Editing Hermann Kolbe (section)

==Work as journal editor==
Besides his work for [[periodical]]s he wrote numerous books<ref name="goodreads">{{cite web|url=http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/4504758.Hermann_Kolbe |title=Books by Hermann Kolbe |access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref>
Kolbe served for more than a decade as what, in modern terms, would be understood the senior editor of the [[:de:Journal für praktische Chemie|''Journal für Praktische Chemie'']] (''Journal of practical chemistry'', from 1870 to 1884), Kolbe was sometimes so severely critical of the work of others, especially after about 1874, that some wondered whether he might have been suffering a mental illness. He was intolerant of what he regarded as loose speculation parading as theory, and sought through his writings to save his beloved science of chemistry from what he regarded as the scourge of modern structural theory.<ref name="Britannica bio" />

His rejection of structural chemistry, especially the theories of the structure of benzene by [[August Kekulé]], the theory of the [[asymmetric carbon atom]] by [[Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff|J.H. van't Hoff]], and the reform of chemical nomenclature by [[Adolf von Baeyer]], was expressed in his vituperative articles in the ''Journal für Praktische Chemie''. Some translated quotes illustrate his manner of articulating the deep conflict between his interpretation of chemistry and that of the structural chemists: <blockquote>«''...Baeyer is an excellent experimentor, but he is only an empiricist, lacking sense and capability, and his interpretations of his experiments show particular deficiency in his familiarity with the principles of true science...»''<ref name="Britannica bio" /><ref>{{cite journal |title=Begründung meiner Urtheile über Ad. Baeyer's wissenschaftliche Qualification |author=Hermann Kolbe |journal=Journal für Praktische Chemie |volume=26 |issue=1 |year=1882 |pages=308–323 |doi=10.1002/prac.18820260121 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1427894}}</ref></blockquote>The violence of his language worked to limit his posthumous reputation.<ref name="Today In Science History">{{cite web|url=http://sciencenotes.org/today-science-history-september-27-adolph-wilhelm-hermann-kolbe/ |title=Today In Science History – September 27 – Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe|access-date=28 July 2016|date=27 September 2014}}</ref>