Charles H. Greville Williams (22 September 1829 – 15 June 1910), was an English

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

and analytical

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

who published many scientific papers from 1853. He was born in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. He died in

Horley Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England, south of the towns of Reigate and Redhill. The county border with West Sussex is to the south with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. It has its own ec ...

and is buried in

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

Professional life

He was elected as a Fellow of

The Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1862. Throughout the later 19th century, many chemists attempted to determine the makeup of natural

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

, with the goal of reproducing it. In 1860, Williams analyzed rubber by

destructive distillation Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger * Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism * Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kind ...

and obtained a large quantity of a light oil which he termed

isoprene Isoprene, or 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene, is a common volatile organic compound with the formula CH2=C(CH3)−CH=CH2. In its pure form it is a colorless volatile liquid. Isoprene is an unsaturated hydrocarbon. It is produced by many plants and animals ...

(polymer of the monomer isoprene—formula CH₂:C(CH₃)CH:CH₂). Many efforts were made during the next 70 years to synthesize rubber in the laboratory by using isoprene as the

monomer In chemistry, a monomer ( ; ''mono-'', "one" + '' -mer'', "part") is a molecule that can react together with other monomer molecules to form a larger polymer chain or three-dimensional network in a process called polymerization. Classification Mo ...

, but these did not bear fruit until Samuel Horne succeeded in 1955. In 1868, he established the

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

dyestuff works Williams, Thomas and Dower in New York City. The firm was liquidated in 1878 and in 1879 his two elder sons Rupert and Lewis established a dyestuffs factory at

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in Gr ...

with the help of former employees.

References

Barron, Harry. ''Modern Synthetic Rubbers'', 3rd ed. London: Chapman & Hall, Ltd., 1949. Herbert, Vernon and Attilio Bisio. ''Synthetic Rubber: A Project That Had to Succeed''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1985. Wolf, Howard and Ralph. ''Rubber: A Story of Glory and Greed''. New York: Covici, Friede, 1936.

External links

Www.anoca.org (1)
at www.anoca.org * http://www.pslc.ws/macrog/exp/rubber/synth/slow.htm
RUBBER,
at www.history.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Charles Greville 1829 births 1910 deaths People from Cheltenham English chemists Fellows of the Royal Society 19th-century English businesspeople