Robert Angus Smith FRS (15 February 1817 – 12 May 1884), commonly referred to as Angus Smith, was a Scottish

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

, who investigated numerous

environmental issue Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans (human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recov ...

s. He is known for his research on air pollution in 1852, in the course of which he discovered what came to be known as ''

acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists b ...

''. He is sometimes referred to as the 'Father of Acid Rain'.Hamlin, C. (2004)
Smith, (Robert) Angus (1817–1884)
, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 August 2007 (subscription required)

Education and early life

Born at

Pollokshaws Pollokshaws () is an area on the South side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the residential neighbourhoods of Auldhouse, Glasgow, Auldhouse to the east, Eastwood, Glasgow, Eastwood and Hillpark, Glasgow, Hillpark to the south ...

, Glasgow, Smith was educated at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

in preparation for ministry in the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

but left before graduating. He worked as a personal tutor and, accompanying a family to

Gießen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the German state () of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students. Th ...

in 1839, he stayed on in Germany to study

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

supervised by

Justus von Liebig Justus ''Freiherr'' von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 18 April 1873) was a Germans, German scientist who made major contributions to the theory, practice, and pedagogy of chemistry, as well as to agricultural and biology, biological chemistry; he is ...

, earning a PhD in 1841.

Career and research

On returning to England the same year, he again considered

Holy Orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

but instead was attracted to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

to join the chemical laboratory of Lyon Playfair at the Royal Manchester Institution. Here he became involved in some of the environmental issues of the world's first industrial city (see ''

History of Manchester The history of Manchester encompasses its change from a minor Township (England), township in Lancashire to an industrial metropolis in the United Kingdom and the world. * * * Manchester began expanding "at an astonishing rate" around the turn ...

''). Playfair left for greener pastures in 1845 and Smith worked at making a living as an independent analytical chemist. After some initial alarming experiences, Smith refused to take on

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

work which was a staple of consulting scientists of the day and which he saw as corrupt. Consequently, when the Alkali Inspectorate was established by the

Alkali Act 1863 The Alkali Act 1863 ( 26 & 27 Vict. c. 124) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Under the Alkali Act 1863, an alkali inspector and four subinspectors were appointed to curb discharge into the air of muriatic acid gas ( gaseous ...

, Smith's integrity made him the natural candidate. As Queen Victoria's Inspector of Alkali Works, he was the prototype of the scientific civil servant. He held the post until his death. He is buried in the graveyard of St Paul's Church on Kersal Moor,

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

In 1872 Smith published the book ''Air and Rain: The Beginnings of a Chemical Climatology'', which presents his studies of the chemistry of

atmospheric An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

. These studies include the discovery, in 1852, of acid rain in northern British cities, a consequence of the burning of coal rich in sulfur. He was conferred with Honorary Membership of the

Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland The Institution of Engineers in Scotland (IES) is a multi-disciplinary professional body and learned society, founded in Scotland, for professional engineers in all disciplines and for those associated with or taking an interest in their work. I ...

in 1884. After his death his collection of about 4,000 books was acquired by the library of

Owens College Owens may refer to: Places in the United States * Owens Station, Delaware * Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota * Owens, Missouri * Owens, Ohio * Owens, Texas * Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with ...

, Manchester. They are now in the John Rylands University Library, the successor of the college library.

Spiritualism

Smith with his friend

William Crookes Sir William Crookes (; 17 June 1832 – 4 April 1919) was an English chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry, now part of Imperial College London, and worked on spectroscopy. He was a pioneer of vacuum tubes, inventing ...

, attended a

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French language, French word for "session", from the Old French , "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general and mundane: one ma ...

on 21 April 1870 in London. He sent Crookes 15 letters on

spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

between April 1869 and 1871. Smith did not choose to write widely about spiritualism as he believed it might damage his scientific reputation. He was a member of the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...

from 1882 to 1884. After he died, 89 books on the

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

were discovered in his library.Reed, Peter. (2014). ''Acid Rain and the Rise of the Environmental Chemist in Nineteenth-Century Britain: The Life and Work of Robert Angus Smith (Science, Technology and Culture, 1700–1945)''. Routledge. p. 18.

Awards and honours

Smith was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1857. He was elected to membership of The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society on 29.1.1845, becoming Secretary of the Society1852–57 and President Society 1864–66

Publications

''On Sewage and Sewage Rivers''
(1855)
''Disinfectants and Disinfection''
(1869)
''Air and Rain: The Beginnings of a Chemical Climatology''
(1872)
''Chemical and Physical Researches''
(1876)
''Loch Etive and the sons of Uisnach: With Illustrations''
(1879)
''A Centenary of Science in Manchester''
(1883)

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Robert Angus 1817 births 1884 deaths Air pollution in the United Kingdom Atmospheric chemists Atmospheric scientists Burials in Greater Manchester Fellows of the Royal Society History of Manchester British parapsychologists Scottish chemists Scottish environmentalists Scottish spiritualists Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society Alumni of the University of Glasgow