John Kidd

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Portrait of John Kidd

John Kidd (born September 10, 1775 in Westminster , † September 7, 1851 in Oxford ) was an English medic, chemist and geologist.

Kidd was the son of a naval officer (captain), attended Westminster School in London and studied at Christ Church College, Oxford University with a bachelor's degree in 1797. He continued his medical training at Guý Hospital in London, where he was a student of Astley Paston Cooper was. In 1800 he received his Magister artium, in 1801 he received his degree in medicine (MB) and in 1804 he received his doctorate in medicine. In 1801 he became a Reader in Chemistry at Oxford and in 1803 became the first Aldrichian Professor of Chemistry. He also lectured on geology and mineralogy at Oxford. His students included Charles Daubeny and William Buckland , who succeeded him as professor of geology and mineralogy. In 1818 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians . At Oxford he also ran the local hospital. Kidd was from 1822 Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University as the successor to Sir Christopher Pegge (1765-1822). In 1834 he became administrator (keeper) of the Radcliffe Library and held the Harvey Lecture at the Royal College of Physicians.

Independently of Alexander Garden, he discovered naphthalene from the distillation of coal tar in 1819 , which he published about in 1821. In 1822 he undertook the electrolysis of heavy metal salts.

Works

  • Outlines of Mineralogy , 2 volumes, 1809
  • A Geological Essay on the Imperfect Evidence in Support of a Theory of the Earth . 1815
  • The second Bridgewater Treatise : On the Adaptation of External Nature to the Physical Condition of Man . 1833

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kidd, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English medic, chemist and geologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 10, 1775
PLACE OF BIRTH Westminster (London)
DATE OF DEATH September 7, 1851
Place of death Oxford