Edward Frankland

by Colin Archibald Russell

This is the first scientific biography of Edward Frankland, probably the most eminent chemist of nineteenth century Britain. Amongst many other achievements, he discovered the chemical bond and founded the science of organometallic chemistry (both terms are his invention). A controversial figure throughout his life, he became a leading reformer of chemistry teaching and for nearly forty years the government's close adviser on the purity of urban water supplies, arguably preventing a pandemic of water-borne disease. From an apprenticeship in a druggist's shop in Lancaster, he proceeded to London to become assistant lecturer in chemistry to Lyon Playfair, and then to a Ph.D. in Marburg under Robert Bunsen. After occupying the first chair of chemistry at Manchester he spent the rest of his career at numerous institutions in London, culminating in what was to become Imperial College. He was knighted in 1897. Today a certain obscurity of reputation stems from the conspiracy of silence surro