In 1870, Sir William Crookes (1832–1919) travelled to Gibraltar to observe the solar eclipse. He kept a diary and produced beautiful accounts of the expedition - alongside altogether more specific observations, including the 656 steps down a local cliff face, and every item in his luggage. It is with the same meticulous approach and cheerful prose that he records, in letters, journal articles and reports, the successes and failures of the vast range of projects in which he was involved. Although initially trained as a chemist, Crookes worked across the spectrum of the sciences, from consulting on preventative measures against cattle plague through to investigating spiritualism. Opening with a foreword by the physicist Sir Oliver Lodge, this biography by Edmund Edward Fournier d'Albe (1868–1933), first published in 1923, explores a remarkable life of enquiry through a host of first-hand sources.
Contents
Foreword; Preface; 1. Introductory; 2. Early days; 3. The Royal College of Chemistry, 1848–54; 4. Peregrinations, 1854–6; 5. The business of life, 1856–8; 6. The Chemical News, 1858–60; 7. The green line, 1860–2; 8. Slings and arrows, 1862–5; 9. The cattle plague, 1865–7; 10. Gold amalgamation, 1865–7; 11. The eclipse expedition, 1870; 12. Mysterious forces and apparitions, 1871–4; 13. The radiometer, 1874–7; 14. The fourth state of matter, 1877–9; 15. Electric lighting, 1878–89; 16. The origin of the elements, 1890; 17. The end of the century, 1892–9; 18. Diamonds, 1897–1903; 19. Radium and its rays, 1903–12; 20. The last stage, 1913–19; Index.
Printer friendly version