James Riddick Partington (30 June 1886 – 9 October 1965) was a British

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

and historian of chemistry who published multiple books and articles in scientific magazines. His most famous works were ''An Advanced Treatise on Physical Chemistry'' (five volumes) and ''A History of Chemistry'' (four volumes), for which he received the Dexter Award and the

George Sarton Medal The George Sarton Medal is the most prestigious award given by the History of Science Society. It has been awarded annually since 1955. It is awarded to a historian of science from the international community who became distinguished for "a lifet ...

. Partington was a fellow and council member of the Chemical Society of London as well as the first president of the Society for History of Alchemy and Early Chemistry when it was founded in 1937. The society founded the Partington Prize in his memory in 1975. He was president of the

British Society for the History of Science The British Society for the History of Science (BSHS) was founded in 1947 by Francis Butler, Joan Eyles and Victor Eyles. Overview It is Britain's largest learned society devoted to the history of science, technology, and medicine. The society' ...

from 1949 to 1951.

Biography

Early life and education

Partington was born on 30 June 1886 in the small village of Middle Hulton, south of

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, Lancashire. His mother, from whom he took his middle name, was a Scottish tailoress and his father was a book keeper. His family moved to Southport when he was young, allowing him to attend the Southport Science and Art School. In 1901 when he was 15, his family moved back to Bolton and Partington worked at several jobs before getting accepted into the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

in 1906. In Manchester, he attained a bachelor's degree in science followed by a master's degree in chemistry. While attending the University he was made a University Scholar and earned his teaching certificate. He was awarded an 1851 Research Fellowship from the

Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 is an institution founded in 1850 to administer the Great Exhibition, Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, which was held in The Crystal Palace, London. The founding Presid ...

, and worked for several years with Walther Nernst in Berlin, where they studied the specific heat of gases. In 1913, Partington returned to Manchester to lecture on chemistry. It was there that Partington met a student named Marian Jones whom he taught and supervised for a master's degree in supersaturated solutions. Partington married her after the war on 6 September 1919. She went on to become a chemistry teacher before giving birth to two daughters and one son, who also became a chemist. Partington joined the army in 1914 as

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

began in Eastern Europe. He was first assigned to work with Eric Rideal on the purification of water for troops on the Somme. Later the two chemists turned to the question of the oxidation of nitrogen to form nitric acid and investigated the Haber-Bosch process that the Germans were pursuing. Thus, he was transferred to a group led by Frederick G. Donnan, which worked on the production of

nitric acid Nitric acid is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but samples tend to acquire a yellow cast over time due to decomposition into nitrogen oxide, oxides of nitrogen. Most com ...

for munitions. Captain Partington was appointed a

Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the Military Division for this latter work. Outside his war work for the government, Partington managed to continue with

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...

, joining the Faraday Society in 1915. In 1919 he presented a major review of the literature on the dilution law to the Faraday Society, to whose Council he was elected that same year.

Career and works

After the war came to an end in 1919, he returned to the University of Manchester to get his doctorate and was appointed professor of chemistry at Queen Mary College, London which he remained until 1951. While teaching, studied the theories of strong

electrolyte An electrolyte is a substance that conducts electricity through the movement of ions, but not through the movement of electrons. This includes most soluble Salt (chemistry), salts, acids, and Base (chemistry), bases, dissolved in a polar solven ...

s as well the temperature dependence of

specific heat In thermodynamics, the specific heat capacity (symbol ) of a substance is the amount of heat that must be added to one unit of mass of the substance in order to cause an increase of one unit in temperature. It is also referred to as massic heat ...

s. He also began writing several articles and books on the subject that were later published. With the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939, Partington's department was evacuated to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. Partington spent his war days studying and reading at the university's copyright library. Although accommodations had been made for families of staff, his wife stayed at their home in

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

. She committed suicide in March 1940 and Partington was a widower for the remainder of his life. After the war, Partington returned to London where he devoted his time to complete his most famous works, the five-volume ''An Advanced Treatise on Physical Chemistry'' and the four volume ''A History of Chemistry''. Professor Partington collected a considerable library of works on the history of alchemy and chemistry which is preserved in the

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a Victorian era, late-Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to t ...

Later life and death

He retired in 1951 to a house in Mill Road, Cambridge, and was looked after by an aged housekeeper. The house was filled with books from cellar to roof. According to Joseph Needham, he became something of a recluse, rarely stirring from his writing desk. In 1961 Partington received the Dexter Award for Outstanding Achievement in the History of Chemistry from the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

for his numerous articles and books on the history of chemistry, particularly his multi-volume ''A History of Chemistry''. In 1965 he was awarded the

, the most prestigious award of the

History of Science Society The History of Science Society (HSS), founded in 1924, is the primary professional society for the academic study of the history of science. The society has over 3,000 members worldwide. It publishes the quarterly journal ''Isis'' and the yearly ...

. At the end of 1964, following his housekeeper's retirement, unable to look after himself, he joined relatives in the salt-mining town of

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

in Cheshire, where he died on 9 October 1965. His extensive library and collections were donated to the Manchester University Library.

Legacy

Partington was a key figure in the fields of history of science and chemistry in the beginning half of the 20th century. He regularly published multiple papers a year on a variety of topics including inorganic and physical chemistry. He worked meticulously to get everything as close to perfect as possible in his experiments as well as his writings. Many describe him as a highly gifted scholar who had an "encyclopedic mind", that gave excellent training to his students from around the world. His works remain useful as they laid the groundwork for physical chemistry moving forward after both World Wars.

Selected writings

* 1911
''Higher Mathematics for Chemical Students''
* 1913
''A Text-book of Thermodynamics''
*1921
''A Text-book of Inorganic Chemistry for University Students''
* 1937: ''A Short History of Chemistry'', London: Macmillan. The 1957 3rd edition was reissued by Dover Publications, New York * 1949: ''An Advanced Treatise on Physical Chemistry'', London: Longmans, 1949 (Volume 1), 1951 (Volume 2), 1952 (Volume 3), 1953 (Volume 4) and 1954 (Volume 5) * 1960: ''A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder''. Cambridge: Heffer. Republished: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. * 1961: ''A History of Chemistry'', Macmillan, 1970 (Volume 1, part I) he second part of this volume was never published. 1961 (Volume 2), 1962 (Volume 3), 1964 (Volume 4)