree (docteur ès sciences physiques) from the University of Geneva (Geneva, Switzerland) in 1914 with research Frank-E.-E. Germann, Recherches sur les gaz retenus par l'argent métallique. Formation du chlorure de nitrosyle. Microanalyse des gaz. Université de Genève doctorat ès sciences physiques et chimiques Thèse no. 545 (Genève: Imprimerie Αlbert Κündig, 1915). under the guidance of Philippe-Auguste Guye (1862–1922).
Career and research Germann was on the faculties of the University of Geneva (1912–1914). Indiana University, Bloomington (1914), Cornell University, Ithaca, New York (1914–1918), Colorado School of Mines, Golden (1918–1919), and the University of Colorado Boulder (1919–1956). He was also on the research staff of the National Bureau of Standards–Boulder (1956–1966).
At the University of Geneva, he was assistant en chimie théorique et technique. His research there resulted in many publications.F. E. E. Germann, "Eine Bestimmung der Dampfdruck- und Dichtskurven des Sauerstoffs und Konstruktion eines Apparates zur Bestimmung kritischer Daten," Physikalische Zeitschrift, volume 14 (1913), pages 857–860.M. Skossarewski und F. Germann, "Anordnung zur selbst-tätigen Zirkulation eines Gases in einem geschlossenen Kreis," Angewandte Chemie, volume 27, Referatenteil zu Nr. 25 (March 27, 1914), page 220.M. Skossarewski et F. Germann, "Dispositif pour réaliser la circulation automatique d'un gaz dans un circuit fermé," Journal de Chimie Physique, volume 11 (1913), pages 584–588.Philippe-Auguste Guye et Frank-E.-E. Germann, "Analyse de très petites quantities de gaz; Application à l'analyse de l'air," Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences, volume 159 (1914), pages 154–157.Philippe-Auguste Guye und Frank-E.-E. Germann, "Einen Apparat zur Analyse ganz kleiner Gasmengen," Zeitschrift für analytische Chemie (Fresenius' Journal of Analytical Chemistry), volume 54, number 5 (1915), pages 263–264.Philippe-Auguste Guye et Frank-E.-E. Germann, "Sur les gas retenus par l'iode et l'argent," Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences, volume 159 (1914), pages 225–229.Philippe-Auguste Guye et Frank-E.-E. Germann, "Contributions à l'étude des causes d'erreur affectant les determinations des poids atomiques. IV. Méthode micro-analytique pour l'étude des gaz; Application à l'analyse de traces d'air. V. Des impuretes gazeuses continues dans l'argent considéré comme etalon auxiliaire de poids atomiques," Journal de Chimie Physique, volume 14 (1913), page 195–243.
While writing his Sc.D. thesis, he was instructor of French for one semester in the Department of Romance Languages at Indiana University. At Cornell, Frank's initial appointment was as Assistant in Physics; promotion to Instructor in Physics awaited the doctorate. In his first physical chemistry research, he found evidence for the iscositetrahydrate of uranium nitrate.Frank E. E. Germann, "A New Hydrate of Uranium Nitrate: Uranium Nitrate Icositetrahydrate," abstract of a paper presented at the Rochester meeting of the American Physical Society, October 26 and 27, 1917, Physical Review (Second Series), volume 11, number 3 (1918), pages 245–246; submitted October 11, 1917. At Colorado School of Mines, he was associate professor, a joint appointment in the Departments of Physics and Electrical Engineering.
Germann was appointed associate professor of chemistry at the University of Colorado for the 1919–1920 academic year, promoted to professor of chemistry within a year. Germann joined John Bernard Ekeley (1869–1951) and Paul Marshall Dean (born 1885). These three men were to lead the department of chemistry for many years. Ekeley retired in 1937. Dean retired in 1953. Germann retired in 1956.
Germann's ideas (about capturing carbon dioxide from underground sources, converting the gas to a solid for economical transport, and then using the gas agriculturally to increase plant growth) received national attention.Frank E. E. German, "Solid Carbon Dioxide from Flue Gas by Application of Joule–Thomson Effect," Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, volume 25, number 2 (February 1933), pages 150–152."Science Marches On: Science Review of the Year," Science News-Letter, volume 24, number 663 (Saturday, December 23, 1933), pages 403–416."The year 1933 in Review: High Points in Chemistry," Industrial and Engineering Chemistry News Edition, volume 11, number 24 (Wednesday, December 20, 1933), page 361.Frank E. E. Germann, "The Occurrence of Carbon Dioxide, With Notes on the Origin and Relative Importance of Subterranean Carbon Dioxide," Science, volume 87, number 2267 (June 10, 1938), pages 513–521.Frank E. E. Germann and Herbert W. Ayres, "The Origin of Underground Carbon Dioxide," Journal of Physical Chemistry, volume 46, number 1 (January 1942), pages 61–68.
