Andrew Ure
Encyclopedia
Andrew Ure was a Scottish
doctor, scholar and chemist
.
, the son of Alexander Ure, a cheesemonger and his wife, Anne. He received an M.D. from Glasgow University in 1801, and served briefly as an army surgeon before settling in Glasgow, where he became a member of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons
in 1803. He replaced Dr. George Birkbeck
as Professor of Natural Philosophy
(specializing in chemistry and physics) at the recently formed Andersonian Institution
in 1804. His evening lectures on chemistry and mechanics enjoyed considerable success and inspired the foundation of a number of mechanical institutions in Britain and the École des Arts et Métiers in Paris. He married Catherine Monteath in 1807.
Ure founded the Garnet Hill observatory in 1808. He was put in charge and resided in it for several years, leaving it second only to Greenwich in reputation at that time. Whilst in residence he was visited by Sir William Herschel
, the Astronomer Royal
, who gave some lectures to the local Astronomical Society and helped him to install a fourteen-foot reflecting telescope of his own [Ure's] design and manufacture. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
in 1811. Herschel's second son, many years later (in 1866), came to occupy Dr. Ure's Chair in Natural Philosophy.
In 1814, while giving guest lectures in Belfast, he did consulting work for the Irish linen board, devising an 'alkalimeter' which gave volumetric estimates of the alkali contents of industrial substances. This in turn led him to the concept of normality in volumetric analysis. He achieved considerable reputation for his practical chemistry.
In 1818 Ure revealed experiments he had been carrying out on a murderer/thief named Matthew Clydesdale, after the man's execution by hanging. He claimed that, by stimulating the phrenic nerve, life could be restored in cases of suffocation, drowning or hanging.
In 1819 he divorced his wife, who had become the mistress of an Anderson's Institution colleague. In 1821 he published his first major book, Dictionary of Chemistry, a replacement for William Nicholson
's outdated Dictionary. In 1822 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
By 1830, Ure's outside interests led him to resign first from his chair and then from the Institution. He moved to London and set himself up as a consulting chemist (probably the first such in Britain). His work included acting as an expert witness
, government commissions and industrial tours of England, Belgium and France. His visits to English textile mills led to his publication of The Philosophy of Manufactures (1835) and Account of the Cotton Industry (1836), dealing with the textile industry. In 1840 he helped found the Pharmaceutical Society
.
The great Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines, Ure's chief and most encyclopedic work, was published in 1837 for which he received 1,000 guineas (worth about $30,000 in 2010). Further enlarged editions were rapidly called for in 1840, 1843 and 1853. After his death four further editions appeared, the last in 1878. This work was translated into almost every European language, including Russian and Spanish. The Times review said: "This is a book of vast research, and the variety of subjects embraced in it may be estimated by the fact that on the French translation it was thought advisable to employ nineteen collaborators, all regarded as experts in their special subjects."
Ure died in 1857 in London. His surviving correspondence illustrate good relations with many prominent scientists for most of his life and that he had a wide circle of friends, many of them leading scientists in the UK and abroad, who lamented his death. Michael Faraday
's posthumous description of him was:
Relation between scripture and geology
Ure considered both Werner's and Hutton’s theories of earth history to be inconsistent with every principle of mechanical and chemical science. He felt that one needed to follow the example of Bacon and Newton to build a sound geological theory. When both the geological phenomena and the Scriptures were rightly interpreted he felt that they would agree, since both were the work of God. Like most of his old-earth contemporaries, Ure also believed that the ultimate fruit of scientific and philosophical study was to draw man's attention to the Creator. In seeking to follow Bacon, he insisted that geology, like any science, must be based on experimentation, careful observation and sound inductive logic. But the Bible was not given to man as a scientific textbook. This he held in common with fellow scriptural geologist Granville Penn.
Ure said that the Bible does not teach us "the actual motion or repose of" the heavenly bodies; that is something for astronomers to investigate. Likewise, it does not describe the ratios of land and sea before and after the Flood; that should be considered on the basis of sound principles of meteorology, physics, geology, etc. But the Bible was relevant to the question of the history of the earth. He made a sharp distinction between the present operation of the universe (and all it contains) and its past origin. In his mind, the proper domain of science is in the repeatable and experimental study of the way in which things in creation function in the observable present. But when we turn to the unobservable past we are entering into a great deal of speculation.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
doctor, scholar and chemist
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
.
Biography
Andrew Ure was born in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, the son of Alexander Ure, a cheesemonger and his wife, Anne. He received an M.D. from Glasgow University in 1801, and served briefly as an army surgeon before settling in Glasgow, where he became a member of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, is an institute of physicians and surgeons in Glasgow, Scotland.Founded by Peter Lowe after receiving a royal charter by James VI in 1599, as the Glasgow Faculty, this institution originally existed as a regulatory authority to ensure that...
in 1803. He replaced Dr. George Birkbeck
George Birkbeck
George Birkbeck was a British doctor, academic, philanthropist, pioneer in adult education and founder of Birkbeck College.-Biography:...
as Professor of Natural Philosophy
Natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature , is a term applied to the study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science...
