24 Facts About Edward Frankland

Edward Frankland was one of the originators of organometallic chemistry and introduced the concept of combining power or valence.

Edward Frankland studied luminous flames and the effects of atmospheric pressure on dense ignited gas, and was one of the discoverers of helium.

Edward Frankland was born in Catterall, Lancashire and baptised at Churchtown, Lancashire on 20 February 1825.

From age 3 to 8 Edward lived and was educated in Manchester, Churchtown, Salford and Claughton.

In 1840, Edward Frankland was indentured by his step-father, William Helm as an apprentice to Stephen Ross, a Lancaster pharmacist.

In summer 1847 Edward Frankland visited Germany and met some of Playfair's chemistry contacts there, including Robert Bunsen.

In January 1850, Lyon Playfair revealed his intention to resign from his professorship at Putney College for Civil Engineers in London and arrange to have Edward Frankland become his successor.

Hence Edward Frankland abruptly terminated his studies in Germany and returned to take up Playfair's former position in England.

For two decades Edward Frankland had a teaching role at the Royal School of Mines in London; and he taught briefly at the Royal India Military College at Addiscombe, Surrey.

Edward Frankland was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1853.

Edward Frankland was awarded the Society's Royal Medal in 1857 and its Copley Medal in 1894 and was a member of the X Club.

Edward Frankland was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1897.

Edward Frankland became engaged to Sophie Fick, sister of physiologist Adolf Eugen Fick, from Kassel in October 1849.

Edward Frankland died in Golaa, a village in the Gudbrand Valley whilst on a holiday in Norway.

Edward Frankland's body was returned to Britain and he was buried near his home in Reigate, Surrey.

Edward Frankland's son Percy Frankland was a noted chemist and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Edward Frankland's papers are held at the John Rylands Library, Manchester.

From an early age, Edward Frankland engaged in original research with great success.

The theoretical deductions Edward Frankland drew from considering these bodies were even more interesting and important than the bodies themselves.

Edward Frankland's analyses were both chemical and bacteriological, and his dissatisfaction with the processes in vogue for the former at the time of his appointment caused him to spend two years in devising new and more accurate methods.

In 1859 Edward Frankland passed a night on the very top of Mont Blanc in company with John Tyndall.

Edward Frankland noticed that at the summit the candle gave a very poor light, and was thereby led to investigate the effect produced on luminous flames by varying the pressure of the atmosphere in which they are burning.

Edward Frankland gave a variety of lectures at the Royal Institution.

In 1862,1864, and 1866, Edward Frankland was invited to deliver the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, speaking on the topics Air and Water; The Chemistry of a Coal and The Chemistry of Gases respectively.