Matthew Turner (died 1788), a
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
physician, is considered (for example by Berman, 1990) to be the author or co-author of the 1782 pamphlet, ''Answer to Dr. Priestley's Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever'', the first published work of avowed
atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...
in Britain.
[Berman, David (1990). ''A History of Atheism in Britain: from Hobbes to Russell.'' London: Routledge. (first published 1988)
] Turner was also a pioneer in the use of
ether
In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group, a single oxygen atom bonded to two separate carbon atoms, each part of an organyl group (e.g., alkyl or aryl). They have the general formula , where R and R†...
for medical purposes, and wrote a pamphlet on the subject. In a footnote, Turner was the man who introduced
Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indu ...
to
Thomas Bentley Thomas Bentley may refer to:
* Thomas Bentley (director)
Thomas Bentley (23 February 1884 – 23 December 1966) was a British film director. He directed 68 films between 1912 and 1941. He directed three films in the early DeForest Phonofilm sou ...
in Liverpool, a friendship which led to the formation of the company that produced the famous pottery.
Turner was a friend of
Peter Perez Burdett
Peter Perez Burdett (c. 1734 – 9 September 1793) was an 18th-century cartographer, surveying, surveyor, artist, and technical drawing, draughtsman originally from Eastwood, Essex, Eastwood in Essex where he inherited a small estate and chose ...
and his scientific knowledge was referred to
Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Joseph Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution".
Wr ...
when he constructed his painting of ''
The Alchemist Discovering Phosphorus'' in 1771
which is now in
Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Derby Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery in Derby, England. It was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The col ...
.
References
External links
*
*
Year of birth missing
1788 deaths
18th-century English medical doctors
English atheists
18th-century atheists
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