William nicholson chemist biography of abraham lincoln
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Perhaps the most famous set of papers to be published by Nicholson were the three seminal articles on heavier-than-air flight by George Cayley that were published in Nicholson’s Journal in 1809-10.
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Largely based on the public domain Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition and Mike Chrimes, article "Nicholson, William", in Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers, vol.
In 1800 he discovered with Anthony Carlisle the electrolysis leading to the decomposition of water by the voltaic current.
During the later years of his life, Nicholson's attention was chiefly directed to waterworks engineering at Portsmouth, at Gosport and in Southwark. After leaving school, he made two voyages as a midshipman in the service of the British East India Company, a company that virtually ran India. When William Henry wanted to publish an addition to his paper of 1803 in the Philosophical Transactions on partial pressure of gases, he chose Nicholson's Journal, because of the quick turnaround, so his famous aphorism, Every gas is as a vacuum to every other gas, first appeared in Nicholson’s Journal, not the Philosophical Transactions.
He also wrote an autobiography which was extant in manuscript at the end of the 19th century, but has since been presumed lost.
During the later years of his life, Nicholson's attention was chiefly directed to waterworks engineering at Portsmouth, at Gosport and in Southwark. He was apparently spurred by his contacts there to take up the profession of being a translator and editor.
Besides considerable contributions to the Philosophical Transactions, Nicholson wrote translations of Fourcroy's Chemistry (1787) and Chaptal's Chemistry (1788), First Principles of Chemistry (1788) and a Chemical Dictionary (1795); he also edited the British Encyclopaedia, or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (6 vols., London, 1809).
He published a few articles in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, and he wrote and published An Introduction to Natural Philosophy (1781), a textbook that went through 5 editions in the next three decades (we have one, the second, in our collections). It was just in time; Nicholson died two years later, in 1815.
4, p. 4, 1801 (Linda Hall Library)
Nicholson’s Journal was the first scientific periodical in Great Britain that was not the organ of some scientific society or organization. But that’s about it, really. by William Nicholson, vol. Originality was not essential, so there were lots of translations and digests of articles from the Continent, much of which Nicholson translated himself, and a regular feature that he called “scientific news,” which allowed readers to keep up with what was happening in a variety of scientific fields.
But as it happened, there were many original and important papers that were published in what came to be called Nicholson’s Journal.
He wanted a journal that was useful for the working scientist.
The year of Nicholson's birth in London has been recorded but, as was common in the 18th century, the day and month remained undocumented. He also wrote an autobiography which was extant in manuscript at the end of the 19th century, but has been subsequently presumed lost.
In 1799 he established a school in London's Soho Square, where he taught natural philosophy and chemistry.
In 1800 he and Anthony Carlisle discovered electrolysis, the decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen by voltaic current.[1]
Besides considerable contributions to the Philosophical Transactions, Nicholson wrote translations of Fourcroy's Chemistry (1787) and Chaptal's Chemistry (1788), First Principles of Chemistry (1788) and a Chemical Dictionary (1795); he also edited the British Encyclopaedia, or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (6 vols., London, 1809).
179, July 1800 (Linda Hall Library)
All told, Nicholson published 41 volumes of his journal before he decided to fold his tent in 1813 and let a new competitor, The Philosophical Magazine, take over. He gave much attention to the construction of various machines for comb-cutting, file-making, cylinder printing another uses—he also invented an areometer.
In 1797 he began to publish and contribute to the Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and the Arts, generally known as Nicholson's Journal, the earliest work of its kind in Great Britain— the publication continued until 1814.
On his return to England he was persuaded by Thomas Holcroft to apply his writing talents to the composition of light literature for periodicals, while also assisting Holcroft with some of his plays and novels. William Nicholson died in Bloomsbury at the age of 61 on 21 May 1815.
See also
* Timeline of hydrogen technologies
References
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