George Wilson PRSSA

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". ...

(21 February 1818 – 22 November 1859) was a 19th-century Scottish chemist and author. He was Regius Professor of Technology at 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 the first director of the Industrial Museum of Scotland.

Life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

at 55 Potterow, the son of Archibald Wilson, a bookbinder, and his wife, Janet Aitken. He was the younger brother of the anthropologist Sir Daniel Wilson. He was first educated at a small private school at 10 George Street in Edinburgh by George Knight,ODNB: George Wilson then from 1828 at the Royal High School and then studied medicine at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

from 1832, studying under

Thomas Charles Hope Thomas Charles Hope (21 July 1766 – 13 June 1844) was a Scottish physician, chemist and lecturer. He proved the existence of the element strontium, and gave his name to Hope's Experiment, which shows that water reaches its maximum density at ...

and Robert Christison. He was taught chemistry by Kenneth Kemp. From 1835 he undertook practical experience at

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) was established in 1729, and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest voluntary hospital in the United Kingdom, and later on, the Empire."In Comi ...

on Drummond Street. In 1837 he became assistant to Christison. He also served as assistant editor on the "Maga" journal under

Edward Forbes Edward Forbes FRS, FGS (12 February 1815 – 18 November 1854) was a Manx naturalist. In 1846, he proposed that the distributions of montane plants and animals had been compressed downslope, and some oceanic islands connected to the mainland ...

. In 1838 he moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to join his brother Daniel, working (unpaid) under

Thomas Graham Thomas Graham may refer to: Politicians and diplomats *Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch (1748–1843), British politician and soldier * Thomas Graham Jr. (diplomat) (born 1933), nuclear expert and senior U.S. diplomat *Sir Thomas Graham (barriste ...

, working alongside James Young and Lyon Playfair. Here he formed a lifelong friendship with one of his students:

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, and an explorer in Africa. Livingstone was married to Mary Moffat Livings ...

. He completed a doctoral thesis on haloid salts in 1839 and returned to Edinburgh. He lectured in chemistry at the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...

from 1840, and was appointed lecturer at the Veterinary College in 1843. In 1843 following an injury, his left foot was amputated (by James Syme. In 1845 he was elected a Fellow of the

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 ...

. His proposers was Sir Robert Christison. He served as President of Royal Scottish Society of Arts between 1855 and 1857. On the establishment of the Industrial Museum of Scotland in 1855, Wilson was appointed its director. He recruited expatriate Scots from around the world to send back specimens for the national collection, and gave many public lectures. Though battling ill health, he served in the directorship for four years until his death. In 1855 he was created Professor of Technology at

. In 1858 he declined the chair in Chemistry (in succession to William Gregory) due to ill-health. He died at his home, Elm Cottage on Whitehouse Loan in south EdinburghEdinburgh Post Office Directory 1859 on 22 November 1859, of pleuropneumonia, which developed following a cold. He was buried in the

Old Calton Burial Ground The Old Calton Burial Ground is a cemetery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located on Calton Hill to the north-east of the city centre. The burial ground was opened in 1718, and is the resting place of several notable Scots, including philosoph ...

on 28 November. The grave lies next to the southmost vaults.

Family

His twin brother John died in 1836. His sister Jessie Aitken Wilson married James Sime.

Works

*''On the Employment of Oxygen as a Means of Resuscitation in

Asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are m ...

'' (1845) *''Life of

Henry Cavendish Henry Cavendish ( ; 10 October 1731 – 24 February 1810) was an English experimental and theoretical chemist and physicist. He is noted for his discovery of hydrogen, which he termed "inflammable air". He described the density of inflammable a ...

'' (1851) *''Life of Dr John Reid'' (1852) *''Researches on Colour-Blindness'' (1855) - this led to compulsory testing for colour-blindness in many critical jobs *''The Senses; or, Gateways to Knowledge'' (1856) Three works were published posthumously: *''Counsels of an Invalid'' (1862) *''Memoir of

'' (1862) *''Religio Chemici'' (1862) He co-authored ''Inorganic Chemistry'' with Stevenson Macadam.

References

*P. J. Hartog, 'Wilson, George (1818–1859)’, rev. R. G. W. Anderson
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 5 September 2007.

Life

Family

Works

References

Further reading