Smithson Tennant FRS (30 November 1761 – 22 February 1815) was an English chemist. He is best known for his discovery of the elements iridium and osmium, which he found in the residues from the solution of platinum ores in 1803. He also contributed to the proof of the identity of diamond and charcoal. The mineral tennantite is named after him.
Life
Tennant was born in Selby in Yorkshire. His father was Calvert Tennant (named after his grandmother Phyllis Calvert, a granddaughter of Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore). His own name derives from his grandmother Rebecca Smithson, widow of Joshua Hitchling. He attended Beverley Grammar School and there is a plaque over one of the entrances to the present school commemorating his discovery of the two elements, osmium and iridium. He began to study medicine at Edinburgh in 1781, but after a few months moved to Cambridge, where he devoted himself to botany and chemistry. He graduated M.D. at Cambridge in 1796, and about the same time purchased an estate near Cheddar, where he carried out agricultural experiments. He was appointed professor of chemistry at Cambridge in 1813, but lived to deliver only one course of lectures, being killed near Boulogne-sur-Mer by the fall of a bridge over which he was riding.
Legacy
In 2006, American Elements discovered new technology allowing for the casting of seamless iridium rings for use in spacecraft and satellites. In 2016, the company utilized the same technology to introduce a line of iridium wedding bands marketed under the trademark Smithson Tennant.
Notes
- Mary D. Archer; Christopher D. Haley (2005). The 1702 Chair of Chemistry at Cambridge: Transformation and Change. Cambridge University Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-521-82873-4.
- J.W.C. (1961). "Supply and Training of Food Technologists". Journal of the Royal Institute of Chemistry. 85: 429. doi:10.1039/JI9618500429.
- "Smithson Tennant (TNNT782S)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- "Smithson Tennant Announces Precious New Metal for Luxury Jewellery Retailers With a Capsule His & Hers Collection". PRWeb. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tennant, Smithson". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.- Mary D. Archer, Christopher D. Haley. The 1702 Chair of Chemistry at Cambridge. Cambridge, 2005, ISBN 978-0-521-82873-4.
- Harden, Arthur (1898). "Tennant, Smithson" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 56. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- Usselman, Melvyn C. "Tennant, Smithson (1761–1815)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27134. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
External links
- Works by or about Smithson Tennant at Wikisource
- Osmium and Iridium Events Surrounding Their Discoveries Archived 20 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- Passages from the life of a philosopher by Charles Babbage
- The Early Life of Smithson Tennant FRS (1761–1815)
- Iridium and Osmium Discovery – Periodic Table of Videos on YouTube
| Holders of the 1702 Chair of Chemistry (University of Cambridge) | |
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| 18th century |
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| 19th century |
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| 20th century |
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| 21st century |
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- 1761 births
- 1815 deaths
- People from Selby
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
- Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
- Discoverers of chemical elements
- Professors of chemistry (Cambridge, 1702)
- Recipients of the Copley Medal
- Accidental deaths in France
- 18th-century English chemists
- 19th-century English chemists
- Iridium
- Osmium
- People educated at Beverley Grammar School