Elizabeth Fulhame
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Elizabeth Fulhame (
fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...
1794) was an early
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
chemist who invented the concept of
catalysis Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...
and discovered
photoreduction Light-dependent reactions are certain photochemical reactions involved in photosynthesis, the main process by which plants acquire energy. There are two light dependent reactions: the first occurs at photosystem II (PSII) and the second occurs ...
. She was described as 'the first solo woman researcher of modern chemistry'. Although she only published one text, she describes catalysis as a process at length in her 1794 book ''An Essay On Combustion with a View to a New Art of Dying and Painting, wherein the Phlogistic and Antiphlogistic Hypotheses are Proved Erroneous.'' The book relates in painstaking detail her experiments with oxidation-reduction reactions, and the conclusions she draws regarding
phlogiston theory The phlogiston theory, a superseded scientific theory, postulated the existence of a fire-like element dubbed phlogiston () contained within combustible bodies and released during combustion. The name comes from the Ancient Greek (''burnin ...
, in which she disagrees with both the Phlogistians and Antiphlogistians. In 1798, the book was translated into German by Augustin Gottfried Ludwig Lentin as ''Versuche über die Wiederherstellung der Metalle durch Wasserstoffgas.'' In 1810, it was published in the United States, to much critical acclaim. That same year, Fulhame was made an honorary member of the Philadelphia Chemical Society. Thomas P. Smith applauded her work, stating that "Mrs. Fulhame has now laid such bold claims to chemistry that we can no longer deny the sex the privilege of participating in this science also."


Personal life

Elizabeth Fulhame published under her married name, as Mrs. Fulhame. She was married to Thomas Fulhame, an Irish-born physician who had attended 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 ...
and studied
puerperal fever The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to last for six to eight weeks. There are three distinct phases of the postnatal period; the acute phase, lasting for six to twelve hours after birth; the ...
as a student of Andrew Duncan (1744–1828). Dr Thomas Fulhame was listed in Edinburgh directories between 1784–1800 (Bristo Square in 1784, Bristo Street in 1794, at 9
Society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...
1799, in Brown's Square 1800). Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, referred to her as "the ingenious and lively Mrs. Fulhame", however this opinion may reflect the style of her book.


Work

Mrs. Fulhame's work began with her interest in finding a way of staining cloth with heavy metals under the influence of light. She originally considered calling her work ''An Essay on the Art of making Cloths of Gold, Silver, and other Metals, by chymical processes'', but considering the "imperfect state of the art", decided to select a title reflecting the broader implications of her experiments. She was apparently encouraged to publish an account of her 14 years of research as a result of meeting
Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...
in 1793. Fulhame studied the experimental reduction of metallic salts in a variety of states (aqueous solution, dry state, and sometimes an ether or alcohol solution) by exposing them to the action of various reducing agents. The metal salts she examined included gold, silver, platinum, mercury, copper, and tin. As reducing agents, she experimented with hydrogen gas, phosphorus, potassium sulfide,
hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is toxic, corrosive, and flammable. Trace amounts in ambient atmosphere have a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. Swedish chemist ...
, phosphine, charcoal, and light. She discovered a number of chemical reactions by which metal salts could be reduced to pure metals. Rayner-Canham considers her most important contribution to chemistry to be the discovery that metals could be processed through aqueous chemical reduction at room temperature, as an alternative to smelting at high temperatures. Her theoretical work on
catalysis Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...
was "a major step in the history of chemistry", predating both
Jöns Jakob Berzelius Jöns is a Swedish given name and a surname. Notable people with the given name include: * Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779–1848), Swedish chemist * Jöns Budde (1435–1495), Franciscan friar from the Brigittine monastery in NaantaliVallis Grati ...
and
Eduard Buchner Eduard Buchner (; 20 May 1860 – 13 August 1917) was a German chemist and Zymurgy, zymologist, awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on fermentation (biochemistry), fermentation. Biography Early years Buchner was born in Mun ...
. She proposed, and demonstrated through experiment, that many oxidation reactions occur only in the presence of
water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
, that they directly involve water, and that water is regenerated and is detectable at the end of the reaction. Further, she proposed "recognisably modern mechanisms" for those reactions, and may have been the first scientist to do so. The role of
oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
, as she describes it, differs significantly from other theories of the time. Based on her experiments, she disagreed with some of the conclusions of
Antoine Lavoisier Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794), When reduced without charcoal, it gave off an air which supported respiration and combustion in an enhanced way. He concluded that this was just a pure form of common air and that i ...
as well as with the phlogiston theorists that he critiqued. Her research could be seen as a precursor to the work of
Jöns Jakob Berzelius Jöns is a Swedish given name and a surname. Notable people with the given name include: * Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779–1848), Swedish chemist * Jöns Budde (1435–1495), Franciscan friar from the Brigittine monastery in NaantaliVallis Grati ...
, however Fulhame focused specifically on water rather than heavy metals. Further, Eder, in 1905, and Schaaf consider her work on silver chemistry to be a landmark in the birth and early history of photography. Fulhame's work on the role of light sensitive chemicals (silver salts) on fabric, predates Thomas Wedgwood's more famous photogram trials of 1801. Fulhame did not, however, attempt to make "images" or representational shadow prints in the way Wedgwood did, but she did engage in photoreduction using light.


Reception

In addition to her book being republished in Germany and America, Fulhame's experiments were reviewed in a French journal, and several British magazines, and were positively commented on by Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, and Sir John Herschel. According to the introduction of her book by her American editor in 1810, her work was lesser known than it could or should have been, adding that "the pride of science, revolted at the idea of being taught by a female". Fulhame says as much in her own preface to the work: Such a reaction, she says, was particularly acute amongst some who held esteemed positions, whom she described as having a 'dictatorship in science'., Fulhame published her experiments on reductions using water with metals in a book in the first place in order not to be "plagiarized." She also describes her book as possibly serving as "a beacon to future mariners" (e.g. women) taking up scientific inquiries.
Antoine Lavoisier Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794), When reduced without charcoal, it gave off an air which supported respiration and combustion in an enhanced way. He concluded that this was just a pure form of common air and that i ...
was executed six months before the publication of her book and thus could not respond to her theory. Irish chemist William Higgins complained that she had ignored his work on the involvement of water in the rusting of iron, but magnanimously concluded "I read her book with great pleasure, and heartily wish that her laudible example may be followed by the rest of her sex." Fulhame's work was largely forgotten by the end of the 19th century, but it was rediscovered by J. W. Mellor. In the 20th century, she was noted in ''
Physics Today ''Physics Today'' is the membership magazine of the American Institute of Physics. First published in May 1948, it is issued on a monthly schedule, and is provided to the members of ten physics societies, including the American Physical Society. ...
,'' as being the first to 'systematically' vary 'her reaction conditions' and to 'generalise a whole class of reactions.... the reduction of metals' and first to suggest an explanation for the situations where 'water dissociated into its ionic form, facilitated the intermediate reaction steps, and was regenerated by the end of the metal reduction.'


See also

*
Timeline of women in science This is a timeline of women in science, spanning from ancient history up to the 21st century. While the timeline primarily focuses on women involved with natural sciences such as astronomy, biology, chemistry and physics, it also includes women f ...


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulhame, Elizabeth Scottish women chemists Scottish chemists 18th-century Scottish writers 18th-century Scottish women writers Year of birth missing Year of death missing 18th-century British chemists 18th-century Scottish scientists 18th-century Scottish women scientists Catalysis