Henry Enfield Roscoe
| Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
7 January 1833 London |
| Died | 18 December 1915 (aged 82) |
| Notable awards |
Royal Medal (1873) Elliott Cresson Medal (1912) |
Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe FRS (7 January 1833 – 18 December 1915) was an English chemist. He is particularly noted for early work on vanadium and for studies.
Henry Enfield Roscoe was born in London, the son of Henry Roscoe (1800–1836) and Maria Roscoe (née Fletcher) (1798-1885), and grandson of William Roscoe (1753–1831).Stanley Jevons was a cousin.
Roscoe studied at the Liverpool Institute for Boys and University College London. He then went to Heidelberg to work under Robert Bunsen, who became a lifelong friend. He also befriended William Dittmar. In 1857, Roscoe returned to England with Dittmar and was appointed to the chair of chemistry at Owens College, Manchester, with Dittmar as his assistant. Roscoe remained at the college until 1886 by which time the Victoria University had been established. From 1885 to 1895 he was MP for Manchester South. He served on several royal commissions appointed to consider educational questions, in which he was keenly interested, and from 1896 to 1902 was vice-chancellor of the University of London. He was knighted in 1884.
Roscoe's scientific work includes a memorable series of researches carried out with Bunsen between 1855 and 1862, in which they laid the foundations of comparative photochemistry. In 1864 they carried out what is reputed to be the first flashlight photography, using magnesium as a light source. In 1867, Roscoe began an elaborate investigation of vanadium and its compounds, and devised a process for preparing it pure in the metallic state, at the same time showing that the substance which had previously passed for the metal was contaminated with oxygen. In so doing he corrected Berzelius's value for the atomic mass. Roscoe was awarded the 1868 Bakerian Lecture for this work. He also carried out researches on niobium, tungsten, uranium, perchloric acid, and the solubility of ammonia.
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