Ferdinand Hurter
Encyclopedia
Ferdinand Hurter was a Swiss
industrial chemist
who settled in England. He also carried out research into photography
.
, Switzerland
, the only son of Tobias Hurter, a bookbinder
, and his wife Anna Oechslein. His father died when Ferdinand was aged only two and his mother worked as a nurse to support him and his sister Elizabeth. She later married her late husband's half-brother, David, and Ferdinand developed a strong relationship with his stepfather. After education at the local Gymnasium
he became an apprentice
to a dyer in Winterthur
before moving to Zürich
to work in a silk firm. He then attended Zürich Polytechnic
before going to Heidelberg University
. Here he studied chemistry under Robert Bunsen
and physics under Gustav Kirchhoff
. He graduated Ph.D.
with the highest honours in 1866.
but declined this and, with a few letters of introduction, arrived in Manchester
in 1867. He joined Henry Deacon
and Holbrook Gaskell
at their alkali
manufacturing business, Gaskell, Deacon & Co., in Widnes
, Lancashire
. Here he became chief chemist and worked with Deacon to develop a process to convert hydrochloric acid
, a waste by-product of the Leblanc process
of making alkali, to chlorine
which was then used to manufacture bleaching powder
. He was a pioneer in applying the principles of physical chemistry
and thermodynamics
to industrial processes and by 1880 was considered to be a world authority on the manufacture of alkali. He was a strong defender of the Leblanc process against the other methods of manufacturing alkali being developed at the time although he did research the ammonia-soda process
but without any success. He argued against the production of alkali by the electrolysis
of brine because of the enormous amount of electrical power this would require although he was later to have second thoughts.
When the Leblanc factories merged in 1890 to form the United Alkali Company
, Hurter was placed in charge of developing a research laboratory in Widnes. This was later named after him. He played a part in the foundation of the Society of Chemical Industry
in 1881, becoming its chairman in 1888–1890. He published 24 papers in English journals alone. He gave many lectures to try to popularise scientific subjects. As chief chemist to the United Alkali Company, despite his failing health, he travelled to a number of countries in Europe and also made one visit to the USA. The Society of Chemical Industry endowed the Hurter Memorial Lecture in his name.
, collaborating in research with Vero Charles Driffield
, an engineer at the Gaskell-Deacon works. Together they published many papers (in addition to Hurter's papers in chemistry). They were jointly awarded the Progress Medal of the Royal Photographic Society
in 1898. The results of their research revolutionised photography. Hurter campagned for free education
and for the introduction of the metric system
into Britain. He died at his home in Cressington Park
, Liverpool
and was buried in the churchyard of Farnworth church. His estate
was valued at slightly less than £6,300.
Swiss (people)
The Swiss are citizens or natives of Switzerland. The demonym derives from the toponym of Schwyz and has been in widespread use to refer to the Old Swiss Confederacy since the 16th century....
industrial chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
who settled in England. He also carried out research into photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
.
Early life
Ferdinand Hurter was born in SchaffhausenSchaffhausen
Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 ....
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, the only son of Tobias Hurter, a bookbinder
Bookbinding
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of paper or other material. It usually involves attaching covers to the resulting text-block.-Origins of the book:...
, and his wife Anna Oechslein. His father died when Ferdinand was aged only two and his mother worked as a nurse to support him and his sister Elizabeth. She later married her late husband's half-brother, David, and Ferdinand developed a strong relationship with his stepfather. After education at the local Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
he became an apprentice
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
to a dyer in Winterthur
Winterthur
Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with an estimate of more than 100,000 people. In the local dialect and by its inhabitants, it is usually abbreviated to Winti...
before moving to Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
to work in a silk firm. He then attended Zürich Polytechnic
ETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
before going to Heidelberg University
Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg
The Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg is a public research university located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386, it is the oldest university in Germany and was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire. Heidelberg has been a coeducational institution...
. Here he studied chemistry under Robert Bunsen
Robert Bunsen
Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium and rubidium with Gustav Kirchhoff. Bunsen developed several gas-analytical methods, was a pioneer in photochemistry, and did early work in the field of organoarsenic...
and physics under Gustav Kirchhoff
Gustav Kirchhoff
Gustav Robert Kirchhoff was a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects...
. He graduated Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
with the highest honours in 1866.
Career
Hurter was offered a professorship in AarauAarau
Aarau is the capital of the northern Swiss canton of Aargau. The city is also the capital of the district of Aarau. It is German-speaking and predominantly Protestant. Aarau is situated on the Swiss plateau, in the valley of the Aar, on the river's right bank, and at the southern foot of the Jura...
but declined this and, with a few letters of introduction, arrived in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in 1867. He joined Henry Deacon
Henry Deacon (industrialist)
Henry Deacon was a chemist and industrialist who established a chemical factory in Widnes, Lancashire, England.Henry Deacon's father was also named Henry Deacon and his mother was Esther Deacon, his father's cousin. The family were members of the Sandemanian church, one of whose members, Michael...
and Holbrook Gaskell
Holbrook Gaskell
Holbrook Gaskell was a British industrialist, and an art and plant collector.-Early life:Holbrook Gaskell was born in Wavertree, Liverpool. He was the eldest son of Roger Gaskell, a sailcloth manufacturer, from his marriage to his cousin Anne Hunter. He was baptised on the 11 April 1813 at...
