Herbert Jackson (chemist)

Last updated

Emeritus Professor Sir Herbert Jackson, KBE, FRS (18631936) was a British chemist. He was knighted for his work on heat-resisting and optical glasses for military use in the First World War. [1]

Glass amorphous solid that exhibits a glass transition when heated towards the liquid state

Glass is a non-crystalline, amorphous solid that is often transparent and has widespread practical, technological, and decorative uses in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optoelectronics. The most familiar, and historically the oldest, types of manufactured glass are "silicate glasses" based on the chemical compound silica (silicon dioxide, or quartz), the primary constituent of sand. The term glass, in popular usage, is often used to refer only to this type of material, which is familiar from use as window glass and in glass bottles. Of the many silica-based glasses that exist, ordinary glazing and container glass is formed from a specific type called soda-lime glass, composed of approximately 75% silicon dioxide (SiO2), sodium oxide (Na2O) from sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), calcium oxide (CaO), also called lime, and several minor additives.

Jackson was born in Hampstead, London, on 17 March 1863. He studied at King's College, London from 1879, becoming Professor of Organic Chemistry in 1905. In 1914 he became Daniell Professor of Chemistry. During the War he worked for the Optical Munitions and Glassware Department (OMGD) of the Ministry of Munitions. [2] In 1918 he resigned his Professorship to become the Director of Research of the British Scientific Instrument Research Association.

He died on 10 December 1936 [3] and is buried at the parish church of Hampstead. [4]

Research

In 1896, a year after Röntgen's discovery of X-rays, Jackson demonstrated to the Royal Society an X-ray tube that became the model for all gas-type X-ray tubes.

Wilhelm Röntgen German physicist

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was a German mechanical engineer and physicist, who, on 8 November 1895, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays or Röntgen rays, an achievement that earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. In honour of his accomplishments, in 2004 the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) named element 111, roentgenium, a radioactive element with multiple unstable isotopes, after him.

X-ray tube vacuum tube that converts electrical input power into X-rays

An X-ray tube is a vacuum tube that converts electrical input power into X-rays. X-ray tubes evolved from experimental Crookes tubes with which X-rays were first discovered on November 8, 1895, by the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. The availability of this controllable source of X-rays created the field of radiography, the imaging of partly opaque objects with penetrating radiation. In contrast to other sources of ionizing radiation, X-rays are only produced as long as the X-ray tube is energized. X-ray tubes are also used in CT scanners, airport luggage scanners, X-ray crystallography, material and structure analysis, and for industrial inspection.

In 1907 he presented to the Royal Society of Arts his research on detergents and bleaching agents used in the laundry industry.

Related Research Articles

James Dewar Scottish chemist and physicist

Sir James Dewar FRS FRSE was a Scottish chemist and physicist. He is best known for his invention of the vacuum flask, which he used in conjunction with research into the liquefaction of gases. He also studied atomic and molecular spectroscopy, working in these fields for more than 25 years.

Cavendish Laboratory Physics laboratory

The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the School of Physical Sciences. The laboratory was opened in 1874 on the New Museums Site as a laboratory for experimental physics and is named after the British chemist and physicist Henry Cavendish. The laboratory has had a huge influence on research in the disciplines of physics and biology.

Lawrence Bragg Australian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallographer

Sir William Lawrence Bragg, was an Australian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallographer, discoverer (1912) of Bragg's law of X-ray diffraction, which is basic for the determination of crystal structure. He was joint winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915: "For their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-ray", an important step in the development of X-ray crystallography.

Royal Institution scientific education and research organisation based in London

The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organisation devoted to scientific education and research, based in London. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, including Henry Cavendish and its first president, George Finch, the 9th Earl of Winchilsea. Its foundational principles were diffusing the knowledge of, and facilitating the general introduction of, useful mechanical inventions and improvements, as well as enhancing the application of science to the common purposes of life.

