Partners in Science: Letters of James Watt and Joseph Black

1970 ◽  
Vol 75 (7) ◽  
pp. 2055
Author(s):  
W. A. Smeaton ◽  
Eric Robinson ◽  
Douglas McKie
Keyword(s):  
James Watt ◽  
Joseph Black

“Alkaline Doctor” and “A Dangerous Innovator”

2020 ◽  
pp. 87-117
Author(s):  
Richard J. Kahn
Keyword(s):  
Medical Science ◽  
Columbia University ◽  
Successful Therapy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Benjamin Rush ◽  
James Watt ◽  
Humphry Davy ◽  
Joseph Black ◽  
William Cullen

In 1795 Barker read Lavoisier’s chemistry, experimented on tainted meat made edible by soaking in alkalis, and began using alkaline therapy such a limewater. He wrote about this to Samuel Mitchill and Benjamin Rush, telling them that he had been called a “dangerous innovator.” A brief history of the acid/alkali debates of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries includes information about Otto Tachenius, John Colbatch, Hermann Boerhaave, George Ernst Stahl, William Cullen, Joseph Black, and Antoine Lavoisier. Barker wrote about his experiments, azotic air (nitrogen), and his difficulty understanding the mechanism of this apparently successful therapy. His results were published in the Medical Repository, beginning a correspondence with Samuel Latham Mitchill, professor of chemistry at Columbia University. Contributors to the discussion of alkalis included David Hosack, Thomas Beddoes and James Watt, Humphry Davy, and Matthew Carey. Comments by Charles Rosenberg, John Harley Warner, Lester King, and others help us make sense of medical science and the acid/alkali battle.

Partners in Science: Letters of James Watt and Joseph Black

1971 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
R. J. Law ◽  
Eric Robinson ◽  
Douglas McKie ◽  
James Watt ◽  
Joseph Black
Keyword(s):  
James Watt ◽  
Joseph Black

The chemical work of James Watt, F. R. S

1985 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-52 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Early Phase ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Steam Engine ◽  
250Th Anniversary ◽  
Chemical Work ◽  
Instrument Maker ◽  
Astronomical Instruments ◽  
James Watt ◽  
Joseph Black ◽  
The University

The 250th anniversary of the birth of James Watt will be celebrated in January 1986. Watt is primarily remembered for his improvements to the steam engine, which were of such great importance in the early phase of the Industrial Revolution (1). It is less well known that throughout his life Watt was interested in chemistry. This article outlines the main themes of Watt’s chemical work. Watt learned the trade of instrument maker in London. On returning to his native Scotland in 1756 he was employed for a few months by the University of Glasgow in the repair of some astronomical instruments. During this time he met the newly appointed professor of anatomy and chemistry, Joseph Black, who may have assisted Watt in obtaining his appointment as mathematical instrument maker to the University in the following year. It seems possible that Black stimulated Watt’s latent interest in chemistry. Although Watt’s subsequent career took him away from Scotland, he remained in correspondence with Black until the latter’s death in 1799. This correspondence shows how keen and sustained was Watt’s interest in chemistry (2).

James Watt (1736-1819)

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Science Museum ◽  
Scientific Instrument ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Instrument Maker ◽  
James Watt ◽  
Humphry Davy ◽  
Joseph Black ◽  
Technological Achievement

James Watt (1736-1819) was a pivotal figure of the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution. His career as a scientific instrument maker, inventor and engineer developed in Scotland, the land of birth. His prominence as a scientist, technologist and businessman was forged in the Birmingham area. His pumping and rotative steam engines represent the summit of technological achievement in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries which led to future developments in locomotive and steamship design and mechanical engineering such as the steam hammer. This is the traditional picture of James Watt. After his death, his son, James Watt junior, projected his father’s image through commissioning sculptures, medals, paintings and biographies which celebrated his reputation as a ‘great man’ of industry and science. Though some academic appraisals have sought to move beyond the heroic image of Watt, there is still a tendency to focus on his steam technology. This collection of ten chapters breaks new ground by looking at Watt in new ways: by exploring his philosophical and intellectual background; the relevance of his Greenock environment; the influence of his wives, Peggy and Ann; Watt’s political fears and beliefs; his links with other scientists such as Thomas Beddoes, Davies Giddy, Humphry Davy, Joseph Black and James Keir; Watt and the business of natural philosophy; his workshop in the Science Museum and what it reveals; the myth or reality of his involvement with organ making and the potential of Birmingham’s Watt Papers for further exploration of his personality, family and domestic and business activities.

The distilling industry

1986 ◽  
Vol 87 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 285-294
Author(s):  
C. S. McBain
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
International Marketing ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Cottage Industry ◽  
The World ◽  
James Watt ◽  
Do It Yourself ◽  
Joseph Black ◽  
Scotch Whisky ◽  
Malt Whisky

SynopsisThe distilling industry in Scotland is a story of 1000 years of romantic history, technical ingenuity and triumph.Starting with the Celts in a ‘do-it-yourself’ form, through to the Age of Invention around 1786 and with the background of Joseph Black, James Watt and Robert Burns, all of whom were associated with distilling, the cottage industry became industrialised. Then came the development of grain whisky in 1830, as distinct from malt whisky, to be followed by blended whisky in the 1860s.The various methods of production are described and mention made of such developments as new barleys, new genetically-engineered yeasts, advanced methods of malted barley production and, eventually, high speed handling of the matured whisky into bottles for international marketing.Yet the process has not basically changed in hundreds of years, retaining its tradition and prestige. Scotch whisky is still the most popular spirit in the world, outside Russia and China, and has become a multi-billion pound investment with numerous scientific and technological achievements.

Partners in Science. Letters of James Watt and Joseph Black.

1971 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 299
Author(s):  
D. C. Coleman ◽  
James Watt ◽  
Joseph Black ◽  
Eric Robinson ◽  
Douglas McKie
Keyword(s):  
James Watt ◽  
Joseph Black

Catalysing Chemical Correspondence

2020 ◽  
pp. 137-162
Author(s):  
Kristen M. Schranz
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Future Study ◽  
Industrial Chemistry ◽  
Republic Of Letters ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Business Partners ◽  
James Watt ◽  
Letter Writer ◽  
Joseph Black

James Watt has already been established as a competent eighteenth-century chemist. His role as a chemical correspondent, however, has not been examined adequately. This chapter argues that through well-timed letters Watt circulated vital knowledge between two contemporary chemists, Joseph Black and James Keir. Two case studies in industrial chemistry—the production of alkali and the separation of plated metals—reveal Watt to be an active letter writer who initiated collaboration between business partners and communicated processes promptly. No mere passive conduit of information, Watt was a confidant who encouraged propriety in the manner of correspondence. He was a lynchpin between Black and Keir when the former was fearful of writing the latter, and he censured ill-timed disclosure of industrial secrets. This chapter concludes that future study of Watt’s epistolary exchanges with other chemists will establish more firmly his mediating role in chemical correspondence in the eighteenth-century Republic of Letters.

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