Theodore William Richards
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Theodore William Richards (January 31, 1868 – April 2, 1928) was an American physical chemist and the first American scientist to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, earning the award "in recognition of his exact determinations of the atomic weights of a large number of the
chemical element A chemical element is a chemical substance whose atoms all have the same number of protons. The number of protons is called the atomic number of that element. For example, oxygen has an atomic number of 8: each oxygen atom has 8 protons in its ...
s."


Biography

Theodore Richards was born in Germantown,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, to William Trost Richards, a land- and seascape painter, and Anna Matlack Richards, a poet. Richards received most of his pre-college education from his mother. During one summer's stay at
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
, Richards met Professor Josiah Parsons Cooke of
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
, who showed the young boy Saturn's rings through a small telescope. Years later Cooke and Richards would work together in Cooke's laboratory. Beginning in 1878, the Richards family spent two years in Europe, largely in England, where Theodore Richards' scientific interests grew stronger. After the family's return to the United States, he entered
Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...
, Pennsylvania in 1883 at the age of 14, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1885. He then enrolled at
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 ...
and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1886, as further preparation for graduate studies. Richards continued on at Harvard, taking as his dissertation topic the determination of the atomic weight of oxygen relative to hydrogen. His doctoral advisor was Josiah Parsons Cooke. Next he performed a year of post-doctoral work in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, where he studied under
Victor Meyer Viktor Meyer (8 September 18488 August 1897) was a German chemist and significant contributor to both organic chemistry, organic and inorganic chemistry. He is best known for inventing an apparatus for determining vapour densities, the Viktor Meye ...
at the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...
and others. Richards returned to Harvard as an assistant in chemistry, then instructor, assistant professor, and finally full professor in 1901. He became one of the first American scientists ever offered a full professorship in a major European university, from Göttingen, in 1901, but instead of taking the position, he chose to continue in America. In 1903 he became chairman of the department of chemistry at Harvard, and in 1912 he was appointed Erving Professor of Chemistry and director of the new Wolcott Gibbs Memorial Laboratory. In 1896, Richards married Miriam Stuart Thayer. The couple had one daughter, Grace Thayer (who married James Bryant Conant), and two sons, Greenough Thayer and William Theodore. Both sons died by suicide. Richards maintained interests in both art and music. Among his recreations were sketching, golf, and sailing. He died at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 2, 1928, at the age of 60. According to one of his descendants, Richards suffered from "chronic respiratory problems and a prolonged depression." He was a Quaker.


Scientific research

About half of Richards's scientific research concerned atomic weights, starting in 1886 with his graduate studies. On returning to Harvard in 1889, this was his first line of research, continuing up to his death. According to Forbes, by 1932 the atomic weights of 55 elements had been studied by Richards and his students. Among the potential sources of error Richards uncovered in such determinations was the tendency of certain salts to occlude gases or foreign solutes on precipitation. As an example of the care Richards used in his work, Emsley reports that he carried out 15,000 recrystallizations of thulium bromate in order to obtain the pure element thulium for an atomic weight measurement. Richards was the first to show, by chemical analysis, that an element could have different atomic weights. He was asked to analyze samples of naturally occurring
lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
and lead produced by radioactive decay. His measurements showed that the two samples had different atomic weights, supporting the concepts of isotopes. Other scientific work of Theodore Richards included investigations of the compressibilities of atoms, heats of solution and neutralization, and the electrochemistry of amalgams. His investigation of electrochemical potentials at low temperatures was among the work that led, in the hands of others, to the Nernst heat theorem and the Third law of thermodynamics, although not without heated debate between Nernst and Richards. Richards also is credited with the invention of the adiabatic calorimeter as well as the nephelometer, which was devised for his work on the atomic weight of strontium.


Legacy and honors

* Member of 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 ...
(1902) *Lowell Lectures (1908) * Davy Medal (1910) * Faraday Lectureship (1911) * Willard Gibbs Medal (1912) * President of the
American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
(1914) * Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1914) * Franklin Medal (1916) * President of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...
(1917) * Honorary Member of the
Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...
(1918) * Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London (1919) * President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences President (1919 – 1921) * Lavoisier Medal (1922) * Le Blanc Medal (1922) * Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1923) * Member of the International Atomic Weights Committee * Theodore Richards Medal (1932, awarded posthumously) The Theodore William Richards Medal is awarded every two years to an outstanding chemist by the Northeastern Section of the
American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
. The award was established in 1928. American sculptor and friend Cyrus Dallin designed the medal and his original plaster can be seen at the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum in
Arlington, Massachusetts Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Europe ...
.


Selected writings

* * * *


See also

* Mass spectrometry * Jöns Jakob Berzelius * Farrington Daniels * Gilbert Newton Lewis * Jean Stas * Theodore W. Richards House


References


Further reading

* *


External links

* including the Nobel Lecture, December 6, 1919 ''Atomic Weights''
Theodore Richards Medal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Theodore 1868 births 1928 deaths American physical chemists Haverford College alumni Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Nobel laureates in Chemistry American Nobel laureates History of chemistry Foreign members of the Royal Society Scientists from Philadelphia American Quakers Members of the American Philosophical Society Recipients of Franklin Medal