Thomas Charles Hope (21 July 1766 – 13 June 1844) was a Scottish physician, chemist and lecturer. He proved the existence of the element

strontium Strontium is a chemical element; it has symbol Sr and atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, it is a soft silver-white yellowish metallic element that is highly chemically reactive. The metal forms a dark oxide layer when it is exposed to ...

, and gave his name to Hope's Experiment, which shows that water reaches its

maximum density The maximum density of a substance is the highest attainable density of the substance under given conditions. Attaining maximum density Almost all known substances undergo thermal expansion in response to heating, meaning that a given mass of su ...

at . In 1815 Hope was elected as president of the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that set the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by royal charter i ...

(1815–19), and as vice-president of

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

(1823–33) during the presidencies of

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

and Thomas Makdougall Brisbane.

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

was one of Hope's students, and Darwin viewed his chemistry lectures as highlights in his otherwise largely dull education at the University.

Early life

Born in Edinburgh, the third son of Juliana Stevenson and surgeon and botanist John Hope, he lived at High School Yards on the south side of the

old town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

. He was educated next door to his house at the

High School A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

(MD 1787) and the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

. At the university he was a student of Prof

Joseph Black Joseph Black (16 April 1728 – 6 December 1799) was a British physicist and chemist, known for his discoveries of magnesium, latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide. He was Professor of Anatomy and Chemistry at the University of Glasgow ...

. Hope was a nephew of the physician Alexander Stevenson

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

University of Glasgow and the discovery of strontium

He was appointed lecturer in chemistry 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 1787, and professor of medicine in 1789. In January 1788, on the proposal of John Walker,

Daniel Rutherford Daniel Rutherford (3 November 1749 – 15 November 1819) was a Scottish physician, chemist and botanist who is known for the isolation of nitrogen in 1772. Life Rutherford was born on 3 November 1749, the son of Anne Mackay and Professor J ...

and Alexander Monro, he was elected a Fellow of the

. In 1791–1792 Hope completed experiments on the chemical element

, proposing the name Stronities for it, after

Strontian Strontian (; ) is the main village in Sunart, an area in western Lochaber, Scottish Highlands, Highland, Scotland, on the A861 road. Prior to 1975 it was part of Argyllshire. It lies on the north shore of Loch Sunart, close to the head of th ...

, the west highland village where he found

strontianite Strontianite (Strontium, SrCarbon, COxygen, O3) is an important raw material for the extraction of strontium. It is a rare carbonate mineral and one of only a few strontium minerals. It is a member of the aragonite group. Aragonite group membe ...

. The element was later renamed to Strontium. On 4 November 1793, Hope presented his findings, ''An account of a Mineral from Strontian and of a Peculiar Species of Earth which it contains'', to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In the experiment that bears his name, Hope determined the maximum density of water and explained why icebergs float.

Edinburgh and the university

Hope was elected a Fellow of the

in 1788 and served as its vice president from 1822 to 1833. In 1791 following the death of his uncle, Alexander Stevenson, Hope succeeded him in his uncle's role as Professor of Medicine at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

. In 1795 Hope was selected by

as his assistant (1795–1799) and eventual successor to the professorship of medicine and chemistry (1799–1843) at the

. Hope’s goal was to more fully combine the practice of medicine with his chemical instruction. In 1796 Hope was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh and served as President in 1800 and 1816. In 1800 Hope won the annual

Edinburgh Arrow The Edinburgh Arrow is an annual clout archery competition held by the Royal Company of Archers, an archery club who act as the Sovereign's Bodyguard in Scotland. The Edinburgh Arrow is the longest-running annual archery competition in the recorded ...

archery competition. In 1804 he became a member of the Highland Society. In 1805 he was elected a member of the Aesculapian Club. In May 1810 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

. From 1815 to 1819 he served as President of the

. Between 1824–40 Hope worked with scientists based in

Poissy Poissy () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Inhabitan ...

, France. With the town's major, Jean-François Senincourt, he tried to establish a university in the town. Within a few years their aims began to be realised as medical students crowded his lectures. In 1828 he gave £800 to found a chemistry prize at the

. In the 1830s he is listed as living at 31 Moray Place, a large townhouse in the Moray Estate on the western edge of Edinburgh's New Town. In 1843 he resigned the professorship. He died at his home, 31 Moray Place in Edinburgh's West End in 1844. He is buried in

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 1 ...

in central Edinburgh. The grave lies against the western wall of the original churchyard, towards the north-west corner.

Works

* * * * *

Hope's apparatus

Hope's apparatus consists of a vertical vessel full of water surrounded round the middle by a trough of cooling ice. Two thermometers, one above and one below the trough, measure the temperature of the water. It is designed to demonstrate that water reaches its maximum density at . As the water in the central part of the vessel cools towards (and thus becomes denser) it sinks to the bottom of the vessel, displacing the warmer water. The lower thermometer will then read a constant . Further cooling towards will cause the now less dense water to rise to the top of the vessel, where the upper thermometer will then read a constant .

References