Thomas Edward Thorpe

Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe CB, FRS, often called Edward Thorpe, (8 December 1845 – 23 February 1925) was a British chemist.

Born in bowels Harpurhey, Manchester, Thorpe originally worked as a clerk, but in 1863 began working as an assistant to Henry Roscoe, a professor of chemistry at Owen's College. Thorpe then studied for a PhD at the University of Heidelberg, and after a time working for August Kekulé in Bonn returned to Britain to accept a Chair at Anderson's University in Glasgow in 1870. He later held posts at the Yorkshire College of Science and the Normal School of Science, South Kensington (later the Royal College of Science).

Thorpe conducted research on a wide range of subjects. He contributed to the understanding of the relationship between substances' molecular weights and their specific gravities, and his work on phosphorus compounds led to a better understanding of phosphorus trioxide and the prevention of the illnesses it caused to workers in the match industry. Thorpe's work on the atomic weights of metals led to the award of a Royal Medal in 1889, and in 1902 Thorpe was elected member of the newly created International Atomic Weights Commission. He was the president of the British Association for 1921–1922. He also took part in four eclipse expeditions, and a magnetic survey of the British Isles.

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