William Henry Bragg British scientist

Sir William Henry Bragg was a British physicist, chemist, mathematician, and active sportsman who uniquely shared a Nobel Prize with his son Lawrence Bragg – the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics: "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays". The mineral Braggite is named after him and his son. He was knighted in 1920.

Sira is a UK-based notified body, specialising in ATEX, IECEX and North American product approvals.

Arnold Wolfendale British physicist

Sir Arnold Whittaker Wolfendale FRS is a British astronomer who served as Astronomer Royal from 1991 to 1995. He is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Physics at Durham University and served as president of the European Physical Society (1999–2001).

Edward Andrade English physicist

Edward Neville da Costa Andrade FRS was an English physicist, writer, and poet. He told The Literary Digest his name was pronounced "as written, i.e., like air raid, with and substituted for air." In the scientific world Andrade is best known for work that first determined the wavelength of a type of gamma radiation, proving it was far higher in energies than X-rays known at the time. In popular culture he was best known for his appearances on The Brains Trust.

Royal Institute of Chemistry learned society

The Royal Institute of Chemistry was a British scientific organisation.

David Orme Masson Chemist known for Nitroglycerine work

Sir David Orme Masson KBE FRS FRSE LLD was a scientist born in England who emigrated to Australia to become Professor of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne. He is known for his work on the explosive compound Nitroglycerine.

Sir Peter Knight, FRS is a British physicist, professor of quantum optics and senior research investigator Imperial College London, and principal of the Kavli Royal Society International Centre.

Martyn Poliakoff British chemist

Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff is a British chemist, working on gaining insights into fundamental chemistry, and on developing environmentally acceptable processes and materials. The core themes of his work are supercritical fluids, infrared spectroscopy and lasers. He is a research professor in chemistry at the University of Nottingham. His group comprises several members of staff, postdoctoral research fellows, postgraduate students and overseas visitors. As well as carrying out research at the University of Nottingham, he is a lecturer, teaching a number of modules including green chemistry. He is also known for his leading role in The Periodic Table of Videos.

Ei-ichi Negishi Japanese chemist

Ei-ichi Negishi is a Manchurian-born Japanese chemist who has spent most of his career at Purdue University in the United States. He is the Herbert C. Brown Distinguished Professor and Director of the Negishi-Brown Institute at Purdue. He is best known for his discovery of the Negishi coupling. He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for palladium catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis" jointly with Richard F. Heck and Akira Suzuki.

Sir William Jackson Pope was an English chemist.

Sir Ewart Ray Herbert Jones FRS was a Welsh organic chemist and academic administrator, whose fields of expertise led him to discoveries into the chemistry of natural products, mainly steroids, terpenes and vitamins. His work also led to the creation of the Jones oxidation.

Neil Kensington Adam was a British chemist.

Sir Arthur Herbert Church was a British chemist, expert on pottery, stones and chemistry of paintings, who discovered turacin in 1869 and several minerals, including the only British cerium mineral.

Sir Robert Howson Pickard FRS was a chemist who did pioneering work in stereochemistry and also for the cotton industry in Lancashire. He was also involved in educational administration and was Vice Chancellor of the University of London from 1937-1939. He was Principal of Battersea Polytechnic from 1920 to 1927.

Prof Frederic Guy Marrian FRS FRSE FIC CBE (1904-1981) was a British biochemist mainly known for his research into oestregen.

Prof John Read FRS FRSE FCS FIC (1884–1963) was a British chemist and scientific author.

References

  1. Moore, H., "Sir Herbert Jackson 18631936", Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, accessed 2014-06-30
  2. Winter, J.M. (ed.), War and Economic Development: Essays in Memory of David Joslin, accessed on Google Books 2014-06-30
  3. "Sir Herbert Jackson, K.B.E., F.R.S.", British Institute of Radiology, accessed 2014-06-30
  4. "Sir Herbert Jackson (1863 - 1936)", Tomb With a View, accessed 2014-06-30