John Maxson Stillman

John Maxson Stillman (1852-1923) was a pioneer of the history of science in the United States. He was also the first head of the chemistry department at Stanford University, as well as its first Chemistry Professor. His most enduring work was the posthumously published book ''The Story of Early Chemistry'', decades later republished as ''The Story of Alchemy and Early Chemistry''.

Biography

Son of physician Jacob Davis Babcock Stillman and of Caroline Maxson, John Maxson studied chemistry first at University of California (1874), and then for two years abroad at University of Strasbourg and University of Würzburg. On his return, after teaching at the University of California (1876-1882), and working for the American Sugar Refining Company in Boston (1882-1891), he was appointed at the newly founded Stanford University as its first Chemistry Professor, and head of the department in its opening year. Although Stillman's appointment was essentially by fiat of Senator Stanford, who proposed a one-man list for David Starr Jordan to consider for this job, Stanford historian Eric Hutchinson writes that "There is always a risk that appointments made at the behest of the mighty may turn out badly, but Stillman's appointment was a good one." At Stanford, Stillman focused mostly on teaching and administration. He retired in 1917, and concentrated on writing thereafter. He died in December 1923. A 39-page in memoriam volume was published in the following year by five colleagues at Stanford. Stillman married Emma E. Rodolph. They had three daughters, Cara, Minna and Dorothy. Cara Stillman was a victim of the 1903 Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago.

Publications

Stillman's most significant work is ''The Story of Early Chemistry'', a book published posthumously in 1924. A 1925 review in the ''Journal of Chemical Education'' by Edgar Fahs Smith found the book excellent but rather impersonal. The book was republished in 1960 by Courier Dover with the slightly modified title ''The Story of Alchemy and Early Chemistry''. A review of this edition by historian Rhoda Rappaport (1962) in the '' Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences'' found it among the "best and most detailed treatments of a difficult subject", but criticized it for not being selective enough in deciding which of "those features of ancient and medieval thought and practice made a 'decided impress' upon the subsequent history" as the book's introduction promised. The book was described by Aaron John Ihde in ''The Development of Modern Chemistry'' (1964) as "an excellent account of the developments through Lavoisier