If you ’ve ever refer to imbibe coffee as get your caffeine fix , give thanks Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge . The chemist and subject of today ’s Googledoodleidentified the chemical substance chemical compound after receiving a cartonful of coffee beans as a gift . In honor of his 225th birth anniversary on February 8 , here are a few more fact about Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge .
1. Runge was born in Germany.
Born outside Hamburg , Germany in1794 , Runge was the son of a pastor and the third of seven sib . Even at a young years , he expressed an interest in skill and experimentation .
2. His experiments with belladonna led to a big discovery.
Runge made his first major discovery when working as an apprentice in his uncle ’s chemist’s shop as a teen . After make some extract from a nightshade works in his oculus , he found that his pupil had dilated . The perpetrator was atropine : a chemical in nightshade plants that immobilise sensory receptor for the neurotransmitter responsible for for activate muscular tissue . After recreating the final result with belladonna , also known as deadly nightshade , in a cat ’s eye , he wrote a newspaper on atropine ’s effects .
3. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe helped Runge identify caffeine.
Runge ’s oeuvre with belladonna was telling enough to attract the aid of the author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ( known for his playFaust , but also his scientific workMetamorphosis of Plants ) . The chemist fit with the German writer and cheer his atropine experiments on a big cat ’s eye . After the demonstration , Goethe gifted him a package of burnt umber beans , telling himhe could habituate them in future investigations . He used the umber to distinguish caffein a few months later .
4. Runge’s classmates called him “Dr. Gift.”
Giftmeans " poisonous substance " in German — meet , considering his enthusiasm for working with nightshade . He pull in the moniker while studying alchemy at the University of Jena .
5. He invented a new dye color.
subsequently in life , Runge became hump for his oeuvre with synthetic dyestuff . He cook up the first one made from coal tar — a type of synthetic dye calledaniline blue . He was also the first chemist to identify the all important components of some dyes , like carbolic window pane , more ordinarily known as phenol today .
6. He used his chemistry skills to improve His domestic life.
After exchange the field of alchemy with his find , Runge finally settled down and channel his chemistry cognition into more humble chase . Thelifelong bachelorused his science background around the star sign to make wine , conserve food for thought , and cook meal for dinner parties in his golden age .
7. He died in poverty.
Runge ’s genius did n’t make him racy . Fifteen yearsafter misplace his business at a chemical company , he conk out a poor humans at age73 .
