Edward Wight Washburn

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Edward Wight Washburn (born May 10, 1881 in Beatrice (Nebraska) , † February 6, 1934 ) was an American chemist.

Washburn studied science at the University of Nebraska from 1899 to 1901 , was then a year teacher and then continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . There he received his bachelor's degree in 1905, was assistant to Arthur A. Noyes and received his doctorate in 1908. From 1908 he was Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign . In 1910 he became assistant professor and in 1913 professor of physical chemistry and from 1916 he was professor of ceramic chemistry. From 1926 he was a chemist at the US Bureau of Standards in Washington, DC

He initially dealt with the thermodynamics of buffer solutions and ion solutions. The first precise measurements of the conversion numbers and the hydrogen hydration come from him and he determined the Faraday constant with an iodine coulometer . He later dealt with the chemistry of ceramics and glass and in 1922 invented a device for determining the porosity of ceramics by adsorbing water. Then he turned to radiochemistry. In 1931 he and Harold Urey developed a process for extracting heavy water using fractional water electrolysis.

From 1922 to 1930 he published the International Critical Tables, an extensive collection of physical and chemical data from over 1,000 experts. Because of this, he left the university and went to the Bureau of Standards.

He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1932 .

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SURNAME Washburn, Edward Wight
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American chemist
DATE OF BIRTH May 10, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Beatrice (Nebraska)
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 1934