200 y Anniversary of Berlin Academy 1900

Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe CB, FRS H

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". ...

LLD (8 December 1845 – 23 February 1925) was a British

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

. From 1894 to 1909, he was Chief Chemist to the British Government, as Director of the Government Laboratory.

Early life and education

Thorpe was born at Barnes Green in

Harpurhey Harpurhey ( ) is an inner-city suburb of Manchester, England, 2.3 miles northeast of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Historically in Lancashire, the population at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census was 17,652. Areas of Harpurh ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, the son of George Thorpe, a cotton merchant at Trafford Bank, and his wife Mary Wilde. He was educated at

Hulme Grammar School Hulme Grammar School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private grammar school in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. History Oldham Hulme Grammar School was founded in 1611 by several charitable individuals including Laurence Chad ...

. Thorpe originally worked as a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

, but in 1863 began working as an assistant to Henry Roscoe, a professor of chemistry at Owen's College, Manchester, where he gained a degree in Chemistry. Thorpe then undertook postgraduate studies at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

, gaining his doctorate (

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Academic career

After a time working for

August Kekulé Friedrich August Kekulé, later Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz ( , ; 7 September 1829 – 13 July 1896), was a German organic chemist. From the 1850s until his death, Kekulé was one of the most prominent chemists in Europe, especially ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

Thorpe returned to Britain in 1870 to accept a Chair at the Andersonian Institute (now the University of Strathclyde) 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 ...

. He later held posts at the Yorkshire College of Science (now the University of Leeds) and the Normal School of Science (later the Royal College of Science and now part of

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

). Thorpe conducted research on a wide range of subjects. He contributed to the understanding of the relationship between substances'

molecular weight A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by Force, attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemi ...

s and their

specific gravities Relative density, also called specific gravity, is a dimensionless quantity defined as the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for solids and liquids is nea ...

, and his work on

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 ...

compounds led to a better understanding of phosphorus trioxide and the prevention of the illnesses it caused to workers in the match industry. Thorpe's work on the atomic weights of metals led to the award of a

Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society. Two are given for "the mo ...

in 1889, and in 1902 Thorpe was elected member of the newly created International Atomic Weights Commission. He was a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, to which he served as foreign secretary in 1903. He was the president of the

British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chief ...

for 1921–1922. He also took part in four

eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

expeditions, and a magnetic survey of the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

. From 1894 to 1895, Thorpe served as president of the

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...

. He left academia in 1894 to take up a government post as principal of Somerset House Laboratory, also known as the Government Laboratory, originally established in 1842 for the prevention of the adulteration of tobacco products and then enhanced by the Sale of Food and Drugs Act 1875 ( 38 & 39 Vict. c. 63). In this post from 1894 to 1909, he moved the government laboratory in 1897 from Somerset House to a new building of his own design and helped to further the effectiveness and reputation of this government

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as schools ...

. With his staff Thorpe worked on matters of public health, including the detection of

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

, and the elimination of

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 ...

from

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

. His successor as principal chemist of the Government Laboratories was James Johnston Dobbie. In 1912 he was appointed to the Royal Commission on Fuel and Engines.

Honours

Thorpe was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(CB) by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in the 1900 Birthday Honours and knighted by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

in 1909.

Family

In 1870, Thorpe married Caroline Emma Watts, daughter of John Watts. They had no children.

Death

Thorpe died of a heart attack, following a long period of ill-health, at "Whinfield" in

Salcombe Salcombe is a resort town in the South Hams district of Devon, south west England. The town is close to the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, mostly built on the steep west side of the estuary. It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstand ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

on 23 February 1925 at the age of 79. He was buried in the local churchyard at Salcombe.

Publications

* Thorpe wrote a number of books, including the textbooks ''Inorganic Chemistry'' (1873), ''Dictionary of Applied Chemistry'' (1890) and a ''History of Chemistry'' (vol. 1, 1909; vol. 2, 1910). Outside chemistry, his great interest was

yachting Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on ma ...

, and he wrote two books on this subject; ''A Yachtsman's Guide to the Dutch Waterways'' (1905) and ''The Seine from Havre to Paris'' (1913).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorpe, Thomas Edward 1845 births 1925 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath English chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Royal Medal winners People from Harpurhey People educated at Oldham Hulme Grammar School Heidelberg University alumni Academics of the University of Strathclyde Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of Imperial College London Knights Bachelor Burials in Devon