Background
Benjamin Silliman Jr. was born on December 4, 1816 in New Haven, Connecticut.
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Excerpt from The American Journal of Science and Arts, 1844, Vol. 47 This memoir is entitled, Observations on the Geology of the United States, explanatory Ofa Geological Map. It was read January 20, 1809, and is publish ed in the sixth volume of the Society's Transactions. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Benjamin Silliman Jr. was born on December 4, 1816 in New Haven, Connecticut.
Entering Yale College in 1792, Silliman graduated in 1796, became tutor in 1799, and in 1802 was appointed professor of chemistry and mineralogy, a position which he retained till 1853, when by his own desire he retired as professor emeritus.
Outside Yale Silliman was well known as one of the few men who could hold the attention of a popular audience with a scientific lecture, and on account of his clear and interesting style, as well as of the unwonted splendour of his illustrative experiments, his services were in great request not only in the northern and eastern states but also in those of the south.
In 1810 he published A Journal of Travels in England, Holland and Scotland, in which he described a visit to Europe undertaken in 1805 in preparation for the duties of his chair.
He paid a second visit in 1851, of which he also issued an account, and among his other publications were Elements of Chemistry, and editions of W. Henry's Chemistry with notes (1808), and of R. Bakewell's Geology (1827).
Using his own improved version of Hare’s blowpipe, Silliman added substantially to the list of substances proved capable of fusion by heat, including zircon, lime, magnesia, chalcedony, beryl, and corundum (1813).
In his experiments with the deflagrator on the fusion of carbon (1822), Silliman noted the transfer of volatilized carbon from the positive electrode to the negative, an observation subsequently confirmed by César Despretz.
In 1830-1831 he brought out his own Elements of Chemistry, a solid, up-to-date work that compared favorably with European textbooks of that day. Beginning in 1834, at Hartford, Connecticut, Sillman extended his lecturing activities to Boston and thence to New York, Baltimore, Washington, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Mobile, and New Orleans. These lectures did much to generate interest in science throughout the country, as Charles Lyell noted during his American travels.
In 1849 Silliman was appointed professor of medical chemistry and toxicology in the Medical College at Louisville, Kentucky, but relinquished that office in 1854 to succeed his father in the chair of chemistry at Yale. A course of lectures given by him on agricultural chemistry in the winter of 1845-1846 at New Orleans is believed to have been the first of its kind in the United States.
In 1846 he published First Principles of Chemistry and in 1858 First Principles of Physics or Natural Philosophy, both of which had a large circulation.
In 1853 Silliman edited a large quarto illustrated volume, The World of Science, Art and Industry, which was followed in 1854 by The Progress of Science and Mechanism.
In 1874, when the 100th anniversary of Priestley's preparation of oxygen was celebrated as the "Centennial of Chemistry" at Northumberland, Pa. , where Priestley died, he delivered an historical address on "American Contributions to Chemistry, " which contains a full list, with their works, of American chemists up to that date.
From 1838 to 1845 Silliman was associated with his father in the editorship of the American Journal of Science, and from 1845 to the end of his life his name appeared on the title page as one of the editors in chief.
(Excerpt from The World of Science, Art, and Industry: Ill...)
(Excerpt from First Principles of Physics, or Natural Phil...)
(Excerpt from The American Journal of Science and Arts, 18...)
