Difference between revisions of "William Higgins"

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'''William Higgins''' (''ca.'' 1763 – 30 June 1825) was an Irish chemist, best known for his 1789 book ''[[A Comparative View of the Phlogistic and Antiphlogistic Theories]]'' in which he anticipated several elements of [[John Dalton|Dalton's]] [[atomic theory]].
 
'''William Higgins''' (''ca.'' 1763 – 30 June 1825) was an Irish chemist, best known for his 1789 book ''[[A Comparative View of the Phlogistic and Antiphlogistic Theories]]'' in which he anticipated several elements of [[John Dalton|Dalton's]] [[atomic theory]].
  
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Higgins was born in 1762 or 1763 in Collooney, Co.&nbsp;Sligo, as the younger of two sons of Thomas Higgins, a physician and member of a well-known medical family.<ref name="RS">{{citation | webpage = Higgins, William | website = Library and Archive Catalogue | publisher = Royal Society | accessdate = 2011-03-30 | url = http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqSearch=%28Surname=%27higgins%27%29&dsqPos=0}}.</ref><ref>{{citation | last = Boylan | first = Henry | year = 1998 | title = A Dictionary of Irish Biography | edition = 3rd | location = Dublin | publishers = Gill and MacMillan | page = 179 | isbn = 0-7171-2945-4}}.</ref> He studied at Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1786 to 1788, but did not take a degree.<ref name="RS"/> He worked for a while as an assistent to his uncle, Bryan Higgins, a physician and chemist who ran a school of practical chemistry on Greek Street in Soho, London, but left after a disagreement{{#tag:ref|While the nature of the disagreement is not specified in sources, Bryan Higgins was a notable proponent of [[phlogiston theory]],<ref name="Smith">{{citation | last = Smith | first = Robert Angus | authorlink = Robert Angus Smith | title = Memoir of John Dalton and History of the Atomic Theory up to His Time | publisher = H.&nbsp;Baillière | location = London | year = 1856 | pages = 167–85 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=ZOsAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA167#v=onepage&q&f=false}}.</ref> while his nephew had just published his book refuting that theory.|group=Note}} and returned to Ireland.<ref name="RS"/> There he worked as a chemist to the Apothecaries' Society of Ireland (from 1791) and then as professor of chemistry at the Royal Dublin Society (from 1795 until his death in 1825). He also studied problems in applied chemistry, such as the development of a new method of bleaching for the Irish Linen Board.<ref name="RS"/> He was elected a member of the [[Royal Irish Academy]] (MRIA) in 1794 and a fellow of the [[Royal Society]] (FRS) in 1806.<ref name="RS"/> He was also a founder member in 1812 of the Kirwanian Society,<ref name="RS"/> a short-lived scientific society "for the cultivation of chemistry, mineralogy and other branches of natural history" named in honour of the Irish scientist [[Richard Kirwan]] (1733–1812).<ref>{{citation | title = The Kerwanian Society of Dublin | journal = Philos. Mag. | year = 1812 | volume = 39 | pages = 319–20}}.</ref><ref>{{citation | first = P. J. | last = McLaughlin | title = The Kirwanian Society (1812–1818?) | journal = Studies: Ir. Q.&nbsp;Rev. | year = 1954 | volume = 43 | pages = 441–50 | jstor = 30079668}}.</ref>
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Higgins was born in 1762 or 1763 in Collooney, Co.&nbsp;Sligo, as the younger of two sons of Thomas Higgins, a physician and member of a well-known medical family.<ref name="RS">{{citation | webpage = Higgins, William | website = Library and Archive Catalogue | publisher = Royal Society | accessdate = 2011-03-30 | url = http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqSearch=%28Surname=%27higgins%27%29&dsqPos=0}}.</ref><ref>{{citation | last = Boylan | first = Henry | year = 1998 | title = A Dictionary of Irish Biography | edition = 3rd | location = Dublin | publishers = Gill and MacMillan | page = 179 | isbn = 0-7171-2945-4}}.</ref> He studied at Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1786 to 1788, but did not take a degree.<ref name="RS"/> He worked for a while as an assistent to his uncle, Bryan Higgins, a physician and chemist who ran a school of practical chemistry on Greek Street in Soho, London, but left after a disagreement{{#tag:ref|While the nature of the disagreement is not specified in sources, Bryan Higgins was a notable proponent of [[phlogiston theory]],<ref name="Smith">{{citation | last = Smith | first = Robert Angus | authorlink = Robert Angus Smith | title = Memoir of John Dalton and History of the Atomic Theory up to His Time | publisher = H.&nbsp;Baillière | location = London | year = 1856 | pages = 167–85 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=ZOsAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA167#v=onepage&q&f=false}}.</ref> while his nephew had just published his book refuting that theory.|group=Note}} and returned to Ireland.<ref name="RS"/> There he worked as a chemist to the Apothecaries' Company of Ireland (from 1791) and then as professor of chemistry at the Royal Dublin Society (from 1795 until his death in 1825). He also studied problems in applied chemistry, such as the development of a new method of bleaching for the Irish Linen Board.<ref name="RS"/> He was elected a member of the [[Royal Irish Academy]] (MRIA) in 1794 and a fellow of the [[Royal Society]] (FRS) in 1806.<ref name="RS"/> He was also a founder member in 1812 of the Kirwanian Society,<ref name="RS"/> a short-lived scientific society "for the cultivation of chemistry, mineralogy and other branches of natural history" named in honour of the Irish scientist [[Richard Kirwan]] (1733–1812).<ref>{{citation | title = The Kerwanian Society of Dublin | journal = Philos. Mag. | year = 1812 | volume = 39 | pages = 319–20}}.</ref><ref>{{citation | first = P. J. | last = McLaughlin | title = The Kirwanian Society (1812–1818?) | journal = Studies: Ir. Q.&nbsp;Rev. | year = 1954 | volume = 43 | pages = 441–50 | jstor = 30079668}}.</ref>
  
