Charles Blagden
Encyclopedia
Sir Charles Brian Blagden FRS (17 April 1748 – 1820) was a British physician and scientist. He served as a medical officer in the Army (1776 – 1780) and later held the position of Secretary of the Royal Society
(1784 – 1797). Blagden won the Copley Medal
in 1788 and was knighted in 1792.
, visited Antoine Lavoisier
in Paris and described how Cavendish had created water by burning "inflammable air". Lavoisier's dissatisfaction with the Cavendish's "dephlogistinization" theory led him to the concept of a chemical reaction
, which he reported to the Royal Academy of Sciences on 24 June 1783, effectively founding modern chemistry.
Blagden experimented on human ability to withstand high temperatures. In his report to the Royal Society in 1775, he was first to recognize the role of perspiration in thermoregulation
.
Blagden's experiments on how dissolved substances like salt affected the freezing point of water led to the discovery that the freezing point
of a solution
decreases in direct proportion to the concentration
of the solution, now called Blagden's Law.
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(1784 – 1797). Blagden won the Copley Medal
Copley Medal
The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society of London for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science, and alternates between the physical sciences and the biological sciences"...
in 1788 and was knighted in 1792.
Science
In June 1783, Blagden, then assistant to Henry CavendishHenry Cavendish
Henry Cavendish FRS was a British scientist noted for his discovery of hydrogen or what he called "inflammable air". He described the density of inflammable air, which formed water on combustion, in a 1766 paper "On Factitious Airs". Antoine Lavoisier later reproduced Cavendish's experiment and...
, visited Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier , the "father of modern chemistry", was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry and biology...
in Paris and described how Cavendish had created water by burning "inflammable air". Lavoisier's dissatisfaction with the Cavendish's "dephlogistinization" theory led him to the concept of a chemical reaction
Chemical reaction
A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, typically following the input of some type of energy, such as heat, light or electricity...
, which he reported to the Royal Academy of Sciences on 24 June 1783, effectively founding modern chemistry.
Blagden experimented on human ability to withstand high temperatures. In his report to the Royal Society in 1775, he was first to recognize the role of perspiration in thermoregulation
Thermoregulation
Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different...
.
Blagden's experiments on how dissolved substances like salt affected the freezing point of water led to the discovery that the freezing point
Freezing Point
Freezing Point is a news journal in the People's Republic of China which has been the subject of controversy over its criticism of Communist Party officials and the sympathetic ear it lent to a Chinese historian who had criticized official history textbooks...
of a solution
Solution
In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of only one phase. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. The solvent does the dissolving.- Types of solutions :...
decreases in direct proportion to the concentration
Concentration
In chemistry, concentration is defined as the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Four types can be distinguished: mass concentration, molar concentration, number concentration, and volume concentration...
of the solution, now called Blagden's Law.