Herbert Newby McCoy (June 29, 1870,

Richmond, Indiana Richmond is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County and is part of the Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 36,812. Situa ...

– May 7, 1945,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

) was an American

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 taught at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

and was the vice-president of Lindsay Light & Chemical Company. He contributed numerous papers on

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mecha ...

, radioactivity and

rare earths The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or (in context) rare-earth oxides or sometimes the lanthanides (yttrium and scandium are usually included as rare earths), are a set of 17 nearly-indistinguishable lustrous silve ...

. McCoy and his wife-to-be, chemist Ethel Mary Terry, wrote the three-volume set ''Introduction to General Chemistry'' (1919), ''Laboratory outline of General Chemistry'' (1920) and ''Teachers Manual and Notes'' (1920).

Background

McCoy was born in

, on June 29, 1870. His father died when he was young, leaving him to earn his own education. He earned his BS (1892) and MS (1893) from

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

where he worked with

Winthrop E. Stone Winthrop Ellsworth Stone (June 12, 1862 – July 17, 1921) was a professor of chemistry and served as the president of Purdue University from 1900–1921. Biography Youth and career Born in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, to Frederick L. Stone and ...

. He worked as a chemist for Swift and Company in Chicago and as a teacher at Fargo College in North Dakota before returning to university. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1898), working with

Julius Stieglitz Julius Oscar Stieglitz (May 26, 1867 – January 10, 1937) was an American chemist of German Jewish origin. He was a teacher and organic chemist with a major interest in pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry. He is known for the Stieglitz rearran ...

. His Ph.D. dissertation was “On the Hydrochlorides of Carbo-phenylimido Derivatives” (1898).

Career

McCoy was an Assistant professor at the University of Utah (1899–1901), and taught at University of Chicago (1901–1917). He and his wife-to-be, Ethel Terry, wrote a three-volume introductory set of texts, an ''Introduction to General Chemistry'', consisting of an introductory text, a laboratory manual, and a teacher's guide. McCoy published numerous papers on physical chemistry, radioactivity and rare earths. He was the first person to demonstrate that the alpha-ray activity of a compound is proportional to its uranium content, quantitatively indicating that radioactivity is an atomic property. On this relationship is based a standard of measurement, the McCoy number. McCoy also proved that uranium is a parent of radium. McCoy did considerable work with

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

and

thorium Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is silvery and tarnishes black when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft and malleable and has a high me ...

, which at the time were believed to be

. McCoy's research contributed to the understanding of relationships among elements in the period table. In 1904, he independently demonstrated spontaneous transmutation of radium from uranium. As well, McCoy and William H. Ross clearly identified what came to be known as

isotopes Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numbers) ...

as chemically inseparable substances, a realization that enabled researchers to simplify models of the periodic table. Studying what would become known as the thorium group, McCoy and Ross verified

Otto Hahn Otto Hahn (; 8 March 1879 – 28 July 1968) was a German chemist who was a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and father of nuclear fission. Hahn and Lise Meitner ...

s prediction of "mesothorium", an isotope of radium. As early as 1911, McCoy introduced the term "synthetic metals". McCoy and William C. Moore attempted to use

electrolysis In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from n ...

to produce a metallic species from tetramethylammonium salts. Extending the work of

Thomas Johann Seebeck Thomas Johann Seebeck (; 9 April 1770 – 10 December 1831) was a Baltic German physicist, who, in 1822, observed a relationship between heat and magnetism. Later, in 1823, Ørsted called this phenomenon thermoelectric effect. Seebeck was bor ...

(1770-1831) to organic quaternary amines, instead of simple ammonium salts, they reported what was believed to be the first organic metal. Electrolysis produced of a crystalline solid with a metallic luster which displayed electrical conductivity similar to that of metals. It was believed to be a mercury amalgam with the general formula HgN(CH3)4 until 1986, when

Allen J. Bard Allen Joseph Bard (born December 18, 1933) is an American chemist. He is the Hackerman-Welch Regents Chair Professor and director of the Center for Electrochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Bard is considered a "father of modern ele ...

proposed a more compelling explanation for the results. McCoy was President of the

Carnotite Carnotite is a potassium uranium vanadate radioactive mineral with chemical formula K2( U O2)2( VO4)2·3 H2O. The water content can vary and small amounts of calcium, barium, magnesium, iron, and sodium are often present. Occurrence Carnotite i ...

Reduction Company in Colorado (1917-1920). The Carnotite Reduction Company processed ore containing

carnotite Carnotite is a potassium uranium vanadate radioactive mineral with chemical formula K2( U O2)2( VO4)2·3 H2O. The water content can vary and small amounts of calcium, barium, magnesium, iron, and sodium are often present. Occurrence Carnotite i ...

and manufactured radium. McCoy became a vice-president of Lindsay Light & Chemical Company in Chicago in 1919. Lindsay Light manufactured mantles for gas lights using radioactive

. McCoy moved to Los Angeles in 1927. There he continued to study rare earths as a guest researcher in the laboratory of B. A. Stagner, and building his own private laboratory at home over his garage. McCoy died on May 7, 1945 in

Recognition

McCoy received the

Willard Gibbs Award The Willard Gibbs Award, presented by thChicago Sectionof the American Chemical Society, was established in 1910 by William A. Converse (1862–1940), a former Chairman and Secretary of the Chicago Section of the society and named for Professor Jo ...

in 1937. At that time, he was described by

Marie Curie Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first ...

as the "foremost American authority on radioactivity". The Herbert Newby McCoy Award at Purdue University was established in 1964 by Mrs. Ethel M. Terry McCoy in honor of her husband.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maccoy, Herbert Newby 1870 births 1945 deaths People from Richmond, Indiana American chemists Purdue University alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Utah faculty Rare earth scientists