Call Number:

SPC MSS 006

Repository:

Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center

Extent:

1.46 linear feet (4 boxes)

Language:

English, French, and German

Preferred Citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Francois Joseph Jérome Nicklés Papers, SPC MSS 006, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Date:

1840-2004 (inclusive) and 1840-1868 (bulk)

Creator:

Nicklés, Francois Joseph Jérome, 1821-1869

Form:

Correspondence

Abstract:

Nicklès taught in the Faculté des Sciences, Nancy (1854 1869). His research included electric batteries (the topic of his thesis in physics, published in 1853), polymorphism (the topic of his thesis in chemistry published the same year), crystallography, fluorine, metallurgy, analysis of water and artificial lighting (see Nicklès Bibliography, below).

His early years and personal life are obscure as there are no biographies of him and only one brief obituary has been located so far. From the addresses on the letters he received and their topics, several salient facts can be discerned. He apparently spent most of his life in the Alsace Lorraine area of France; the most notable absences were the time he spent in Justus von Liebig's Laboratory in Giessen (1844 1845) and his years in Paris (1851 1854). He married in 1856 and had at least one child (born in 1857). He had at least two brothers, Napoleon and Laurent. In 1862 he was named Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur.

His earliest training was in pharmacy and medicine; he was apparently apprenticed to a pharmicist named Trautmann in Woerth sur Sauer in 1840. By 1844 he is a student of medicine in Benfeld, receiving his "baccalaureat" that year. After returning from Giessen he was a preparator in the École de Pharmacie, Strasbourg. The following year Nickles is in the Académie de Strasbourg. He taught chemistry in Strasbourg at some point as he received a letter from Emile Reuss, dated February 13, 1845 (while Reuss is a student at Strasbourg), telling Nicklès that the students preferred the chemistry of M. Nicklès to that of M. Haas, his replacement.

By 1851 he receives a letter addressed to him as a chemist in Paris. In 1854 Nicklès is appointed to the Faculté des Sciences, Nancy. There he remains until his death as a result of his experiments with hydrofluoric acid.

Many of the letters Nicklès received introduced students who wished to study with him. Two series of letters present insights into the educational system in France in the middle of the nineteenth century. C. Kosmann was a pharmacist with a doctorate in science forced to return to school after the law regulating the preparation for such professionals was changed in 1854. Where a lengthy apprenticeship had been sufficient since 1803, the new law required three years in an École Superieur after the apprenticeship. Emile Reuss describes his education and the licensing procedure (he passed his exam and received his license, August 9, 1845) in his correspondence during 1845.

In addition to education, Nicklès was involved with scientific publication. From 1846 to 1851 he was a collaborator with Eugène Millon and Jules de Reiset, editors of Annuaire de chimie. Millon was a military surgeon and pharmacist stationed in Algers after 1850. In his letters to Nicklès, Millon deplores his isolation from the scientific world and requests that his collaborator send him articles.

Nicklès was also involved with several scientific organizations including the Académie de Stanislas, Nancy (at one point he was president and on the Bonsfil prize committee), the Académie des Sciences, Paris, the Société des Secours des Amis des Sciences (a fund was established for the widow and family of Auguste Laurent), and other regional societies.

Nicklès also corresponded with several scientists who reviewed his articles for the Comptes Rendus, e.g. Henri V. Regnault. He also corresponded with several chemists involved in controversies in the mid nineteenth century. The debate between French and German chemists was often heated by nationalistic fervor; the topics included the causes of fermentation (Pasteur said a living organism, Liebig said a chemical ferment), history of chemistry (H. Kopp, F. Hoeffer and M. Bertholet all wrote histories, the latter claiming superiority over Kopp's earlier work), articles translated without the original author's name (Nicklès had this happen to one of his articles reprinted in Ateneo: see de Mueller, Paris, May 6, 1854) and system of atomic weights. Although Nicklès did not write about atomic weights, he knew the key figures in this debate (or their associates, e.g. William Odling, Charles Gerhardt and Eugène Millon). Nicklès' circle of acquaintances included many who were in Giessen. Among these was N.J.W. Laskowski who wrote to Nicklès that the conditions of the Russian laboratory in which he was working differed greatly from those he had known in Germany (October 14, 1846).

The collection consists of approximately 1, 000 letters from French, German and English scientists to François Joseph Jérôme Nicklès, a French chemist. A few letters are addressed to third parties and several of Nicklès' responses are included. In addition to giving insights into Nicklès' own career as a scientist and teacher, this collection illuminates the world of scientific networks and the international communication among nineteenth century scientists.

The collection is arranged alphabetically by the authors of the letters or documents; all letters are written to Nicklès unless otherwise noted.