Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney (24 July 1843 – 3 December 1920) was an English astronomer, chemist, and photographer.

Life and career

Abney was born in Derby, England, the son of Rev. Edward Abney (1811–1892), vicar of St Alkmund's Church, Derby, and owner of the Firs Estate. William was educated at

Rossall School Rossall School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College ...

, the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

, and joined the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

in 1861, with whom he served in India for several years. Thereafter, and to further his knowledge in photography, he became a chemical assistant at the Chatham School of Military Engineering. Abney was a pioneer of several technical aspects of photography. His father had been an early photographic experimenter and friend of Richard Keene, an early Derby photographer. Keene became a close friend of William and his brother Charles Edward Abney (1850–1914). Both Abney sons subsequently became founder members of the Derby Photographic Society in June 1884. His endeavors in the

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

of photography produced useful photographic products and also developments in astronomy. He wrote many books on photography that were considered standard texts at the time, although he was doubtful that his improvements would have a great impact on the subject. Abney investigated the blackening of a negative to incidental light. In 1874, Abney developed a dry photographic emulsion, which replaced "wet" emulsions. He used this emulsion in an Egyptian expedition to photograph the transit of Venus across the sun. In 1880, he introduced hydroquinone. Abney also introduced new and useful types of photographic paper, including in 1882 a formula for gelatin silver chloride paper. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1876. Abney conducted early research into the field of

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...

, developing a red-sensitive emulsion which was used for the infrared spectra of organic molecules. He was also a pioneer in photographing the infrared

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

spectrum (1887), as well as researching

sunlight Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when t ...

in the medium of the atmosphere. In 1893 he inherited Meashan Hall from a rich aunt. He became assistant secretary to the Board of Education in 1899 and advisor to that body in 1903. In 1900 he was Director of the Science and Art Department. He sold his father's estate, most of which went for housing in the St Luke's Parish of Derby, but retained 11 acres until 1913 when they were purchased by the

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

to become the site of

Rykneld Secondary Modern School Rykneld Secondary Modern School was a secondary modern school for boys on St Albans Road Derby. It merged with Bemrose School in 1975, and admitted girls, becoming a comprehensive school. The single-storey brick building had a prominent clock t ...

and Rykneld recreation ground. Abney invented the " Abney level", a combined clinometer and spirit level, used by

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

s to measure slopes and angles. He was responsible for the "

Abney mounting Abney may refer to: * Abney (surname), includes a list of people with the name * Abney effect, a colour-related phenomenon Places * Abney, Derbyshire, a village in the county of Derbyshire, England * Abney, West Virginia, a locality in Raleigh Cou ...

" of a

concave grating spectrograph Concave or concavity may refer to: Science and technology * Concave lens * Concave mirror Mathematics * Concave function, the negative of a convex function * Concave polygon, a polygon which is not convex * Concave set * The concavity In ca ...

in which the photographic plate was fixed and the entry slit moved to accommodate different regions of the spectrum. He died on 3 December 1920 in

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

, England. He is buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church in Folkestone.

Family

He had married twice: firstly in 1864 to Agnes Matilda Smith (died 1888) with whom he had a son and two daughters, and secondly in 1890 to Mary Louisa Mead with whom he had a further daughter.

Publications

* ''Chemistry for Engineers'', 1870. *
Thebes and its five greater temples
', London, published by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1876. * W. de W. Abney,
Instruction in Photography
', London, published by S. Low, Marston & company, 1900. * ''A New Developer'', Photographic News, 1880, 24:345. * W. de W. Abney and

E. R. Festing Major-General Edward Robert Festing (10 August 1839 – 16 May 1912), English army officer, chemist, and first Director of the Science Museum in London.

Intensity of Radiation through Turbid Media
'' Proceedings of the Royal Society of London'', Volume 40, pages 378–380, 1886. Published by The Royal Society. * W. de W. Abney and E. R. Festing
Colour Photometry. Part III
'' Proceedings of the Royal Society of London'', Volume 50, pages 369–372, 1891–1892. Published by The Royal Society.

Organizations and honours

*1876 Fellow of the Royal Society *1878 Received first Progress Medal of the Photographic Society of Great Britain everRoyal Photographic Society. ''Progress medal''. Web-page listing people, who have received this medal since 1878

): "Instituted in 1878, this medal is awarded in recognition of any invention, research, publication or other contribution which has resulted in an important advance in the scientific or technological development of photography or imaging in the widest sense. This award also carries with it an Honorary Fellowship of The Society. ��1878 W de W Abney �� *1885 Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh *1892 to 1894, 1896 and 1903 to 1905 President of the Photographic Society of Great Britain aka

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

*1893 to 1895 President of the Royal Astronomical Society *1895 to 1897 President of the Physical Society of London * CB : Companion of the Order of the Bath * KCB: Knight Commander (civil division) of the Order of the Bath (KCB) - announced in the

1900 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1900 were appointments by Queen Victoria to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and British India. The list was published in ''The Times'' on 1 January 1900, and the various honours were gazetted in ''The London ...

honours list on ''1 January 1900'', gazetted on ''16 January 1900'', and invested by Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on ''1 March 1900''. * Doctor of Science (D.Sc. ''

Honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'') from the

University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

- ''June 1902''. *1909 to 1920 Vice-President of

Girls' Public Day School Trust The Girls' Day School Trust (GDST) is a group of 25 independent schools, including two academies, in England and Wales, catering for girls aged 3 to 18. It is the largest group of independent schools in the UK, and educates 20,000 girls each yea ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abney, William de Wiveleslie 19th-century English photographers 1843 births 1920 deaths Burials in Kent Color scientists Photographers from Derbyshire Military personnel from Derbyshire 19th-century British astronomers 19th-century British chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Rossall School People from Derby Presidents of the Girls' Day School Trust Presidents of the Physical Society Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society Royal Engineers officers Spectroscopists Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society