William Lewis (scientist)
{{Short description|British chemist and physician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Distinguish|text=William Lewis (chemist) (1869–1963)}}File:Lewis William lab.jpg
William Lewis FRS (c. 1708 – 21 January 1781) was a British chemist and physician.Main reference: {{cite DNB|wstitle=Lewis, William (1714-1781)|volume=33}} He is known for his writings related to pharmacy and medicine, and for his research into metals.* {{cite journal|author = Gibbs, F. W.|title = William Lewis and Platina: Bicentenary of the Commercium Philosophico-Technicum| journal = Platinum Metals Review|year = 1963|volume = 7|issue = 2|pages = 66–69|url = http://www.platinummetalsreview.com/article/7/2/66-69/}}
Life and work
William Lewis, the son of John (William?) Lewis, a brewer, was born in Richmond, Surrey. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, on 17 March 1730. He was graduated B.A. in 1734, and proceeded M.A. 1737, M.B. 1741, and M.D. 1745. He practised as a physician, and in 1746 was living in Dover Street, London, but shortly afterwards moved to Kingston upon Thames. At the opening of the Radcliffe Library in 1749, Lewis delivered the oration. He died in Kingston, Surrey on 21 January 1781 and was buried in Richmond.
Honours
- Fellow of the Royal Society (1745)
- Copley Medal (1754) "For the Many Experiments made by him on Platina, which tend to the discovery of the sophistication of gold:—which he would have entirely completed, but was obliged to put a stop to his further enquiries for want of materials."Report on the Adjudication of the Copley, Rumford and Royal Medals (1834) compiled from the original documents in the archives of the Royal Society by James Hudson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cbtLAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA11 p. 11.]
Selected writings
- A Course of Practical Chemistry, London, 1746, 8vo.
- Pharmacopœia Edinburgensis, London, 1748, 8vo.
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=kBQ7AAAAcAAJ&q=Lewis++Dispensatory The New Dispensatory], London, 1753, [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:2-7945 Digital edition] 8vo, Edinburgh, 1781 [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:2-9462 Digital edition] by the University and State Library Düsseldorf, 1791.
- Experimental History of the Materia Medica, London, 1761 [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:2-20376 Digital edition] by the University and State Library Düsseldorf; 3rd edit, by J. Aiken, 1784; German translation, 1771.
- Willhelm Lewis Materia medica oder Beschreibung der einfachen Arzneymittel . Orell, Geßner, Füeßlin & Co., Zürich 1771 [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:2-15087 Digital edition] by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
- Commercium Philosophico-Technicum, London, 1763 [https://archive.org/stream/commerciumphilos00lewi_0 Digital edition], 4to.
- Neues verbessertes Dispensatorium oder Arzneybuch, in welchem alles, was zu der Apothekerkunst gehöret, nach den Londoner und Edinburger Pharmacopeen mit practischen Wahrnehmungen und Bemerkungen vorgetragen wird; aus dem Engländischen übersetzet. Brandt, Hamburg 2 Bände 1768/1772 [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:2-135836 Digital edition] by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
- The new dispensatory {{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=William |url=http://archive.org/details/newdispensatoryw00lewi |title=The new dispensatory ... : the whole interspersed with practical cautions and observations : intended as a correction, and improvement of Quincy |last2=Quincy |first2=John |date=1753 |publisher=London : Printed for J. Nourse, opposite Catharine Street in the Strand |others=Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine}}: contains 1. The elements of pharmacy, 2. The materia medica, or an account of the substances employed in medicine, 3. The preparations and compositions of the new London and Edinburgh pharmacopoeias; the whole interspersed with practical cautions and observations. F. Wingrave, London 6th ed. 1799 [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:2-8914 Digital edition] by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
Lewis also published translations of Caspar Neumann's chemical works in 1759 [https://archive.org/stream/chemicalworksofc00neum Digital edition] and 1773 ([https://archive.org/stream/chemicalworksca01lewigoog Vol. I] & [https://archive.org/stream/chemicalworksca00lewigoog Vol. II]), and (posthumously) of Hoffman's System of the Practice of Medicine (1783).
In 1754 and 1757 he published a series of original papers on platinum: Phil. Trans. R. Soc. 48 (1754) 638–689 ([https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50999895 Papers I–IV]), Phil. Trans. R. Soc. 50 (1757) 148–155 ([https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50898743 Paper V]) & Phil. Trans. R. Soc. 50 (1757) 156–166 ([https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50898751 Paper VI]). In 1767 the Society for the Improvement of Arts, Manufactures, &c., of which he was a founder, awarded him a gold medal for an essay upon 'potashes'.
References
Further reading
- {{cite book|title = Cavendish|author = Jungnickel, Christa|author1-link=Christa Jungnickel|author2=McCormmach, Russell|author2-link=Russell McCormmach|year = 1996|publisher = American Philosophical Society|location = Philadelphia|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eiDoN-rg8I8C&q=william+lewis+chemistry&pg=PA150|isbn = 0-87169-220-1|page = 150}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline}}
{{Copley Medallists 1751-1800}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:People from Richmond, London
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society
Category:Recipients of the Copley Medal