“Today I intend to start discussing with you the physico- and colloidchemistry of the element silicon. It is not only the most abundant of an the nonmetallic solid elements which occur on this earth, but it is also, in combination with other elements, by far the most widely distributed one, with the exception of oxygen. Its only real competitor in this respect is the element carbon. Carbon differs from silicon above all by its property of combining with itself, thereby forming a great variety of compounds. With our increasing knowledge of the chemical composition of these carbon compounds the foundation for organic chemistry was laid. Science is never at a standstill, however. I refer here to physico-chemistry and to the even more recent addition to the specialized branches of chemistry, colloid chemistry.

“I probably will not live to witness the importance that the colloid chemistry of siliceous matter will play in the not too distant future. In my opinion the physico- and colloid-chemistry of matter containing silicon as its maj or component will become a serious competitor to organic chemistry.”