The well-known fact that the form of a specific substance, e.g. water, and hence its properties can alter without a change in composition was disposed of by the formal view that a physical, not a chemical, process was involved.

; Jespersen O. Leipzig. Energetische Grundlagen der Kulturwissenschaft (1st ed.

Ostwald Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff and Svante Arrhenius are usually credited with being the modern founders of the field of physical chemistry. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909 for his work on catalysis chemical equilibria and reaction velocities.