1861

Erlenmeyer Flask

Richard August Carl Emil Erlenmeyer (1825–1909)

If you want an instant visual shorthand for chemistry, just show someone an Erlenmeyer flask. Unlike some of the glassware shown in popular depictions of the science, it’s not a relic—chemistry labs around the world still have Erlenmeyers of all sizes on their shelves, thanks to German chemist Emil Erlenmeyer’s ingenious design. Erlenmeyer was in his thirties in 1861 when he published a paper titled “Chemical and Pharmaceutical Technique” containing a description of the glassware, saying that he had displayed the flask at a conference in Heidelberg three years before. He noted that he had also asked some of the local glassblowers to offer the flasks for sale, and use of his design gradually spread throughout chemical practice over the next few decades.

What made the design so successful? For one thing, its conical shape makes it easy to mix the contents by swirling them around without spillage. In the days of colored indicators, this was a real advantage. Try hand-swirling with a beaker with its straight sides, and you’re going to need at least a mop—and possibly a shower. The narrowed neck of the Erlenmeyer also keeps solvents from evaporating quickly and helps prevent splashing when the contents are blended with a magnetic stirrer.

Erlenmeyer, a well-known chemist in his time, was also the first to suggest carbon-carbon double and triple bonds in chemical structures. Today, he’s mostly remembered for his glassware design, and though the use of Erlenmeyers has expanded to include locations outside the lab, such as in breweries and wineries (and though in Great Britain it’s more likely to be called just a conical flask) its clever design is here to stay.

The symbol for chemistry the world over: the Erlenmeyer flask.