James Campbell Brown

James Campbell Brown (born January 31, 1843 in Aberdeen , † March 14, 1910 in Liverpool ) was a Scottish chemist and professor at the University of Liverpool .

Brown grew up in London, where his father was a partner in the Bow Common Alum Works, and was sent by him to Aberdeen for training. He began to study medicine at Marischal College in Aberdeen in 1857, but then switched to chemistry and studied at the Royal College of Chemistry and the University of London. His teachers included John Tyndall and August Wilhelm von Hofmann . In 1867 he earned his bachelor's degree with top marks and in 1870 he received his doctorate . From 1864 to 1866 he was assistant at the chair of chemistry in Aberdeen and in 1867 was lecturer in experimental science and toxicology at the Liverpool Royal Infirmary School of Medicine, which was later merged with the University College. He stayed there for the rest of his career. In 1872 he also became a public analyst for Liverpool and set up the relevant laboratories. After surviving multiple flu illnesses, he died of heart failure.

He was an honorary doctor of the University of Aberdeen (LLD, 1907). In 1908 he became Vice President of the Chemical Society of London.

In Liverpool he also gave lectures on the history of chemistry, which were published as books. For the invention of an apparatus for the direct measurement of latent heat during evaporation, he received a gold medal at the Franco-British exhibition in London in 1908 and it was brought to the British in 1910 with another invention (an apparatus for distilling fats in a cathode tube) - Japanese exhibition shown. A device he invented to fertilize tea plantations became a great commercial success, but he himself refused to make any money from it. In 1904 he received the Mamby Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers for an essay on deposits in drinking water pipes and canals.

He was married from 1872. Brown had many interests and was also an excellent botanist.

Fonts

• A history of chemistry from the earliest times, 2nd edition, London 1920, Archive (with biography of Henry Hilton Brown)
• Practical Chemistry: analytical tables and exercises for students, London, 2nd edition 1882, Archive
• Essays and Addresses, London 1914, Archives