Published accounts of the feats of Daniel Dunglas Home were bringing the subject to a wide public, 12 and mediums were holding seances, both for the public and in private circles. When Crookes started his psychical researches, spiritualism was already well-established in the UK. 8 He also published on topics other than chemistry and physics, among them beetroot sugar, 9 dyeing and calico-printing, 10 and diamonds. Among his many published papers are to be found discussions of methods of chemical analysis, 4 the atomic weight of thallium, 5 attraction and retraction from radiation, 6 trajectory of molecules, 7 and viscosity of gases. He contributed to the production of other journals, editing a new edition of Michael Faraday’s On the Various Forces of Nature and Their Relations to Each Other and Rudolf von Wagner’s Manual of Chemical Technology, which he also translated. He also worked as a science journalist and editor, founding in 1859 the journal Chemical News and in 1864 the Quarterly Journal of Science, which later carried reports of some of his work with mediums. 2 He accumulated 17 patents for inventions such as the radiometer, improvements in a spectrum camera, incandescent lamps, and the treatment of water gas. He was named a fellow of the Royal Society in 1863, was knighted in 1897, and in 1910 received the Order of Merit, among many other awards and honours.Ĭrookes profited from his scientific work by engaging in business enterprises that ranged from ‘water analyses, sewerage schemes, and gold mining to the design of electric bulbs’. Over the years Crookes became well-known for pioneering researches in chemistry and physics: among other things, he discovered the element thallium, invented the radiometer and studied cathode rays. He was president of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (1890) and of the Royal Society (1913-1915). 1Ĭrookes went on to hold various positions, including superintendent of the Meteorological Department of the Radcliffe Astronomical Observatory at Oxford (1854), teacher of chemistry at the College of Science in Chester (1855), and secretary of the London Photographic Society (1857). In 1856 Crookes married Ellen Humphrey, who shared his later interest in spiritualism. He lacked formal university education, but in 1848 attended the Royal College of Chemistry in London, and soon afterwards was engaged as an assistant by German chemist August Wilhelm Hofmann. His early instruction came from private tutors and a boarding school, and from a brief stay at Prospect House, a college. His subsequent researches extended to many branches of chemistry and physics, and his work often resulted in important applications of science to the arts and manufactures.William Crookes was born on June 17, 1832, to tailor Joseph Crookes and Mary Scott. He first became well known through his discovery in 1861 of the element thallium, a specimen of which was exhibited at the Hyde Park Exhibition of 1862. For sixty years he was recognised as a most skilful experimenter, and he was likewise known for his intellectual independence and his wide interests. Few men of science have had a more active or distinguished career than Crookes. At twenty-four years of age he married and returned to London, which henceforth became his home. He then spent a year as meteorologist at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, and another as lecturer in chemistry at the Training College, Chester. For four years he was one of Hofmann's assistants. Hofmann at the Royal College of Chemistry. The son of a tailor, he was sent for a time to the Grammar School, Chippenham, but his scientific training began when at the age of sixteen he became a student under Prof. Save for a year or two, all his life was spent in London, and at his death he was buried in Brompton Cemetery. ON June 17 occurs the centenary of the birth of Sir William Crookes, who was born in London in 1832 and died in Kensington on April 4, 1919, at the age of eighty-six.
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