Ostwalds Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften

Ostwalds Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften (English: Ostwald's classics of the exact sciences) is a German book series that contains important original works from all areas of natural sciences. It was founded in 1889 by the physical chemist Wilhelm Ostwald and is now published by Europa-Lehrmittel.

History

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The series was first published by Wilhelm Engelmann in Leipzig and then by Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft in Leipzig and more recently in reprints and new editions by Verlag Harri Deutsch in Frankfurt.

Ostwald's aim was to remedy the "Mangel an Kenntnis jener großen Arbeiten, auf welchen das Gebäude der Wissenschaft ruht" (Lack of knowledge of those great works on which the edifice of science rests). The first volume in 1889 was Über die Erhaltung der Kraft (On the conservation of power) (first 1847) by Hermann von Helmholtz. In 1894, the physicist Arthur von Oettingen von Ostwald took over the editing (and remained editor until 1920, when Ostwald's son, Wolfgang Ostwald, took over the task). However, Ostwald initially continued to publish the chemistry volumes until he was replaced by Richard Abegg. 195 volumes were published by 1915; then there was an interruption due to the First World War until 1919. From 1919, they were published by the Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, which also reprinted older editions. In 1923, the two hundredth volume was published (work by Wilhelm Ostwald on catalysis). From 1938 (volume 244) to 1954 (volume 245) there was a break due to World War II. The series was then continued by the successor to the Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft in the GDR, the Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Geest & Portig. This was from 1968 with the B. G. Teubner Verlag, who was thus co-editor of the series. The successor to the Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft in der FRG, based in Frankfurt am Main, also published a Neue Folge (new series) from 1965 (the publishing house existed until 1983), of which six titles were published (from Volume 4 in 1968 they were published by Vieweg in Braunschweig). From 1982 there were reprints of the old series before the Second World War, in West Germany by the publishing house Verlag Harri Deutsch in Frankfurt, which specialized in the publication of scientific literature from the GDR in the FRG. A total of 275 volumes were published by 1987.

Volumes by Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft after World War II

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After World War II[nb 1] published by Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Verlag Harri Deutsch and Europa-Lehrmittel (except for reprints and new editions of the old series):

Volumes by Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Frankfurt

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Only six volumes were published by Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Frankfurt, which, as a new series, did not follow the old series in terms of numbering:

More volumes were planned (such as François Viète's Einführung in die Algebra (Introduction to Algebra), which was published elsewhere in 1973).

Notes

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  1. ^ For the volumes before the interruption by World War II see Wikisource.

Further reading

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  • Dunsch, Lothar [at Wikidata], ed. (1989). Ein Fundament zum Gebäude der Wissenschaften (in German). Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft. (NB. On the history of the series.)
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Wikisource has original text related to this article:
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