Edward Charles Howard

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Edward Charles Howard ( May 28, 1774 - September 27, 1816 ) was an English chemist .

Life

Howard was the son of a high aristocratic family, his brother Bernard Howard was the 12th Duke of Norfolk . As a second born, he had to choose a profession and turned to chemistry. There he made contributions in three very different areas:

  • In 1799 he discovered fumed mercury , which was then used many times as an initiator for explosive charges.
  • In 1802 Howard demonstrated a high proportion of nickel in iron meteorites , which was absent from terrestrial iron deposits, and this supported Chladnis' then very young and controversial theory from 1794 that meteorites came from outside the world.
  • He also improved sugar production through vacuum evaporation (1813) and other measures. Instead of being cooked in open kettles, the syrup was cooked in closed kettles heated by steam, in which there was negative pressure, so that the boiling point was lowered and thus fuel consumption and sugar losses through caramelization were reduced ("Howards Vacuum Pan").

In 1800 he was awarded the Copley Medal by the Royal Society for his discovery of fiery mercury . In 1799 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society.

literature

  • F. Kurzer: The Life and Work of Edward Charles Howard . Annals of Science Vol. 56, 1999, pp. 113-141, ISSN  0003-3790
  • Edward Howard: On a New Fulminating Mercury . In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Vol. 90 (1), 1800, pp. 204-238. doi : 10.1080 / 000337999296445
  • Derek W. Sears: Edward Charles Howard and an early British contribution to meteoritics , J. Brit. Astron. Assoc., Vol. 86, 1976, pp. 133-139.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Howard, Edward Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English chemist
DATE OF BIRTH May 28, 1774
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 1816