Wilhelm Ostwald was a renowned chemist of Baltic German origins and is regarded as the father of modern day physical chemistry. In college he was impressed by the work of his mentor Carl Schmidt and decided to pursue general chemistry at a time when most of his peers focussed on organic chemistry. He started out by studying law of mass action and acid-base reaction. Throughout his career he was appointed in numerous academic positions and it was during his tenure at the ‘Riga Polytechnicum’ that he started working on the theory of electrolytic dissociation. His move to the University of Leipzig was a major milestone in his career as it was in Leipzig he made some of his most important contribution. He proposed the law of dilution which was a benchmark discovery in the study of dissociation theory. The theory was termed as ‘Ostwald’s law of dilution’. Mole, which is a standard unit of measurement, was introduced by Ostwald. But probably the discovery for which he is most renowned is the Ostwald Process for manufacture of Nitric acid. The process was pivotal for large scale production of nitrogenous fertilizers. In his later years, Wilhelm studied colour theory and was active in implementation of educational and social reforms. Read on to know more about his life and works.