William A. Noyes
Encyclopedia
William Albert Noyes was an American
analytical
and organic
chemist
. He made pioneering determinations of atomic weights, chaired the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
from 1907 to 1926, was the founder and editor of several important chemical journals, and received the American Chemical Society
's highest award, the Priestley Medal
, in 1935.
. He earned A.B.
and B.S.
degrees from Grinnell College
in 1879 (having originally enrolled in 1875 in classical studies, with chemistry as a side subject). As an undergraduate, in the winter quarters Noyes taught school full time in the countryside. On graduating he studied and taught analytical chemistry
at Grinnell, until he began graduate school at Johns Hopkins University
in January 1881. There, working with Ira Remsen
, Noyes earned his Ph.D.
in 1882. His doctoral dissertation "On the oxidation of benzene with chromic acid" was completed in only one and a half years (despite his also having to do water analyses to earn a living). Grinnell also awarded him an A.M.
degree for this work.
. He was next a professor of chemistry at the University of Tennessee
, followed by seventeen years at Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana
(starting there in 1886). In 1903, Noyes was hired as the first "Chief Chemist" for the United States
National Bureau of Standards in Baltimore, Maryland. His determination of atomic weight
s lead to "one of the most precise chemical determinations ever made", the ratio of the masses of hydrogen
to oxygen
(which he found to be 1.00787:16). With H.C.P. Weber, he received the Nichols Medal in 1908 for determining the atomic weight of chlorine
.
In 1907 he became chair
of the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
, a position he would hold until 1926. In the process, he helped it to become one of the leading departments of chemistry
in the United States
. Despite his earlier work in analytical chemistry, Noyes is perhaps best known as an organic chemist. He was the first to prove the structure of camphor
definitively and studied rearrangements in camphor and related compounds. He also worked on "electronic theories of valence
, and the valence and nature of nitrogen
in nitrogen trichloride
" as well as developing "methods for the determination of phosphorus
, sulfur
, and manganese
in iron
".
from 1902 to 1917. In addition, he founded Chemical Abstracts and was its first editor from 1907 to 1910. He also founded American Chemical Society Scientific Monographs (serving as its first editor from 1919 to 1941) and Chemical Reviews
(serving as its first editor from 1924 to 1926). Following the First World War, Noyes sought to promote international understanding and to reestablish harmonic relations between French
and German
chemists.
The Noyes Laboratory
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was so named in his honor in 1939. The lab was originally built in 1902, expanded under Noyes in 1916 (more than doubling its size) and named a ACS National Historical Chemical Landmarks
by the ACS in its 100th year, 2002.
His first wife was Flora Collier Noyes. They had several children, but all except William Albert Noyes, Jr., (born April 18, 1898, in Terre Haute, Indiana
) died in early childhood. Flora was in poor health for some years before her death in March 1900. Noyes remarried in 1901 and had a son, Charles, in 1904. His second wife died of a stroke in August 1914. In the fall of 1915, Noyes married his third wife, Katharine Macy Noyes. They had two sons, Richard
and Pierre
. Albert, Richard, and Pierre all followed their father into the sciences and academia.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
analytical
Analytical chemistry
Analytical chemistry is the study of the separation, identification, and quantification of the chemical components of natural and artificial materials. Qualitative analysis gives an indication of the identity of the chemical species in the sample and quantitative analysis determines the amount of...
and organic
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
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...
. He made pioneering determinations of atomic weights, chaired the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
from 1907 to 1926, was the founder and editor of several important chemical journals, and received the American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society 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 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
's highest award, the Priestley Medal
Priestley Medal
The Priestley Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society and is awarded for distinguished service in the field of chemistry. Established in 1922, the award is named after Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen who immigrated to the United States of America in 1794...
, in 1935.
Early life and education
Noyes was born on November 6, 1857 near Independence, IowaIndependence, Iowa
Independence is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,966 in the 2010 census, a decline from 6,014 in the 2000 census...
. He earned A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degrees from Grinnell College
Grinnell College
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....
in 1879 (having originally enrolled in 1875 in classical studies, with chemistry as a side subject). As an undergraduate, in the winter quarters Noyes taught school full time in the countryside. On graduating he studied and taught analytical chemistry
Analytical chemistry
Analytical chemistry is the study of the separation, identification, and quantification of the chemical components of natural and artificial materials. Qualitative analysis gives an indication of the identity of the chemical species in the sample and quantitative analysis determines the amount of...
at Grinnell, until he began graduate school at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
in January 1881. There, working with Ira Remsen
Ira Remsen
Ira Remsen was a chemist who, along with Constantin Fahlberg, discovered the artificial sweetener saccharin. He was the second president of Johns Hopkins University.-Biography:...
, Noyes earned his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1882. His doctoral dissertation "On the oxidation of benzene with chromic acid" was completed in only one and a half years (despite his also having to do water analyses to earn a living). Grinnell also awarded him an A.M.
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
degree for this work.
Career
After receiving his doctorate, Noyes taught a year as an instructor at the University of MinnesotaUniversity of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. He was next a professor of chemistry at the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
, followed by seventeen years at Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
(starting there in 1886). In 1903, Noyes was hired as the first "Chief Chemist" for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Bureau of Standards in Baltimore, Maryland. His determination of atomic weight
Atomic weight
Atomic weight is a dimensionless physical quantity, the ratio of the average mass of atoms of an element to 1/12 of the mass of an atom of carbon-12...
s lead to "one of the most precise chemical determinations ever made", the ratio of the masses of hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
to oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
(which he found to be 1.00787:16). With H.C.P. Weber, he received the Nichols Medal in 1908 for determining the atomic weight of 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...
