William Nicholson (1753 – 21 May 1815) was a renowned English chemist and writer on "natural philosophy" and chemistry, as well as a translator, journalist, publisher, scientist, and inventor.
The year of Nicholson's birth in London has been recorded but, as was common in the 18th century, the day and month remained undocumented. He was the son a solicitor from London, who practiced in the Inner Temple. After leaving school, he made two voyages as a midshipman in the service of the British East India Company, a company that virtually ran India. Subsequently, he briefly embarked upon a law practice but, having become acquainted with Josiah Wedgwood in 1775, he moved to Amsterdam, where he made a living for a few years as agent for the sale of pottery.
On his return to England he was persuaded by Thomas Holcroft to apply his writing talents to the composition of light literature for periodicals, while also assisting Holcroft with some of his plays and novels. Meanwhile he devoted himself to the preparation of An Introduction to Natural Philosophy, which was published in 1781 and was at once successful. A translation of Voltaire's Elements of the Newtonian Philosophy soon followed, and he then entirely devoted himself to scientific pursuits and philosophical journalism. In 1784 he was appointed secretary to the General Chamber of Manufacturers of Great Britain, and he was also connected with the Society for the Encouragement of Naval Architecture, established in 1791. He gave much attention to the construction of various machines for comb-cutting, file-making, cylinder printing another uses—he also invented an areometer.
In 1797 he began to publish and contribute to the Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and the Arts, generally known as Nicholson's Journal, the earliest work of its kind in Great Britain— the publication continued until 1814. In 1799 he established a school in London's Soho Square, where he taught natural philosophy and chemistry.
In 1800 he and Anthony Carlisle discovered electrolysis, the decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen by voltaic current.[1]
Besides considerable contributions to the Philosophical Transactions, Nicholson wrote translations of Fourcroy's Chemistry (1787) and Chaptal's Chemistry (1788), First Principles of Chemistry (1788) and a Chemical Dictionary (1795); he also edited the British Encyclopaedia, or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (6 vols., London, 1809). He also wrote an autobiography which was extant in manuscript at the end of the 19th century, but has since been presumed lost.
During the later years of his life, Nicholson's attention was chiefly directed to waterworks engineering at Portsmouth, at Gosport and in Southwark. William Nicholson died in Bloomsbury at the age of 61 or 62 on 21 May 1815.
See also
References
Largely based on the public domain Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition and Mike Chrimes, article "Nicholson, William", in Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers, vol. 1 1500-1830, 2002 ISBN 0-7277-2939-X
