John Ferguson (chemist)

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John Ferguson (* 1838 ; † November 2, 1916 ) was a Scottish chemist and chemical historian , especially of alchemy . He was 1874-1915 Regius Professor of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow .

life and work

Ferguson studied from 1855 in Glasgow with the bachelor's degree in 1861 and the master's degree in 1862. Then he continued his studies, where he studied medicine, since a study of chemistry was not possible there at that time. He studied physics with Lord Kelvin and chemistry with Thomas Anderson and won several prizes at the university for essays, some of which were about the history of science. From 1864 to 1868 he was Anderson's laboratory assistant. After replacing him in 1869 due to illness, he succeeded Anderson as professor in Glasgow in 1874. Before that, he was already planning the new chemistry laboratories when the university moved to new premises.

He dealt mainly with the history of chemistry, published mainly in the Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, of which he was President from 1892 to 1895, and was Honorary Curator of the Hunterian Library at the University of Glasgow.

He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1888), the Society of Antiquaries of London , the Chemical Society of London (1872) and the Royal Institute of Chemistry (1878). In 1887 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of St. Andrews. He was also an honorary member of the Imperial Military Academy in St. Petersburg. From 1892 to 1893 he was President of the Glasgow Archaeological Society.

Ferguson is best known as an alchemy historian. In 1906 he published a bio-bibliographic catalog of alchemical books in the collection of James Young (1811-1883), a Scottish entrepreneur who had made a fortune in the paraffin industry and put on one of the largest collections of alchemical literature.

Ferguson himself also had one of the best private collections of alchemical literature, comprising around 2500 volumes and 338 manuscripts (and 104 incunabula ). The collection of a total of 7,500 antiquarian books also included many volumes on medicine and the occult. It is now in the Special Collection at the University of Glasgow. He also produced a two-volume catalog of around 800 pages for this collection, only 40 copies of which were privately printed in 1943 and which he sent to various large libraries. Among other things, a large part of the collection of Paracelsus expert Eduard Schubert was bought by Ferguson in 1893.

He was nicknamed Soda because of his “biting”, quick temper traits .

Fonts

  • Bibliotheca Chemica: Catalog of the Alchemical, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Books in the Collection of the Late James Young of Kelly and Durris. Volume 1, 2, Glasgow: John Maclehod 1906, Volume 1 , Volume 2

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The University of Glasgow Story John Ferguson ; from the University of Glasgow website, accessed January 20, 2015.
  2. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed December 4, 2019 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ferguson, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British chemical historian and chemist
DATE OF BIRTH 1838
DATE OF DEATH November 2, 1916