Talk:Justus von Liebig

Jewish?
jinfo.org does not list justus von liebig as being jewish even though it does use the book "germany without jews" as a source for identifying other jews. Could you please quote the book and what it says about justus von liebig's jewishness? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.186.3.15 (talk) 17:53, 2 April 2007 (UTC).

As a young man, he was the lover of the poet August von Platen. Then, he married a young woman. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.200.120.206 (talk • contribs)

Yup, that was in my chemistry textbook, that Justus von Liebig was a chick. Richard8081 (talk) 06:12, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

His Students
Should we list all his notable students in the list? August Wilhelm von Hofmann, Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz, Max von Pettenkofer, Wilhelm Henneberg, Carl Schmidt (chemist), Eben Norton Horsford, Ascanio Sobrero, Lyon Playfair, August Wilhelm von Hofmann, Benjamin Collins Brodie, Adolph Friedrich Ludwig Strecker, Carl von Voit, Henry Adam Weber, Heinrich Will.--Stone 08:05, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Liebig and Pasteur
Liebig opposed the idea that yeast are alive. Pasteur had seen yeast babies at the brewery budding in the beer. Liebig's insistence that the yeast are just growing crystals must have set the origin of biochemistry back at least a few decades. I think this major malfunction by Liebig should be mentioned in the article, at the point where it says "Liebig's arguments against any chemical distinction between living (physiological) and dead chemical processes proved a great inspiration to several of his students and others who were interested in materialism." Liebig never actually said out loud that yeast are alive; he took his prejudice against the opinion of Pasteur to his grave. Richard8081 (talk) 06:09, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Liebig and Platen
Liebig didn't fall in love with Platen, it was the other way around. But Liebig, who wasn't gay, couldn't return Platen's feelings and quickly ended the affair.--Suessmayr (talk) 16:33, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Now the only mention of Platen is "This ended Liebig's relationship with Platen." Don't know if consensus is that the relationship should be mentioned or not, but I thought I'd point that out. Sci girl (talk) 04:31, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I have summarised the first observation, to resolve the problem mentioned in the second, and “” properly.PJTraill (talk) 09:47, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

There is no evidence to be found of this affair and since Wikipedia is about original research (nor is this information scientifically interesting, but if it is noteworthy, it should still have proof to back it up), I have removed the unsourced claim. If the claim of Platen's love for Liebig is true, please provide a reputable source to corroborate the claim.76.168.106.198 (talk) 03:36, 25 June 2013 (UTC)

I have sinned against the Creator
Are we convinced of the authenticity of this quote? I have not been able to find a source that gives a page number in Liebig's works. --Macrakis (talk) 15:31, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * The quote is authentic, but it was taken out of context. It is not at all a renunciation of chemical fertilizers, but a realization that he had formulated them incorrectly.  For context, see a fuller quote in the Popular Science Monthly Supplement of 1877 and this explanation in the 9th edition of the Britannica. So I have removed this quotation and the incorrect summary. --Macrakis (talk) 16:34, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Yeast extract
The BBC are stating "In the late 19th Century a German scientist, Justus Liebig, discovered brewer's yeast could be concentrated, bottled and eaten. In 1902 the Marmite Food Company was founded in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, where the raw material was readily available from the town's brewer" This seems like a confusion between beef extract and yeast extract.--Rumping (talk) 16:17, 25 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, sounds like sound research of a journalist on a science topic. They sometimes do not ask for help and than they get it wrong.--Stone (talk) 20:21, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

Ascanio Sobrero
In article on Ascanio Sobrero, Liebig is credited as being Ascanio Sobrero's doctor avisor. In the Liebig article, Sobrero is not named as one of his notable students. Ascanio Sobrero invented nitroglycerine and should be listed.

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Justus von Liebig. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20141106032032/http://tous-les-faits.fr/justus_von_liebig to http://tous-les-faits.fr/justus_von_liebig

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 00:18, 30 April 2017 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Justus von Liebig. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130510231220/http://www.mcri.org/CMSuploads/Brian%20J.%20Ford%20-%20Solving%20the%20Mystery%20of%20Spontaneous%20Human%20Combustion-85047.pdf to http://www.mcri.org/CMSuploads/Brian%20J.%20Ford%20-%20Solving%20the%20Mystery%20of%20Spontaneous%20Human%20Combustion-85047.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20141112003010/http://www.ciec-network.org/fileadmin/dam_uploads/Projektordner/General/CIEC%20History%2012%20sept%202013.pdf to http://www.ciec-network.org/fileadmin/dam_uploads/Projektordner/General/CIEC%20History%2012%20sept%202013.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110927174315/http://aghalloffame.com/hall/liebig.aspx to http://aghalloffame.com/hall/liebig.aspx

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 17:54, 21 January 2018 (UTC)

Removed "source"
The following was removed from §Sources: Relevance of WH Brock here is questioned. — Rgdboer (talk) 01:53, 10 January 2020 (UTC)

Functional groups
The article says Liebig and coworkers learned that "a group of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms can behave like an element, take the place of an element, and can be exchanged for elements in a chemical compound." Doesn't this finding mean that functional groups had been identified? A reversion prefers radical theory (with a pipe) for functional group. That article begins as "an obsolete scientific theory”. A reader clicking on the pipe sees that Liebig was on the wrong track! Further, radical theory change is a redirect to an article that does not mention radical theory! — Rgdboer (talk) 01:22, 7 December 2022 (UTC)