Doctor Hans Goldschmidt was a German chemist.
Born in Berlin, he was a student of Robert Bunsen. His father,
Theodor Goldschmidt, was the founder of the chemical company Chemische Fabrik Th. Goldschmidt which eventually became the modern company Degussa, and Hans and his brother Karl managed this company for many years.
He is principally noted as the inventor of thermite and co-inventor of sodium amalgam. The thermite reaction is one in which aluminum metal is oxidized by an oxide of another metal, usually iron oxide. This process is used for welding and is used in incendiary devices. This process is sometimes called the “Goldschmidt reaction” or “Goldschmidt process,” because he invented it in 1893 and patented it in 1895.
See also Thermite welding.
