George Downing Liveing FRS (21 December 1827 – 26 December 1924) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

and

spectroscopist 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 wav ...

Early life

He was born in

Nayland Nayland is a village and former civil parish in the River Stour, Suffolk, Stour Valley on the Suffolk side of the border between Suffolk and Essex in England. In 2011 the built-up area had a population of 938. In 1881 the civil parish had a po ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, the eldest son of Dr. Edward Liveing (1795–1843) and Catherine Mary Downing (1798-1872).

Academic career

Liveing was educated at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, completing a BA in the

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos examined at the University. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a ...

in 1850 and then postgraduate study for the

Natural Sciences Tripos The Natural Sciences Tripos (NST) is the framework within which most of the science at the University of Cambridge is taught. The tripos includes a wide range of Natural Sciences from physics, astronomy, and geoscience, to chemistry and biology, ...

, in which he obtained distinction in chemistry and mineralogy; he received a MA in 1853. Later in his life he was awarded an Honorary ScD in 1908. In 1853 St John's College founded for him a College Lectureship in Chemistry and built for his use a Chemical Laboratory behind New Court. He was a Fellow of the college until he married in 1860 but he retained his lectureship there until 1865 and in 1911 was elected as its President, a position that he held until his death in 1924. Following the death of James Cumming in 1861, Liveing was elected to the 1702 Chair of Chemistry at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, at an initial salary of £100 per annum and from 1860 to 1880 he held additional posts at the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

as Professor of Chemistry. He retired in 1908 at the age of 81. 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 ...

in 1879 and was awarded the Society's

Davy Medal The Davy Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "for an outstandingly important recent discovery in any branch of chemistry". Named after Humphry Davy, the medal is awarded with a monetary gift, initially of £1000 (currently £2000). H ...

in 1901 "for his contributions to spectroscopy". Liveing collaborated with

James Dewar Sir James Dewar (20 September 1842 – 27 March 1923) was a British chemist and physicist. He is best known for his invention of the vacuum flask, which he used in conjunction with research into the liquefaction of gases. He also studied ato ...

, who was

Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy The Jacksonian Professorship of Natural Philosophy is one of the senior chairs in natural philosophy, Natural and Experimental philosophy at University of Cambridge, Cambridge University, and was founded in 1782 by a bequest from the Reverend R ...

at Cambridge from 1875 to 1923. Together they published 78 papers on spectroscopic topics.

Personal life

In 1860 Liveing and Catherine Ingram married. He died on

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

1924, aged 97, as the result of being knocked down by a cyclist while walking to his laboratory. He was buried in the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge, next to his wife who had died in 1888.

References

1827 births 1924 deaths People from Nayland Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Spectroscopists English chemists Professors of chemistry (Cambridge, 1702) Fellows of the Royal Society {{UK-chemist-stub