Review about the history of thermal analysis in Hungary

Abstract

This review discusses the development of the Derivatograph in the 1950s and the history of thermal analysis in Hungary. This device was the first commercial simultaneous thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) instrument of the world. It initiated the development of thermal analysis and its application possibilities in a wide range during the second half of the last century. As a result, very strong thermoanalytical schools were established in Hungary, and the first thermoanalytical journal in the world, i.e., the Journal of Thermal Analysis was started in 1969, which is still a leading journal in the field, now under the title of Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry. In addition, several periodicals and books were published in thermal analysis in Hungary. In the paper, the most important Hungarian thermal analysis-related associations, events, acknowledgements and awards are also mentioned, together with names of major Hungarian researchers in this field. Presently, beside the internationally acknowledged research groups and the JTAC, the flagship of the Hungarian thermal analysis is the Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry Conference (JTACC) series.