Faced with this general consideration it will immediately be realized on inquiry into the particular position occupied within this general scheme by the scientific field of catalysis that it is in the first stages of its development.

; 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.