William Ripley Nichols (April 30, 1847 – July 14, 1886) was a noted
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
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 ...
.
Early life
Nichols was born in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, graduated from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
in 1869, and served there as instructor and assistant professor until 1872, when he was elected professor of general chemistry, which chair he retained until his death in
Hamburg, Germany.
Later life
Professor Nichols was recognized as an authority on sanitation, and particularly on
water purification
Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from water. The goal is to produce water that is fit for specific purposes. Most water is purified and disinfected for hu ...
, published numerous papers on municipal
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
supplies, and was active in the pioneering work of the
Lawrence Experiment Station
The Lawrence Experiment Station, now known as the Senator William X. Wall Experiment Station, was the world's first trial station for drinking water purification and sewage treatment. It was established in 1887 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. A new, ...
. He also performed research at the request of the
Board of Health on train ventilation, particularly of smoking cars. He was a member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
, the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
, of which he was Vice President in 1885, and of the German Chemical Society.
Selected works
* ''Compendious Manual of Qualitative Analysis'', by Charles W. Eliot and Frank H. Storer, with Nichols' revisions, 1872.
* ''An Elementary Manual of Chemistry'', abridged from Eliot and Storer, New York, 1S72.
* ''Water Supply, mainly from a Chemical and Sanitary Standpoint'', 1883.
* ''Experiments in General Chemistry'', with Lewis M. Norton, Boston : private printing, 1884.
References
* "William Ripley Nichols", ''Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography'', edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske and Stanley L. Klos, New York : D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, William Ripley
19th-century American chemists
1847 births
1886 deaths
Scientists from Boston
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science