Gerhardt

Gerhardt, Charles Frederic (1816-1856), was born at Strasburg, and educated there and at Carlsruhe. He found great delight in chemistry, and, being disgusted with the commercial life to which he was condemned, enlisted in a cavalry regiment. This, too, did not suit him, and, having been bought out, he studied chemistry under Liebig at Giessen. In 1838 he went to Paris, and here a Memoir on Essential Oils attracted notice, and he was appointed Professor of Science at Montpellier. This post he retained till 1848, when he went to Paris till 1855, being afterwards appointed Professor at Strasburg. He could not teach, but was a deep thinker, and his writings have had great influence upon modern chemistry.