Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Jones enter Johns Hopkins University as a special student in 1887 and secures his bachelor’s degree two years later. He received his doctorate in June 1892.
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Jones enter Johns Hopkins University as a special student in 1887 and secures his bachelor’s degree two years later. He received his doctorate in June 1892.
The Electrical Conductivity, Dissociation, and Temperature Coefficients of Conductivity From Zero to Sixty-Five Degrees of Aqueous Solutions of a Number of Salts and Organic Acids
Harry Clary Jones was an American scientist and educator. He served as a professor of physical chemistry at Johns Hopkins University and was one of the pioneer promoters of this subject in the United States.
Background
Harry Clary Jones was born on November 11, 1865, in New London, Maryland, United States. The son and grandson of farmers, he always considered farming his avocation and, whenever he had the time, he spent it in managing and improving his three farms.
Education
Jones' scientific career was determined during his elementary school years, by the reading of one of Tyndall’s books on science. His tremendous driving energy first showed itself in this decision: although poorly prepared for scientific education, his enthusiasm enabled him to enter Johns Hopkins as a special student in 1887 and to secure his bachelor’s degree two years later. He received his doctorate in June 1892.
During his graduate study, Jones became fascinated by the newly developing field of physical chemistry. He spent the next two years studying with the masters in this field: Ostwald at Leipzig, Arrhenius at Stockholm, and van’t Hoff at Amsterdam. Ostwald and Arrhenius remained close personal friends of Jones' for the rest of his life.
In 1894 Jones returned to Johns Hopkins as an honorary fellow and in the following year, he became an instructor in physical chemistry. He rose to full professor in 1903 and remained in this position until his death.
While studying with Arrhenius, Jones had investigated hydrates of sulfuric acid; his interest in solutions developed from this work. All of his later researches related in some way to an attempt to develop a general theory, a modification of Mendeleev’s concept that solution came from the formation of a series of solvates. In support of his theory, Jones developed at least sixteen lines of evidence, the chief of which came from his studies of solubility, absorption spectra of solutions, electrolytic conductivity, and the influence of solvent and solute on each other. While van’t Hoff had concerned himself with the theory of ideal solutions, Jones studied the behavior of actual solutions. Much of his work was supported by the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
In addition to his scientific papers, Jones wrote twelve textbooks and semipopular scientific works. His most successful book was Elements of Physical Chemistry (1902), which was translated into Russian and Italian. He served on the editorial boards of Zeitschrift fur physikalische Chemie, Journal de chimie physique, and Journal of the Franklin Institute.
Jones was a man of strong opinions, with enormous energy and an insatiable desire for work, both in the laboratory and in preparing books and papers. These activities eventually led to a breakdown.
Connections
In 1902 Jones married Harriet Brooks, of an old Baltimore family.