William Hyde Wollaston
Born	August 6, 1766(1766-08-06) East Dereham, Norfolk, England
Died	December 22, 1828 (aged 62) Chislehurst, England
Nationality	United Kingdom
Fields	Chemical physics
Known for	Discoveries of palladium and rhodium
Notable awards	Copley Medal (1802)

William Hyde Wollaston FRS (August 6, 1766 – December 22, 1828) was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering two chemical elements and for developing a way to process platinum ore. Events 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Year 1766 ( MDCCLXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Dereham, also known historically as East Dereham, is a Town and Civil parish in the English County of Norfolk. Norfolk (ˈnɔrfək is a low-lying county in East Anglia, England, United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 1790 - The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies The year 1828 ( MDCCCXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Chislehurst is a suburban settlement in south east London, England and part of the London Borough of Bromley. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Chemical physics is a subdiscipline of Chemistry and Physics that investigates physicochemical phenomena using techniques from atomic and molecular physics The Copley Medal is a scientific award for distinguished achievement in any field of Science established by the Royal Society of London in 1731 The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 Events 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Year 1766 ( MDCCLXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 1790 - The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies The year 1828 ( MDCCCXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A chemist is a Scientist trained in the Science of Chemistry. A chemical element is a type of Atom that is distinguished by its Atomic number; that is by the number of Protons in its nucleus. Platinum (ˈplætɪnəm is a Chemical element with the Atomic symbol Pt and an Atomic number of 78

Biography

Wollaston was born in East Dereham, Norfolk, the son of the priest-astronomer Francis Wollaston (1737-1815) and his wife Mary Farquier. Dereham, also known historically as East Dereham, is a Town and Civil parish in the English County of Norfolk. Norfolk (ˈnɔrfək is a low-lying county in East Anglia, England, United Kingdom. Francis Wollaston ( 23 November 1731 - 31 October 1815) was an English priest and Astronomer. In 1793 William obtained a doctorate in medicine from Cambridge University. Year 1793 ( MDCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the During his studies there he became interested in chemistry, crystallography, metallurgy and physics. Chemistry (from Egyptian kēme (chem meaning "earth") is the Science concerned with the composition structure and properties Crystallography is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of Atoms in Solids In older usage it is the scientific study of Crystals The Metallurgy is a domain of Materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion. The mineral wollastonite is named after him. In 1800 he left medicine and concentrated on pursuing these interests instead of his trained vocation.

Wollaston died in 1828 and was buried in Chislehurst, England. Chislehurst is a suburban settlement in south east London, England and part of the London Borough of Bromley.

Work

William Hyde Wollaston, as painted by John Jackson (1778–1831)

Wollaston is perhaps best known as a chemist. He became wealthy by developing the first physico-chemical method for processing platinum ore in practical quantities, and in the process of testing the device he discovered the elements palladium (symbol Pd) in 1803 and rhodium (symbol Rh) in 1804. Palladium (pronounced \pəˈleɪdiəm\ is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal that was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, who named it palladium after the 1803 ( MDCCCIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Rh redirects here For other uses see Rh (disambiguation Rhodium (ˈroʊdiəm is a Chemical element with the symbol Year 1804 ( MDCCCIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a

Anders Gustav Ekeberg discovered tantalum in 1802, however, William Hyde Wollaston declared it was identical with niobium. Anders Gustaf Ekeberg ( Stockholm, Sweden, January 16, 1767 &ndash Uppsala, Sweden, February 11, 1813 Latern Heinrich Rose proved in 1846 that niobium and tantulum were indeed different elements. Heinrich Rose ( 6 August 1795 &ndash 27 January 1864) was a German mineralogist and analytical chemist. For the game see 1846 (board game. Year 1846 ( MDCCCXLVI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display

Wollaston also performed important work in electricity. In 1801, he performed an experiment showing that the electricity from friction was identical to that produced by voltaic piles. Friction is the Force resisting the relative motion of two Surfaces in contact or a surface in contact with a fluid (e A voltaic pile is a set of individual Voltaic cells placed in series During the last years of his life he performed electrical experiments that would pave the way to the eventual design of the electric motor. An electric motor uses Electrical energy to produce Mechanical energy. However, controversy erupted when Michael Faraday, who was undoubtedly the first to construct a working electrical motor, refused to grant Wollaston credit for his earlier work. Michael Faraday, FRS ( September 22 1791 – August 25 1867) was an English

