William de Wiveleslie Abney

Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney KCB, FRS
William de Wiveleslie Abney
Born	24 July 1843 Derby, England, UK
Died	3 December 1920 (aged 77) Folkestone, England, UK
Nationality	English
Fields	Astronomy Chemistry Photography
Known for	Photography
Notable awards	Rumford Medal (1882)

Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney, KCB, FRS (24 July 1843 – 3 December 1920) was an English astronomer, chemist, and photographer.

Abney was born in Derby, England, the son of Edward Abney (1811–1892) vicar of St Alkmund's Derby, and owner of the Firs Estate. He attended Rossall School, the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and joined the Royal Engineers in 1861, with whom he served in India for several years. Thereafter, and to further his knowledge in photography, he became a chemical assistant at the Chatham School of Military Engineering.

Abney was a pioneer of several technical aspects of photography. His father had been an early photographic experimenter and friend of Richard Keene, an early Derby photographer. Keene became a close friend of William and his brother Charles Edward Abney (1850–1914). Both Abney sons subsequently became founder members of the Derby Photographic Society in June 1884. His endeavors in the chemistry of photography produced useful photographic products and also developments in astronomy. He wrote many books on photography that were considered standard texts at the time, although he was doubtful that his improvements would have a great impact on the subject.

Abney investigated the blackening of a negative to incidental light. In 1874, Abney developed a dry photographic emulsion, which replaced "wet" emulsions. He used this emulsion in an Egyptian expedition to photograph the transit of Venus across the sun. In 1880, he introduced hydroquinone. Abney also introduced new and useful types of photographic paper, including in 1882 a formula for gelatin silver chloride paper. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1876.