Table Of Content

Pure Intelligence A series in the history of chemistry, broadly construed, edited by Angela N. H. Creager, Ann Johnson, John E. Lesch, Lawrence M. Principe, Alan Rocke, E. C. Spary, and Audra J. Wolfe, in partnership with the Chemical Heritage Foundation Pure Intelligence The Life of William Hyde Wollaston Melvyn C. Usselman The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London Melvyn C. Usselman is professor emeritus in the Department of Chemistry at Western University in London, Ontario. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2015 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2015. Printed in the United States of America 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 24573- 7 (cloth) ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 24587- 4 (e- book) DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226245874.001.0001 Usselman, Melvyn C., author. Pure intelligence : the life of William Hyde Wollaston / Melvyn C. Usselman. pages cm — (Synthesis) ISBN 978- 0- 226- 24573- 7 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978- 0- 226- 24587- 4 (e-book) 1. Wollaston, William Hyde, 1766–1828. 2. Scientists— England—Biography. I. Title. II. Series: Synthesis (University of Chicago Press) Q143.W795U87 2015 509.2—dc23 [B] 2014039432 This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1 992 (Permanence of Paper). Dedicated to My wife Trixie And our children Jasper, Charlotte, Richard, and David Contents Acknowledgments xi Note to Reader xiii List of Abbreviations xv Prologue 1 1. The Making of a Physician: 1766– 1795 8 Wollaston’s Early Years 9 The Wollaston Lineage 11 The Route to a Medical Degree 15 The Eccentric Smithson Tennant 21 Becoming a Doctor 24 Life as a Country Physician 27 2. Early Medical and Scientifi c Interests: 1792– 1800 30 Early Scientifi c Interests 31 Studies on Human Calculi 34 Activities with the Royal College of Physicians 39 Familial and Political Stresses 41 A Chemical Partnership 43 New Scientifi c Interests 44 Studies on the Refraction of Light 45 The End of Doctoring 49 3. Early Years as a Natural Philosopher: 1800– 1802 53 Research on Electricity 53 Move to Buckingham Street 59 vii viii Contents Royal Society Involvement 60 Lifelong Colleagues: Humphry Davy and Thomas Young 62 The Primacy of Observation 64 Pioneering Studies on the Refraction and Dispersion of Light 67 Double Refraction in Iceland Spar 76 Optical Instruments for Naval Use 80 4. Malleable Platinum: 1800–1 801 83 Early Studies of Spanish Platina 83 Wollaston’s Platinum Purifi cation Process 88 The Need for Secrecy 95 The Production of Malleable Platinum 102 5. Palladium and Rhodium: 1801– 1825 109 The Batch Process for Commercial Platinum 109 The Discovery of Palladium 113 The Palladium Controversy 117 The Discovery of Rhodium 122 Wollaston Reveals his Secret 125 Commercial Applications of Palladium and Rhodium 130 6. Optical Devices and Social Networks: 1804–1 809 135 Periscopic Spectacles 135 Periscopic Camera Obscura and Microscope 139 Opposition to Meniscus Lenses 143 The Camera Lucida: A New Drawing Instrument 144 Use of the Camera Lucida 149 Royal Society Activities 153 The Forces of Moving Bodies 155 The Lure of Cambridge 158 New Social and Scientifi c Networks 159 7. Commercial Platinum: 1805–1 820 163 The First Sales of Platinum 163 Firearm Touchholes 167 Sulfuric Acid Boilers 169 Total Platinum Purchases and Sales 177 Contents ix Improvements to Platinum Refi ning 182 Financial Security 188 8. Organic Chemicals and Multiple Combining Proportions: 1802– 1815 190 Chemicals from Wine Dregs 190 Production and Sale of Organic Chemicals 196 The Continuing Partnership with Smithson Tennant 200 Multiple Combining Proportions in the Salts of Organic Acids 203 Thomas Thomson, Dalton, and Atomic Theory 210 Wollaston’s Integral Combining Proportions 212 The Impact of Wollaston’s Paper on Multiple Proportions 218 9. Crystals and Atoms: 1803– 1818 220 Yearly Excursions 220 The Contact Goniometer 223 The Refl ective Goniometer 226 Crystals and Elementary Particles 232 An Opportunity Missed 235 10. More Practical and Conceptual Innovation: 1809– 1822 240 The Sounds of Muscular Contraction 240 Microanalysis 242 The Cryophorus and Fine Platinum Wires 243 The Logarithmic Scale of Chemical Equivalents 247 Atoms or Equivalents 254 The Upper Limit of the Atmosphere 259 11. Changing Priorities: 1809– 1815 262 Electrochemical Secretions and Blood Sugar 262 The Attractions of Gravity, France, and English Institutions 265 The Visit of Berzelius 268 A Man at the Peak of his Powers 270 The Resurrection of Europe 272 Deaths of a Business Partner and a Father 275 A More Relaxed Life 278