Frank Austin Gooch (1852 – 1929) was an American

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 ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

Biography

He was born to Joshua G. and Sarah Gates (Coolidge) Gooch in

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...

. On his mother's side of the family, he was a descendant of

Thomas Hastings Thomas Hastings may refer to: *Thomas Hastings (colonist) (1605–1685), English immigrant to New England *Thomas Hastings (composer) (1784–1872), American composer, primarily of hymn tunes * Thomas Hastings (cricketer) (1865–1938), Australian c ...

who came from the

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

region of England to the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

in 1634. Gooch invented the

Gooch crucible {{Short description, Filtration device A Gooch crucible, named after Frank Austin Gooch,Classic Kit: Gooch's Cruciblby Dr. Andrea Sella is a filtration device for laboratory use (and was also called a Gooch filterJ. Am. Chem. Soc., 1882, 4 (8), p ...

, which is used, for example, to determine the solubility of

bituminous Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American English, the m ...

materials such as road tars and petroleum asphalts. He was awarded a Ph.D. by

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1877. Gooch was a professor of chemistry at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

from 1885 to 1918. He devised or perfected a large number of analytical processes and methods, including: * Invented the Gooch filtering crucible. * Studied the quantitative separation of lithium from the other alkali metals, and the estimation of boric acid by distillation with methanol and fixation by calcium oxide. * Developed methods for estimating molybdenum, vanadium, selenium, and tellurium. * Studied the use of the paratungstate and pyrophosphate ions in analysis. * Developed a series of methods for estimating various elements based on the volumetric determination of iodine. * Discovered a method for the rapid electrolytic estimation of metals. He was a member of the

Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences The Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences is a learned society founded in 1799 in New Haven, Connecticut "to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest and happiness of a free and virtuous people." Its purpose is the ...

, the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, and the U.S.

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

References

External links

Frank Austin Gooch
(biography at University of Illinois)
Descendants of Thomas Hastings website

Descendants of Thomas Hastings on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gooch, Frank Austin 1852 births 1929 deaths American chemists American engineers Harvard University alumni People involved with the periodic table Members of the American Philosophical Society

Biography

Further reading

References

External links