John Maclean (chemist)
John Maclean (born March 1, 1771 in Glasgow , † February 17, 1814 in Princeton , New Jersey ) was a Scottish-American chemist.
Maclean lost his parents early. A benefactor took care of him and he attended the University of Glasgow at the age of 13 . He won various prizes as a student and was sent to Edinburgh, Paris and London in 1787 for further training in chemistry and surgery. There he met Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier and Claude-Louis Berthollet . In 1790 he was back in Glasgow and received his degrees in surgery and pharmacy. He practiced for a year and went to Princeton in 1795, where he initially practiced as a doctor, but in the same year became professor of chemistry and natural history at the College of New Jersey. In 1797 he became professor of mathematics and natural philosophy and gave up his medical practice. In 1812 he went for a year to the College of William and Mary of Williamsburg (Virginia) as a professor of chemistry and natural philosophy.
He was the first American chemistry professor not to teach at a medical school.
With his book Two lectures on combustion, he contributed to overcoming the phlogiston theory. He divided chemistry into that of dead and living matter and differentiated 20 elements (such as hydrogen, oxygen, aluminum, platinum) and 17 simple compounds (soda, acids, potash, etc.) as basic components of dead matter.
Fonts
- Two lectures on combustion 1797
literature
- Winfried R. Pötsch (lead), Annelore Fischer, Wolfgang Müller: Lexicon of important chemists , Harri Deutsch 1989, p. 287
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Maclean, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Scottish American chemist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 1, 1771 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Glasgow |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 17, 1814 |
| Place of death | Princeton , New Jersey |