His optical work was important as well, where he is remembered for his observations of dark Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum (1802) which eventually led to the discovery of the elements in the Sun. In Physics and Optics, the Fraunhofer lines are a set of Spectral lines named for the German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer ( 1787 He invented the camera lucida (1807), the reflecting goniometer (1809), and the Wollaston prism. A camera lucida is an Optical device used as a drawing aid by Artists The camera lucida performs an optical superimposition of the subject being viewed A goniometer is an instrument that either measures angle or allows an object to be rotated to a precise angular position He also developed the first lens specifically for camera lens called Wollaston's meniscus lens, or just meniscus lens, in 1812. The lens was designed to improve the image projected by the camera obscura. The camera obscura (Latin dark chamber) is an optical device used for example in drawing or for entertainment By changing the shape of the lens, Wollaston was able to project a flatter image, eliminating much of the distortion that was a problem with many of that day's biconvex lens. A lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate Axial symmetry which transmits and refracts Light, converging or diverging

Wollaston used his Bakerian lecture in 1805, On the Force of Percussion, to defend Gottfried Leibniz's principle of vis viva, an early formulation of the conservation of energy. The Bakerian Lecture is a prize lecture of the Royal Society, a lecture on Physical sciences. Year 1805 ( MDCCCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or In the history of Science, vis viva (from the Latin for living force) is an Obsolete scientific theory that served as an elementary In Physics, the law of conservation of energy states that the total amount of Energy in an isolated system remains constant and cannot be created although it may Wollaston was too ill to deliver his final Bakerian in 1828 and dictated it to Henry Warburton who read it on November 20. Henry Warburton ( November 12, 1784 &ndash September 16, 1858) was an English Merchant and Politician, and also Events 284 - Diocletian was chosen as Roman Emperor. 762 - Bögü Khan of the Uyghurs,

Wollaston also served on a royal commission that opposed adoption of the metric system (1819), and one that created the imperial gallon. The term Royal Commission may also be used in the United Kingdom to describe the group of Lords Commissioners who may act in the stead of the The metric system is a decimalised system of measurement. It exists in several variations with different choices of base units, though the choice of base units does Year 1819 ( MDCCCXIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar in the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Imperial units or the Imperial system is a collection of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824

Honours and awards

Honours and awards

• Fellow of the Royal Society, 1793. The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 Year 1793 ( MDCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
  • Secretary, 1804-1816. Year 1804 ( MDCCCIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1816 ( MDCCCXVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year
  • President, briefly in 1820. Year 1820 ( MDCCCXX) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year
  • Royal Medal, 1828. The Royal Medals of the Royal Society of London, also as The Queen's Medals were established by King George IV.

Legacy

• Wollaston Medal
• Wollastonite, a chain silicate mineral
• Wollaston Lake, in Saskatchewan, Canada
• Wollaston, a lunar impact crater

Further reading

• Wollaston, William Hyde (1808). Saskatchewan (səˈskætʃəwən) is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of 588276 Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page "On Super-Acid and Sub-Acid Salts". Phil. Trans. 98: 96-102.  
• Lee, Sydney, ed. (1909), “William Hyde Wollaston”, Dictionary of National Biography, vol. XXI, New York: Macmillan, pp. 782-787, <http://books.google.com/books?id=6SI8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA782&dq=William++Wollaston> 
• Pearson, Tilmon H. & Ihde, Aaron J. (1951), “Chemistry and the Spectrum Before Bunsen and Kirchhoff”, Journal of Chemical Education 28: 267-271 
• Hinde, P. T. (1966). "William Hyde Wollaston: The Man and His "Equivalents"". Journal of Chemical Education 243: 673-676.  

External links

• Rhodium and Palladium Events Surrounding Their Discoveries
• William Hyde Wollaston - Dictionary of National Biography, Sidney Lee (editor), New York: Macmillan, 1900 (volume 62, pages 311-316)
• A Secret History of Platinum by Melvyn C. Usselman, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2001