Johannes Nicolaus Broösted carried on the tradition of earlier distinguished Danish scientists who made major contributions to the field of chemistry and left a legacy that included a widely used model of how acids and bases work and the establishment of a major research institute. Known among friends for his intellectual curiosity beyond the sciences, Broösted believed that the lack of logic and clear thinking in politics was the cause of many social problems.

Broösted was born on February 22, 1879, in the small West Jutland town of Varde. His mother died shortly after he was born, and his father, an engineer, remarried several years later. Young Broösted was greatly influenced by his father's work with Hedeselskabet, a corporation that reclaimed moors by draining, irrigating, and planting. Until 1891 the family lived at one of the farms of the Society for Cultivation of...