William Hyde Wollaston

:For the English philosophical writer, see William Wollaston.

Work

Wollaston is perhaps best known as a chemist. He became wealthy by developing the first physico-chemical method for processing platinum ore in practical quantities, and in the process of testing the device he discovered the elements palladium (symbol Pd) in 1803 and rhodium (symbol Rh) in 1804. In 1809, he showed that niobium and titanium were elements (rather than compounds).

Related Topics:
Palladium - 1803 - Rhodium - 1804 - Niobium - Titanium

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He also performed important work in electricity. In 1801, he performed an experiment showing that the electricity from friction was identical to that produced by voltaic piles. During the last years of his life he performed electrical experiments that would pave the way to the eventual design of the electric motor. However, controversy erupted when Michael Faraday, who was undoubtedly the first to construct a working electrical motor, refused to grant Wollaston credit for his earlier work.

Related Topics:
Electricity - Friction - Voltaic pile - Electric motor - Michael Faraday

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His optical work was important as well, where he is remembered for his observations of dark Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum (1802) which eventually led to the discovery of the elements in the Sun. He also invented the camera lucida (1807), the reflecting goniometer (1809), and the Wollaston prism.

Related Topics:
Fraunhofer lines - Camera lucida - Goniometer - Wollaston prism

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He used his Bakerian lecture in 1805, On the Force of Percussion, to defend Gottfried Leibniz's principle of vis viva, an early formulation of the conservation of energy. He was too ill to deliver his final Bakerian in 1828 and dictated it to Henry Warburton who read it on November 20.

Related Topics:
Bakerian lecture - 1805 - Gottfried Leibniz - Vis viva - Conservation of energy - Henry Warburton - November 20

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He also served on a royal commission that opposed adoption of the metric system (1819), and one that created the imperial gallon.

Related Topics:
Royal commission - Metric system - 1819 - Imperial gallon

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