Dr James Burgess Readman

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". ...

FCS FSSA (c.1850–April 1927) was a Scottish chemist who invented an electric furnace for creating

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

invented in 1888 and patented in 1889.

Life

He was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

the son of George Readman, a bank manager with the Clydesdale Bank. The family lived at 16 Queens Crescent in Glasgow, an attractive terraced townhouse in the north-west of the city. He was educated at Glasgow Academy. He then studied science 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 ...

graduating with a BSc and MD in 1888. In 1871 he is listed as a creditor in relation to the Port Dundas Oil Company. In 1879 he is living with his older brother George Readman, an advocate at 20 Great Stuart Street on the Moray Estate in west

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 ...

. In 1883 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 were James Robertson, Baron Robertson, James King, William Wallace and

Alexander Crum Brown Alexander Crum Brown Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (26 March 1838 – 28 October 1922) was a Scottish Organic chemistry, organic chemist. Alexander Crum Brown Road in Edinburgh's King's Buildi ...

. He was then still living with his brother (but separately listed) at 9 Moray Place, a large townhouse on the Moray Estate. In the late 1890s he had offices at 175 Buchanan Street in Glasgow and was running the Forth and Clyde Chemical works from Kirkintilloch. In 1910 he is described as an "analytical and consulting chemist" and is operating from 4 Lindsay Place in

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

.Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1910/11 He died in

Bradford-on-Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in west Wiltshire (district), Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset. The town's canal, historic buildings, shops, pubs and restauran ...

in April 1927.

Publications

*''An Account of the Manufacture of Phosphorus'' (1890)

References

1927 deaths Scientists from Glasgow Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish inventors Scottish chemists Phosphorus Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{UK-chemist-stub