(specializing in chemistry and physics) at the recently formed Andersonian Institution
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...
in 1804. His evening lectures on chemistry and mechanics enjoyed considerable success and inspired the foundation of a number of mechanical institutions in Britain and the École des Arts et Métiers in Paris. He married Catherine Monteath in 1807.
Ure founded the Garnet Hill observatory in 1808. He was put in charge and resided in it for several years, leaving it second only to Greenwich in reputation at that time. Whilst in residence he was visited by Sir William Herschel
William Herschel
Sir Frederick William Herschel, KH, FRS, German: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel was a German-born British astronomer, technical expert, and composer. Born in Hanover, Wilhelm first followed his father into the Military Band of Hanover, but emigrated to Britain at age 19...
, the Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the second is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834....
, who gave some lectures to the local Astronomical Society and helped him to install a fourteen-foot reflecting telescope of his own [Ure's] design and manufacture. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
Royal Astronomical Society
The Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV...
in 1811. Herschel's second son, many years later (in 1866), came to occupy Dr. Ure's Chair in Natural Philosophy.
In 1814, while giving guest lectures in Belfast, he did consulting work for the Irish linen board, devising an 'alkalimeter' which gave volumetric estimates of the alkali contents of industrial substances. This in turn led him to the concept of normality in volumetric analysis. He achieved considerable reputation for his practical chemistry.
In 1818 Ure revealed experiments he had been carrying out on a murderer/thief named Matthew Clydesdale, after the man's execution by hanging. He claimed that, by stimulating the phrenic nerve, life could be restored in cases of suffocation, drowning or hanging.
In 1819 he divorced his wife, who had become the mistress of an Anderson's Institution colleague. In 1821 he published his first major book, Dictionary of Chemistry, a replacement for William Nicholson
William Nicholson (chemist)
William Nicholson was a renowned English chemist and writer on "natural philosophy" and chemistry, as well as a translator, journalist, publisher, scientist, and inventor.-Early life:...
's outdated Dictionary. In 1822 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
By 1830, Ure's outside interests led him to resign first from his chair and then from the Institution. He moved to London and set himself up as a consulting chemist (probably the first such in Britain). His work included acting as an expert witness
Expert witness
An expert witness, professional witness or judicial expert is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have expertise and specialised knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially and legally...
, government commissions and industrial tours of England, Belgium and France. His visits to English textile mills led to his publication of The Philosophy of Manufactures (1835) and Account of the Cotton Industry (1836), dealing with the textile industry. In 1840 he helped found the Pharmaceutical Society
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain was formerly the statutory regulatory and professional body for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in England, Scotland and Wales...
.
The great Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines, Ure's chief and most encyclopedic work, was published in 1837 for which he received 1,000 guineas (worth about $30,000 in 2010). Further enlarged editions were rapidly called for in 1840, 1843 and 1853. After his death four further editions appeared, the last in 1878. This work was translated into almost every European language, including Russian and Spanish. The Times review said: "This is a book of vast research, and the variety of subjects embraced in it may be estimated by the fact that on the French translation it was thought advisable to employ nineteen collaborators, all regarded as experts in their special subjects."
Ure died in 1857 in London. His surviving correspondence illustrate good relations with many prominent scientists for most of his life and that he had a wide circle of friends, many of them leading scientists in the UK and abroad, who lamented his death. Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
's posthumous description of him was:
Geology
Ure was a scriptural geologist and in 1829 published A New System of Geology, for which "he received 500 guineas (worth about $15,000 in 2010) and was elected an original member of the Geological Society." Ure promoted the study of geology, that "magnificent field of knowledge." However some criticized the book severely, and "The New System of Geology was not a success, even among readers who might have been expected to be sympathetic, and it was soon forgotten." because "the New System of Geology ... came just too late, at a time when the positions it so noisily defended were being quietly abandoned, leaving the author in slightly ridiculous isolation." Lyell's charge that Ure wanted all the old-earth geologists "to be burnt at Smithfield" is unfounded.Relation between scripture and geology
Ure considered both Werner's and Hutton’s theories of earth history to be inconsistent with every principle of mechanical and chemical science. He felt that one needed to follow the example of Bacon and Newton to build a sound geological theory. When both the geological phenomena and the Scriptures were rightly interpreted he felt that they would agree, since both were the work of God. Like most of his old-earth contemporaries, Ure also believed that the ultimate fruit of scientific and philosophical study was to draw man's attention to the Creator. In seeking to follow Bacon, he insisted that geology, like any science, must be based on experimentation, careful observation and sound inductive logic. But the Bible was not given to man as a scientific textbook. This he held in common with fellow scriptural geologist Granville Penn.
Ure said that the Bible does not teach us "the actual motion or repose of" the heavenly bodies; that is something for astronomers to investigate. Likewise, it does not describe the ratios of land and sea before and after the Flood; that should be considered on the basis of sound principles of meteorology, physics, geology, etc. But the Bible was relevant to the question of the history of the earth. He made a sharp distinction between the present operation of the universe (and all it contains) and its past origin. In his mind, the proper domain of science is in the repeatable and experimental study of the way in which things in creation function in the observable present. But when we turn to the unobservable past we are entering into a great deal of speculation.
Works
- (1821)
- (1829)
- (1835)
- (1836)
- (1837)