Tammann, Gustav

Gustav Tammann, in full Gustav Heinrich Johann Apollon Tammann, (born June 9 [May 28, Old Style], 1861, Jamburg, Russia—died December 17, 1938, Göttingen, Germany), Russian chemist who helped to found the science of metallurgy and pioneered in the study of the internal structure and physical properties of metals and their alloys. In addition, his studies on heterogenous equilibria (i.e., the behaviour of matter as a function of chemical composition, temperature, and pressure) played a major role in systematizing inorganic chemistry and contributed significantly to the development of physical chemistry as a discipline.

Relatively little was known about metallic compounds when Tammann began studying them in 1903. His research revealed that, in many cases, alloys behave as mixed crystals and that valence relationships do not hold for crystals of such metal compounds. He developed a method known as thermic analysis for determining the chemical composition of a compound from its cooling curve, which enabled him to explain systems of mixed crystals. Tammann conducted much research on the mechanical properties of metals during coldworking and found that changes in such properties resulted from a rearrangement of their crystals. This finding, together with other related discoveries, influenced many techniques of modern metalworking. Noteworthy too was Tammann’s analysis of tarnish on metallic surfaces, the results of which formed the basis of the theory of oxidation.