J. Lawrence Smith
John Lawrence Smith , called Lawrence Smith , (born December 17, 1818 in Louisville (Kentucky) , † October 12, 1883 ibid) was an American chemist and mineralogist.
Smith studied chemistry, physics and mathematics (as well as geology and civil engineering, which led to his first job as an engineer in railroad construction) at the University of Virginia and then medicine at the Medical College of the University of South Carolina , with a doctorate (MD) in 1840 Then he was in Giessen with Justus Liebig and in Paris, where he studied with the toxicologist Mathieu Orfila and was drawn to forensic toxicology by Marie Lafarge's trial . But he also heard, for example, geology from Elie de Beaumont. From 1844 he taught toxicology at the Medical College in Charleston, South Carolina and founded the Charleston Medical and Surgical Journal. Two years later he accepted a job as a government gold auditor. During this time he also examined the soil properties that were necessary for good cotton harvests, which, through the mediation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave him a position as a consultant in Turkey, where cotton was also to be grown. In Turkey he was also successful as a consultant on mining issues, but he did not like the restrictions on his freedom of travel. In 1850 he returned via Paris. He was then chemistry professor at the later Tulane University , 1852 to 1854 chemistry professor at the University of Virginia and 1854 to 1866 professor of medicinal chemistry and toxicology at the University of Louisville . In 1866 he gave up the professorship after he had become financially independent through marriage and from then on wanted to devote himself only to meteorite research.
He was president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1872 and of the American Chemical Society in 1877 .
He discovered the mineral Liebigite in Turkey and named it after Justus von Liebig. During his stay in Turkey he found emery deposits in Asia Minor and was able to break a monopoly of English merchants (who controlled emery deposits in Naxos ), which significantly reduced the price. Smith had one of the best collections of meteorites of its time, which went to Harvard University . The National Academy of Science has presented the J. Lawrence Smith Award every three years for research in the field of meteorites since 1883.
In 1850 (during his stay in Paris) he invented the inverted microscope , in which the objective is under the table. In his view, it had the advantage that chemical reactions in the slide did not endanger the optics of the microscope.
In 1852 he married Sarah Julia Guthrie, daughter of businessman and Treasury Secretary James Guthrie .
He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences , the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and, since 1879, a corresponding member of the Académie des sciences .
Fonts
- Mineralogy and Chemistry, Original Researches, 1873, enlarged new edition 1884
Web links
- J. Lawrence Smith in the database of Find a Grave (English)
- Lee Anne Wilson: J. Lawrence Smith and his Meteorite collection, pdf
- Benjamin Silliman, Biographical Memoirs National Academy 1884, pdf
References and comments
- ^ Smith, The inverted microscope-a new form of microscope, Am J Sci Arts 14, 1852, pp. 233-241
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Smith, J. Lawrence |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Smith, John Lawrence (full name); Smith, Lawrence |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American chemist and mineralogist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 17, 1818 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Louisville (Kentucky) |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 12, 1883 |
| Place of death | Louisville (Kentucky) |