Of Germann's many students, 23 earned graduate degrees in chemistry or chemical engineering from the University of Colorado. Four students—Ralph Newton Traxler,Ralph Newton Traxler, "The Adsorption of Iodine by Silver Iodide," M.A. thesis, 1922; Frank E. E. Germann and Ralph N. Traxler, "Adsorption of Iodine by Silver Iodide," Journal of the American Chemical Society, volume 44, number 3 (1922), pages 460–464. Malcolm Cleveland Hylan,Ralph Newton Traxler, "Adsorption in Photography," Ph.D. thesis, 1923; Frank E. E. Germann and Malcolm C. Hylan, "Dispersity of Silver Halides in Relation to Their Photographic Behavior," Science (New Series), volume 58, number 1504 (October 26, 1923), pages 332–333; Frank E. E. Germann and Malcolm C. Hylan, "The Photographic Sensitiveness of Silver Iodide," Journal of the American Chemical Society, volume 45, number 11 (November 1923), pages 2486–2493; Frank E. E. Germann and Malcolm C. Hylan, "Dispersity of Silver Halides in Relation to Their Photographic Behavior," Journal of Physical Chemistry, volume 28, number 5 (1924), pages 449–456. Dzu-Kun Shen,Dzu-Kun Shen, "Photographic Sensitivity and the Latent Image," Ph.D. thesis, 1928; Frank E. E. Germann and Dzu-Kun Shen, "Studies in Photography. I. The Nature of Sensitivity and the Latent Image," Journal of Physical Chemistry, volume 33, number 6 (1929), pages 864–872; Frank E. E. Germann and Dzu-Kun Shen, "Studies in Photography. II. The Rôle of Sensitizers in Photography and the Latent Image," Journal of Physical Chemistry, volume 33, number 10 (1929), pages 1583–1592; Frank E. E. Germann and D. K. Shen, "The Relation Between Photographic Reversal and the Sensitivity of the Silver Halide Grain," Journal of Physical Chemistry, volume 35 (1931), page 93–99; Frank E. E. Germann and Dzu-Kun Shen, "Sensitization and Desensitization of Silver Iodide," The Journal of the Colorado-Wyoming Academy of Science, volume 1 (1929), page 25. and Thomas Howard James Thomas Howard James, "The Influence of Salts upon Intermittent Photographic Exposures," M.A. thesis, 1935; Thomas Howard James, "The Nature of the Latent Photographic Image from a Theoretical and Experimental Point of View," Ph.D. thesis, 1935; T. Howard James, F. E. E. Germann, and Julian M. Blair, "The Influence of Salts on Intermittent Photographic Exposures," The Journal of the Colorado-Wyoming Academy of Science, volume 1, number 6 (1934), page 17; T. Howard James, F. E. E. Germann, and Julian M. Blair, "The Action of Water on the Latent Photographic Image," Journal of Physical Chemistry, volume 38, number 9 (December 1934), pages 1211–1216; T. Howard James, F. E. E. Germann, and Julian M. Blair, "Action of Water on the Latent Photographic Image," The Journal of the Colorado-Wyoming Academy of Science, volume 1, number 6 (1934), page 20.—investigated the chemistry and physics of photography. Two students—Derk Vivian Tieszen Derk Vivian Tieszen, "Sodium Platinocyanide," M.A. thesis, 1928. and Oscar Brauer Muench Oscar Brauer Muench, "Lithium Platinocyanide and a Micro Method for the Quantitative Determination of its Hydrates," Ph.D. thesis, 1928; Frank E. E. Germann and O. B. Muench, "Studies on the Physical and Chemical Properties of the Platinocyanides. I. The Hydrates of Lithium Platinocyanide," Journal of Physical Chemistry, volume 33, number 3 (1933), pages 415–423. —investigated alkali metal platinocyanides. Before spectrophotofluorometers were commercially available, James William Hensley,James William Hensley, "A Method of Capillary-Fluorescence Analysis," M.S. thesis, 1939; Frank E. E. Germann and James W. Hensley, "Quantitative Capillary Luminescence Analysis, Journal of Physical Chemistry volume 44, number 9 (September 1940), pages 1071–1081; Frank E. E. Germann and J. W. Hensley, "A Direct Vision Fluorometer," University of Colorado Studies. Series D. Physical and Biological Sciences, volume 1, number 1 (March 1940), pages 37–41. Ray Alan Woodriff,Ray Alan Woodriff, "Investigation by an Improved Method of the Wavelengths of Fluorescence of Lead Tungstate–Calcium Tungstate Mixtures Excited by Various Wave Lengths of Ultraviolet Light," Ph.D. thesis 1942; Frank E. E. Germann and Ray Alan Woodriff, "Energy Distribution in Fluorescence," The Journal of the Colorado-Wyoming Academy of Science, volume 3 (1946), page 17; Frank E. E. Germann and Ray Woodriff, "Cross-Prism Investigation of Fluorescence," The Review of Scientific Instruments, volume 15, number 6 (June 1944), pages 145–149. Elmer Russell Alexander,Elmer Russell Alexander, "Ethylene Borate and Similar Borate Glasses as Media for Investigating Phosphorescence of Organic Compounds," Ph.D. thesis, 1949. and Robert George Rekers Robert George Rekers, "An Investigation of the Fluorescence of Certain Organic Compounds in Dilute Solution," Ph.D. thesis, 1951. were investigating fluorescence, phosphorescence, and luminescence.
Paul Frey, a graduate student of Germann, received the National Council Citation Award from Albright College in 1980 "for his excellence as a teacher and as a writer of a long list of books in the field of chemistry." That list included An Outline of Mathematics and Problems for Students of General Chemistry, a popular addition to the Barnes and Noble College Outline series, that went through eight editions between 1938 and 1985. His most influential textbook was College Chemistry (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1952, 1958, 1965). A popular trimmed version was Essentials of College Chemistry (Prentice-Hall, 1960).