Edward Charles Howard FRS (28 May 1774 – 28 September 1816) the youngest brother of

Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk Bernard Edward Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk, (21 November 1765 – 16 March 1842) was a British peer. Early life Howard was the son of Henry Howard (1713–1787) by his wife Juliana Molyneux, daughter of Sir William Molyneux, 6th Baronet (die ...

, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 has been described as "the first

chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...

of any eminence."

Career

In January 1799 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

and in 1800 awarded their Copley medal for his work on mercury. He discovered

mercury fulminate Mercury(II) fulminate, or Hg(CNO)2, is a primary explosive. It is highly sensitive to friction, heat and shock and is mainly used as a trigger for other explosives in percussion caps and detonators. Mercury(II) cyanate, though its chemical formula ...

, a powerful

primary explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

. In 1813 he invented a method of refining sugar which involved boiling the cane juice not in an open kettle, but in a closed vessel heated by

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

and held under partial vacuum. At reduced pressure, water boils at a lower temperature, and so Howard's development both saved fuel and reduced the amount of sugar lost through

caramelisation Caramelization is a process of browning of sugar used extensively in cooking for the resulting sweet nutty flavor and brown color. The brown colors are produced by three groups of polymers: caramelans (C24H36O18), caramelens (C36H50O25), and ...

. The invention, known as Howard's vacuum pan, is still in use. Howard also was interested in the composition of

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

s especially those of " natural iron". He found that many of these contained an alloy of

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...

and iron that was not found on Earth, and thus might have fallen from the sky. One type of meteorite is now known as

Howardite Howardites are achondritic stony meteorites that originate from the surface of the asteroid 4 Vesta, and as such are part of the HED meteorite clan. There are about 200 distinct members known. Characteristics They are a regolith breccia consisti ...

Personal life

Howard married Elizabeth Maycock, a daughter of William Maycock, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth (died 1835) and Julia Barbara (died 1856), and one son, Edward Gyles Howard (1805–1840). Their son was the father of Edward Henry, Cardinal Howard (1829–1892). Their daughter Julia married

Henry Stafford-Jerningham, 9th Baron Stafford Henry Valentine Stafford-Jerningham, 9th Baron Stafford DL (2 January 1802 – 30 November 1884), known as Henry Jerningham until 1824 and styled The Honourable Henry Stafford-Jerningham between 1824 and 1851, was a British peer and politician ...

, but did not have children.Stafford, Baron (E 1640)
at cracroftspeerage.co.uk, accessed 14 April 2020

Career

Personal life

See also

References

Further reading