Background
Cottrell was born on January 10, 1877, in Oakland, California, the son of Henry Cottrell and Cynthia L. Durfee.
1919
Perkin Medal
1938
American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal
1023 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA 94610, United States
Cottrell graduated from Oakland High School.
Berkeley, CA, United States
Cottrell attended the University of California at Berkeley. He graduated at the age of nineteen in 1896 with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry.
Augustusplatz 10, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
Cottrell earned a doctorate in physical chemistry at the University of Leipzig in 1902.
chemist inventor philanthropist scientist
Cottrell was born on January 10, 1877, in Oakland, California, the son of Henry Cottrell and Cynthia L. Durfee.
After graduating from Oakland High School, Cottrell attended the University of California at Berkeley. He graduated at the age of nineteen in 1896 with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry. He taught high school chemistry for four years and then traveled to Germany, where he earned a doctorate in physical chemistry at the University of Leipzig in 1902.
Cottrell's ingenuity and interest in the applied sciences were demonstrated early on. At the age of thirteen, he ran his own printing business with a hand press in the basement of his home, publishing, among other works, a four-page technical magazine, Boy's Workshop. He also earned money from odd jobs as an electrician and landscape photographer.
After graduation, Cottrell was appointed to a teaching appointment at Berkeley but resigned in 1906 to do independent research on industrial pollution. A local form of air pollution, the acidic mists from the chimney of a nearby sulfuric acid factory, had triggered Cottrell's interest in this field. Recognizing that fine droplets and solid particles in smoke are held in suspension by the repulsion of electrical charges on their surfaces, Cottrell decided to build a device that could neutralize these charges. The result was a set of probes with a charge of opposite sign that neutralized the charges on the suspended material and caused it to precipitate. The first patent for the electrostatic precipitator was issued on August 11, 1908.
The precipitator was soon at work, removing the acid mist from the stack gases of the sulfuric acid plant. A modification of the original design then removed arsenic dust, as well as lead particles, from the emissions of a lead smelter. A further modification precipitated the dust from the emissions of a cement plant.
Cottrell had struggled to finance the experiments that led to the development of the electrostatic precipitator. Although the profits from the eventual manufacture of his precipitator could have made him a wealthy man, he decided that a portion of these monies should go to the support of scientific research. In 1912 he founded the Research Corporation, which is still the recipient of fees from the original patents and distributes them as research grants.
In 1911 Cottrell was appointed chief physical chemist at the U.S. Bureau of Mines, where he rose to the position of director in 1919. He joined the National Research Council (NRC) in 1921, and in 1922 became director of the Department of Agriculture's Fixed Nitrogen Laboratory. He retired in 1930 and devoted the remainder of his life to the Research Corporation. Cottrell died on November 16, 1948, while attending a scientific meeting in Berkeley, California.
Cottrell precipitators continue to benefit the environment by removing particulates from the gases routinely emitted by factory chimneys. Companies that install them find that the devices soon pay for themselves in terms of the value of the materials that are recovered from the precipitated solids.
As a science consultant, Dr. Cottrell was highly regarded in national and international circles, in industry and the academic community. He traveled widely, was acquainted with scientists in the U.S. and abroad, and was especially well known for his ability to identify and contribute to new ideas.
On New Year's Day 1904, Cottrell married Jessie Mae Fulton, a former high-school classmate he had met in botany class. After two difficult pregnancies and the loss of two children, they settled into a quiet, solitary life. They enjoyed reading aloud to one another, travel, and attending lectures and theatre performances.