Back in Riga

Abstract

Having now seen almost all the important labs, I resumed my teaching duties again—slightly tired but very excited by all the contacts I’d made and the things I’d experienced. I also took part in the planning of the new laboratory building. It was designed for 150 students. There had been a rapid increase in the number of chemistry students since my appointment and currently there were 120. Those in power in the administration reckoned that the number had now plateaued but when the new building was finished in 1885, 195 students had to be accommodated, and in the following year there were 210. As a result, despite the new building, the problem of space had not been solved, and the necessary modifications to make bigger student laboratories made a mess of the original design.