Fully illustrated work containing a comprehensive analysis of the history and pedagogy of electrochemistry. Digitization includes several printed figures, including a number of chapter headings that depict portraits of notable chemists including Humphrey Davy (1778-1829), Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), Michael Faraday (1791-1867), Rudolf Kohlrausch (1809-1858), and others.

The work's author, Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1932), was a German chemist and philosopher. In 1909, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on catalysis and for his investigations into the fundamental principles governing chemical equilibria and rates of reaction. Ostwald is considered to be one of the founders of physical chemistry as a field of discipline. When he retired in 1906, Ostwald studied art, philosophy, and politics.