Henry Bradford Nason
|
---|
|
Henry Bradford Nason
(born in
Foxborough, Massachusetts
, 22 June 1831; died in
Troy, New York
, 18 January 1895) was a
United States
chemist
.
Biography
[
edit
]
His father, Elias Nason (born at
Walpole, Massachusetts
, in 1768; died at
Easthampton, Massachusetts
, in 1853), was a manufacturer of straw and cotton goods, a merchant, and served his town, Foxborough, as
justice of the peace
and as representative in the
Massachusetts General Court
. The family moved to North Bridgewater (now
Brockton
) when Henry Bradford was 10.
Having attended school for a short time at
Newburyport, Massachusetts
, Henry Bradford entered the Adelphian Academy at North Bridgewater in 1843, where his attention was drawn to the study of
natural science
, and he began to make collections of the local minerals. He entered
Williston Seminary
in December 1847, where his taste for natural science grew; he also became interested in
chemistry
, and enriched his collections of plants and minerals.
Nason pursued his studies further at
Amherst College
. There, he visited the interesting geological points in the
Connecticut River Valley
, and, under the guidance of Professor Shepard, he spent most of his vacations in the mineralogically rich regions of western Massachusetts and
Connecticut
, making many of his expeditions on foot or on horseback. He studied
analytical chemistry
under Professor Clark, and assisted him in the preparations for his lectures. He graduated from Amherst in 1855.
Nason then studied chemistry at the
University of Gottingen
,
Germany
, where in 1857 he received the degree of
Ph.D.
for his original investigations on the formation of
ethers
. At
Gottingen
he also became a member of the
Burschenschaft Hannovera
(fraternity).
[1]
He afterward spent some time with
Robert Bunsen
at the
University of Heidelberg
, and with
Karl Friedrich Plattner
at the
Technische Universitat Bergakademie Freiberg
. He enriched his collections with many specimens of minerals and of art.
On his return to the United States in 1858, Nason was appointed professor of natural history at the
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
(RPI) in Troy, New York, and in the same year he became professor of chemistry and natural sciences in
Beloit College
, holding both of these appointments until 1866. He then became professor of chemistry and natural science at RPI.
In 1860, he made a second visit to Europe, and made a tour of geological study in the southern United States. In the next year, he traveled through
Ireland
,
Scotland
, the
Netherlands
,
Belgium
, and a part of
Germany
, and spent a semester in Gottingen in the study of
geology
and
mineralogy
, under
Waltershausen
. He then visited and studied the volcanic regions of
Italy
, ascended
Mount Vesuvius
, explored the regions of the
solfatara
, climbed
Mount Etna
, examined the
glaciers
of
Switzerland
and the configuration of the Alpine regions; and, in
France
, inspected the natural curiosities of the
Puy-de-Dome
.
In 1872 and 1875 he made three visits to
California
, in the course of which he traveled in
Nevada
and
Idaho
, and the mining regions of
Colorado
and
Utah
, and included in his third trip the
Yosemite Valley
. He spent the summer of 1877 in
Finland
and
Russia
. He was appointed juror by U.S. President
Rutherford B. Hayes
for the
Paris Exposition of 1878
, and was assigned the department of mineralogy and metallurgy.
From 1880 to 1890,
[2]
he was an advising chemist for the
Standard Oil Company
. There he worked on the refining of petroleum, methods of testing, analysis of the composition of crude oils, and the abatement of nuisances arising from smoke, odors, and other products of
refineries
. That year Nason received the degree of
M.D.
from
Union College
, and the degree of
LL.D.
from Beloit College. In 1881 the
New York State
Board of Health
selected him to be inspector of petroleum oils, and appointed him as commissioner to
London
to consider methods of dealing with petroleum nuisances.
Another visit to northern Europe, in the summer of 1884, embraced the
fjords
and glaciers of
Norway
, and was extended to the North Cape. In 1887, Nason was appointed director of
Pratt Institute
,
Brooklyn, New York
.
Nason was a member of the chemical societies of Berlin and New York, and in 1878 he was made a fellow of the London Chemical Society. He was a fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
and the Society of Chemical Industry; a member of the
American Chemical Society
, the
New York Academy of Sciences
, the
American Institute of Mining Engineers
, and the Troy Scientific Association; an honorary member of the Albany Institute; and a member of the
Norwegian Trekking Association
.
From 1872 to 1886, he was secretary of the General Alumni Association of RPI. As such, his books of 1875 and 1887 were prepared.
[2]
Nason hall, an undergraduate residence hall at RPI, is named in his honor. After his death in 1895, he was buried in
Oakwood Cemetery
were a plaque on his gravestone reads: "Co-founder of GSA and mentor of eminent GSA president Thomas C. Chamberlin, and inspirer of Roebling in mineralogy."
Works
[
edit
]
- Table of Reactions for Qualitative Analysis
(Troy, 1865)
- Friedrich Wohler
,
Handbook of Mineral Analysis
, translation (Philadelphia, 1868)
- Table for Qualitative Analysis in Colors
(Troy, 1870)
- Elderhorst,
Manual of Blowpipe Analysis, and Determinative Mineralogy
, editor with
Charles F. Chandler
[2]
(Philadelphia, 1873; 4th ed., 1875; 5th ed., 1876; 1880)
- Proceedings of the Semi-Centennial Celebration of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y., with a Catalogue of Officers and Students, 1824-74
(1875)
- Biographical Record of Officers and Graduates of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
(1887)
Family
[
edit
]
His cousin
Elias Nason
was a Massachusetts clergyman and author.
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
1876?1900
| |
---|
1901?1925
| |
---|
1926?1950
| |
---|
1951?1975
| |
---|
1976?2000
| |
---|
2001?
present
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|