at their alkali
Alkali
In chemistry, an alkali is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Some authors also define an alkali as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7. The adjective alkaline is commonly used in English as a synonym for base,...
manufacturing business, Gaskell, Deacon & Co., in Widnes
Widnes
Widnes is an industrial town within the borough of Halton, in Cheshire, England, with an urban area population of 57,663 in 2004. It is located on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. Directly to the south across the Mersey is the town of Runcorn...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. Here he became chief chemist and worked with Deacon to develop a process to convert hydrochloric acid
Hydrochloric acid
Hydrochloric acid is a solution of hydrogen chloride in water, that is a highly corrosive, strong mineral acid with many industrial uses. It is found naturally in gastric acid....
, a waste by-product of the Leblanc process
Leblanc process
The Leblanc process was the industrial process for the production of soda ash used throughout the 19th century, named after its inventor, Nicolas Leblanc. It involved two stages: Production of sodium sulfate from sodium chloride, followed by reaction of the sodium sulfate with coal and calcium...
of making alkali, to chlorine
Chlorine
Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...
which was then used to manufacture bleaching powder
Calcium hypochlorite
Calcium hypochlorite is a chemical compound with formula 2. It is widely used for water treatment and as a bleaching agent...
. He was a pioneer in applying the principles of physical chemistry
Physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...
and thermodynamics
Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a physical science that studies the effects on material bodies, and on radiation in regions of space, of transfer of heat and of work done on or by the bodies or radiation...
to industrial processes and by 1880 was considered to be a world authority on the manufacture of alkali. He was a strong defender of the Leblanc process against the other methods of manufacturing alkali being developed at the time although he did research the ammonia-soda process
Solvay process
The Solvay process, also referred to as the ammonia-soda process, is the major industrial process for the production of soda ash . The ammonia-soda process was developed into its modern form by Ernest Solvay during the 1860s...
but without any success. He argued against the production of alkali by the electrolysis
Electrolysis
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of using a direct electric current to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction...
of brine because of the enormous amount of electrical power this would require although he was later to have second thoughts.
When the Leblanc factories merged in 1890 to form the United Alkali Company
United Alkali Company
United Alkali Company Limited was a British chemical company formed in 1890. Producer of soda ash by the Leblanc process and used in the glass, textile, soap, and paper industries. It became one of the top four British chemical companies merged in 1926 with Brunner Mond, Nobel Explosives and...
, Hurter was placed in charge of developing a research laboratory in Widnes. This was later named after him. He played a part in the foundation of the Society of Chemical Industry
Society of Chemical Industry
The Society of Chemical Industry is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Its purpose is "Promoting the commercial application of science for the benefit of society". Its first president was Henry Enfield Roscoe and...
in 1881, becoming its chairman in 1888–1890. He published 24 papers in English journals alone. He gave many lectures to try to popularise scientific subjects. As chief chemist to the United Alkali Company, despite his failing health, he travelled to a number of countries in Europe and also made one visit to the USA. The Society of Chemical Industry endowed the Hurter Memorial Lecture in his name.
Personal
In 1871 Hurter married Hannah Garnett of Farnworth, Widnes, with whom he had six children, one of whom died in infancy. They lived first at Prospect House in Crow Wood and later in Wilmere House, Widnes. Hurter remained a Swiss citizen throughout his life and sent his children to receive part of their education in Switzerland. He enjoyed music and played the clarinet and piano. He also took an interest in photographyPhotography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, collaborating in research with Vero Charles Driffield
Vero Charles Driffield
Vero Charles Driffield was a chemical engineer who also became involved in photographic research.Driffield was educated at Liverpool Collegiate and Sandbach Grammar School. He also attended a private school in Southport where he came into contact with a Swiss master called Dr Knecht...
, an engineer at the Gaskell-Deacon works. Together they published many papers (in addition to Hurter's papers in chemistry). They were jointly awarded the Progress Medal of the Royal Photographic Society
Royal Photographic Society
The Royal Photographic Society is the world's oldest national photographic society. It was founded in London, United Kingdom in 1853 as The Photographic Society of London with the objective of promoting the Art and Science of Photography...
in 1898. The results of their research revolutionised photography. Hurter campagned for free education
Free education
Free education refers to education that is funded through taxation, or charitable organizations rather than tuition fees. Although primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is free in many countries, for example, all education is mostly free including...
and for the introduction of the metric system
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
into Britain. He died at his home in Cressington Park
Cressington
Cressington is a Liverpool City Council Ward in the Garston and Halewood Parliamentary constituency. It contains the Cressington Park, Grassendale Park and the Grassendale area of Liverpool...
, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and was buried in the churchyard of Farnworth church. His estate
Estate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
was valued at slightly less than £6,300.
See also
- Hurter and DriffieldHurter and DriffieldFerdinand Hurter and Vero Charles Driffield were nineteenth-century photographic scientists who brought quantitative scientific practice to photography through the methods of sensitometry and densitometry....
- H&D speed numbers for film speedFilm speedFilm speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system....
measurements