Othmar zeidler biography

Chapter 19 – DDT: Miraculous Powder or Elixir of Death?

We have been talking a lot about how insects and insect-borne diseases have changed history. An obvious question is what sorts of efforts have been undertaken to control insects? The answer is that humans have been interested in controlling insects for millennia and usually by chemical means. As we will see in this chapter, the result of these efforts is itself a history-making and history-changing event. Nowhere is this made clearer than in the case of one insecticide: dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT. Although DDT is important in and of itself, it is truly revelatory in its power to teach us about the ways we must understand and respect nature in trying to achieve human ends. In this chapter, we will trace the evolution of DDT and the discovery of its insecticidal properties. Next, we will explore the impact of allied use of DDT on the course of WWII. Finally, we will analyze what happened when DDT was introduced for peacetime insect control as well as DDT’s subsequent fall from grace. Let’s take a loo

Othmar Zeidler

German chemist

Othmar Zeidler

Born29 August 1850

Vienna, Austria

Died17 June 1911 (aged 60)

Mauer, Vienna, Austria

Occupation(s)Pharmacist, chemist
Known forThe creation of DDT

Othmar Zeidler (29 August 1850 – 17 June 1911)[1][2][Notes 1] was an Austrianchemist credited with the first synthesis of DDT.

He was born on 29 August 1850 in Vienna a son of the Viennese pharmacist Franz Zeidler. Othmar's brother, Franz Zeidler Jr. (1851–1901), also became a chemist and would collaborate with him on several projects.[3] As a doctoral student with Adolf von Baeyer at the University of Strasbourg, then in Germany, Zeidler is credited with the first synthesis of the insecticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT in 1874. Othmar returned to Austria before 1876 and, after working at the I. chemischen Universitätslaboratorium at the University of Vienna,[3] became a pharmacist in the Fünfhaus district of the capital.[4] He died in Mauer near Vienna on 17 June 1911.

Othmar Zeidler (29 August 1850 – 17 June 1911) was an Austrian chemist credited with the first synthesis of DDT. He was born on 29 August 1850 in Vienna a son of the Viennese pharmacist Franz Zeidler. Othmar's brother, Franz Zeidler Jr. (1851–1901), also became a chemist and would collaborate with him on several projects. As a doctoral student with Adolf von Baeyer at the University of Strasbourg, then in Germany, Zeidler is credited with the first synthesis of the insecticide Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane or DDT in 1874. Othmar returned to Austria before 1876 and, after working at the I. chemischen Universitätslaboratorium at the University of Vienna, became a pharmacist in the Fünfhaus district of the capital. He died in Mauer near Vienna on 17 June 1911.

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