1251
SCHOTT, FRIEDRICH OTTO (1851–1935)
German glassmaker and chemist
Born in Witten, near Essen, Germany, Schott came from
a family of glassmakers. After studying chemistry at
Aachen and Wurzburg, he graduated at Leipzig in 1875
with a thesis on ‘Defects in the manufacture of Window
Glass.’ He experimented with new types of glass, using
previously unemployed elements such as lithium, boron
and phosphorus. In 1879 Schott sent some samples to
Ernst Abbe at the Zeiss factory in Jena. Abbe was so
impressed that the pair began to collaborate and, in 1882,
Schott moved his laboratory to Jena in order to continue
his experiments. In 1884, Schott set up the Schott and
Genossen glass factory with Abbe, Carl Zeiss and Rod-
erich Zeiss. This glassworks specialised in new forms of
optical glass, many of which were previously unknown.
Their fi rst catalogue, published in 1886, listed no fewer
than forty-four different types of glass. In 1889, along
with Abbe, Schott formed the Carl Zeiss Foundation.
He succeeded Abbe as the foundation’s manager, a post
he held until 1927.
Colin Harding
SCHRANK, LUDWIG (1828–1905)
Ludwig Schrank was born on August 24th, 1828 in
Vienna. He studied chemistry, physics, mineralogy
and geology at the technical university and was in the
service of the “K.K. Bergwerksprodukten Verschleiß-
Direktion.” Until his retirement he remained busy in
government service. His interest in electroplating led
him to photography. In 1854 he established a studio,
in which he worked part time as a portrait photogra-
pher. After the doors of his fi rst studio were closed, he
established another studio in1868 with Franz Xaver
Massak, which was successful from 1870 to 1873. In
1861 Schrank was one of the fi rst establishing fathers
of the “Photographische Gesellschaft” Austrias fi rst
photographic association. In 1864 he and photographic
dealer Oskar Kramer, established the “Photographische
Correspondenz.” This magazine was appointed the organ
of the “Photographische Gesellschaft” a while later.
Schrank remained the publisher and editor of the maga-
zine, imtermittendly during the years 1870 to 1885 up
to his death. By the mid 1870s, Schrank ended his very
active career as a photographer, however, he continuted
his publishing and editorial activity for decades. Beside
numerous articles in domestic and foreign technical
periodicals on topics such as practical and aesthetic top-
ics, he also wrote a practical manual for photographers
and a publication discussing copyright in photography.
Schrank died on May 20th, 1905, in Vienna.
Astrid Lechner
SCHULTZE, JOHANN HEINRICH
(1687–1744)
German chemist
Johann Heinrich Schultze, born in Colbitz, Magdeburg,
was a German chemist and polymath, a Professor of
Chemistry and Anatomy—and later also Greek and Ara-
bic—at the University of Altdorf near Nuremberg. He was
also one of a number of eminent chemists whose work
predicted and laid the foundations for photography.
While engaged in chemical experiments in 1725
seeking to produce phosphorus, Schultze discovered
that chalk—which by chance also contained traces of
silver—impregnated with nitric acid, turned dark under
the action of sunlight. Further investigations confi rmed
that it was silver nitrate—produced by a reaction be-
tween the acid and the silver—which had had that effect,
and his continued experiments resulted in the creation of
impermanent photograms of stencils, letters and other
objects laid on the chalk.
His signifi cant discovery was that it was light rather
than heat which was creating this effect—a point picked
up by his 1907 biographer Josef Maria Eder, who,
with an almost apostolic zeal, declared him the true
‘inventor of photography.’ While Schultze recognised
the purely scientifi c importance of his discovery and
communicated his fi ndings to the Imperial Academy at
Nuremberg, he did not, however, recognise its future
as the basis of an imaging system. That step would be
made almost three quarters of a century later by, amongst
others, Thomas Wedgwood.
Schultze died in Halle in 1744.
John HannavySCIENCE
Towards the science of photography
Until the advent of today’s digital age, the science of
photography has predominantly been concerned with
harnessing, exploiting, and controlling the effect of
light upon silver salts. The science of photography,
as it emerged throughout the nineteenth century, was
concerned with expanding the understanding of both
the physics of light and optics, and the chemistry of
sensitive materials and their processing, maximizing
the effect of light upon those salts. That photographic
materials progressed, by 1900, from experimentation by
enthusiastic individuals to mass production my multi-
national companies, underlines both the importance of
the medium, and its commercial value. It also stands as
a testament to the commitment of the early pioneers to
share information, exchange ideas, and offer innovative
suggestions to move scientifi c understanding forward.