.
In 1907 he became chair
Chair (official)
The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...
of the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
, a position he would hold until 1926. In the process, he helped it to become one of the leading departments of chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Despite his earlier work in analytical chemistry, Noyes is perhaps best known as an organic chemist. He was the first to prove the structure of camphor
Camphor
Camphor is a waxy, white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula C10H16O. It is found in wood of the camphor laurel , a large evergreen tree found in Asia and also of Dryobalanops aromatica, a giant of the Bornean forests...
definitively and studied rearrangements in camphor and related compounds. He also worked on "electronic theories of valence
Valence (chemistry)
In chemistry, valence, also known as valency or valence number, is a measure of the number of bonds formed by an atom of a given element. "Valence" can be defined as the number of valence bonds...
, and the valence and nature of nitrogen
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
in nitrogen trichloride
Nitrogen trichloride
Nitrogen trichloride, also known as trichloramine, is the chemical compound with the formula NCl3. This yellow, oily, pungent-smelling liquid is most commonly encountered as a byproduct of chemical reactions between ammonia-derivatives and chlorine .In pure form, NCl3 is highly reactive...
" as well as developing "methods for the determination of phosphorus
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...
, sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
, and manganese
Manganese
Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
in iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
".
Department Heads of Chemistry at the University of Illinois
| Head | Years of Service | Years |
|---|---|---|
| A. P. S. Stewart | 1868-1874 | 6 |
| Henry A. Weber | 1874-1882 | 8 |
| William McMurtrie | 1882-1888 | 6 |
| J. C. Jackson | 1888 | 1 |
| Arthur W. Palmer | 1889-1904 | 15 |
| Harry S. Grindley | 1904-1907 | 3 |
| William A. Noyes | 1907-1926 | 19 |
| Roger Adams Roger Adams Roger Adams was an American organic chemist. He is best-known for the eponymous Adams' catalyst, and his work did much to determine the composition of naturally occurring substances such as complex vegetable oils and plant alkaloids... |
1926-1954 | 28 |
| Herbert E. Carter H. E. Carter H.E. Carter was an American biochemist and educator. He grew up in central Indiana and received his bachelors degree from DePauw University. He received a Ph.D... |
1954-1967 | 13 |
| Herbert S. Gutowsky Herbert S. Gutowsky Herbert S. Gutowsky was an American chemist who was a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His pioneering work made nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy one of the most effective tools in chemical and medical research.- Birth and education :Herbert S... |
1967-1983 | 16 |
| Larry R. Faulkner | 1984-1989 | 5 |
| Gary B. Schuster | 1989-1994 | 5 |
| Paul W. Bohn | 1995-1999 | 5 |
| Steven C. Zimmerman Steven Zimmerman Professor Steven C. Zimmerman is an organic chemist on the faculty of the Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.-Early life and education:... |
1999-2000 | 1 |
| Gregory S. Girolami | 2000-2005 | 5 |
| Steven C. Zimmerman Steven Zimmerman Professor Steven C. Zimmerman is an organic chemist on the faculty of the Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.-Early life and education:... |
2005- |
Editor
Noyes was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Chemical SocietyJournal of the American Chemical Society
The Journal of the American Chemical Society is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the Journal of Analytical and Applied Chemistry and the American Chemical Journal...
from 1902 to 1917. In addition, he founded Chemical Abstracts and was its first editor from 1907 to 1910. He also founded American Chemical Society Scientific Monographs (serving as its first editor from 1919 to 1941) and Chemical Reviews
Chemical Reviews
Chemical Reviews , is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, published since 1924 by the American Chemical Society. As the name indicates, it publishes comprehensive, critical reviews of an area rather than original research...
(serving as its first editor from 1924 to 1926). Following the First World War, Noyes sought to promote international understanding and to reestablish harmonic relations between French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
chemists.
Death and honors
Noyes received the Priestley Medal, the American Chemical Society's highest award, in 1935. He died on October 24, 1941.The Noyes Laboratory
Noyes Laboratory
Noyes Laboratory is a chemistry laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that was established in 1902. When it was expanded in 1916 it housed the largest chemistry department in the United States. In 1939 the building was dedicated in honor of the influential U of I chemist...
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was so named in his honor in 1939. The lab was originally built in 1902, expanded under Noyes in 1916 (more than doubling its size) and named a ACS National Historical Chemical Landmarks
ACS National Historical Chemical Landmarks
The National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program was launched by the American Chemical Society in 1992 and has recognized more than 60 landmarks to date. The program celebrates the centrality of chemistry...
by the ACS in its 100th year, 2002.
Family
Noyes was the youngest son of Spencer W. Noyes and Mary Noyes, and was born on their farm.His first wife was Flora Collier Noyes. They had several children, but all except William Albert Noyes, Jr., (born April 18, 1898, in Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
) died in early childhood. Flora was in poor health for some years before her death in March 1900. Noyes remarried in 1901 and had a son, Charles, in 1904. His second wife died of a stroke in August 1914. In the fall of 1915, Noyes married his third wife, Katharine Macy Noyes. They had two sons, Richard
Richard M. Noyes
- Life and work :Richard Macy Noyes was born April 6, 1919 in Champaign, Illinois.In 1959 Noyes became Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oregon. His research area was focused on the kinetic studies of oscillating reactions. Together with Richard J. Field, Endre Koros he developed a model ...
and Pierre
H. Pierre Noyes
H. Pierre Noyes is an American nuclear physicist. He has been a member of the faculty at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University since 1962...
. Albert, Richard, and Pierre all followed their father into the sciences and academia.