 
==Notes and references==
 
==Notes and references==

Latest revision as of 17:21, 30 March 2011

William Higgins
Born ca. 1763
Collooney, Co. Sligo, Ireland
Died 30 June 1825 (aged 61–63)
Dublin, UK
Alma mater University of Oxford
Known for atomic theory
opposition to phlogiston theory

William Higgins (ca. 1763 – 30 June 1825) was an Irish chemist, best known for his 1789 book A Comparative View of the Phlogistic and Antiphlogistic Theories in which he anticipated several elements of Dalton's atomic theory.

Higgins was born in 1762 or 1763 in Collooney, Co. Sligo, as the younger of two sons of Thomas Higgins, a physician and member of a well-known medical family.[1][2] He studied at Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1786 to 1788, but did not take a degree.[1] He worked for a while as an assistent to his uncle, Bryan Higgins, a physician and chemist who ran a school of practical chemistry on Greek Street in Soho, London, but left after a disagreement[Note 1] and returned to Ireland.[1] There he worked as a chemist to the Apothecaries' Company of Ireland (from 1791) and then as professor of chemistry at the Royal Dublin Society (from 1795 until his death in 1825). He also studied problems in applied chemistry, such as the development of a new method of bleaching for the Irish Linen Board.[1] He was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA) in 1794 and a fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1806.[1] He was also a founder member in 1812 of the Kirwanian Society,[1] a short-lived scientific society "for the cultivation of chemistry, mineralogy and other branches of natural history" named in honour of the Irish scientist Richard Kirwan (1733–1812).[4][5]

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ While the nature of the disagreement is not specified in sources, Bryan Higgins was a notable proponent of phlogiston theory,[3] while his nephew had just published his book refuting that theory.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Higgins, William, <http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqSearch=%28Surname=%27higgins%27%29&dsqPos=0> (accessed 30 March 2011), Library and Archive Catalogue; Royal Society.
  2. ↑ Boylan, Henry A Dictionary of Irish Biography, 3rd ed.; Dublin, 1998; p 179. ISBN 0-7171-2945-4.
  3. ↑ Smith, Robert Angus Memoir of John Dalton and History of the Atomic Theory up to His Time; H. Baillière: London, 1856; pp 167–85, <http://books.google.com/books?id=ZOsAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA167#v=onepage&q&f=false>.
  4. ↑ The Kerwanian Society of Dublin. Philos. Mag. 1812, 39, 319–20.
  5. ↑ McLaughlin, P. J. The Kirwanian Society (1812–1818?). Studies: Ir. Q. Rev. 1954, 43, 441–50.

Further reading

  • Wheeler, T. S.; Partington, J. R. The Life and Work of William Higgins, Chemist (1763–1825); Pergamon: Oxford, 1960.

Selected writings

External links

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