Lewis Beck

January 4, 1798 (age 55)

Schenectady, New York, United States

In the autumn of 1819 Lewis entered into active practise in his home city. On the solicitation of his brother Abram, an attorney, he went to St. Louis to establish a practise, but found no opening to his liking. Instead, he conceived the idea of collecting information for a gazetteer. A year later found him back in New York State. The death of his brother again took him to St. Louis but after a brief sojourn he returned to Albany, New York, where he began the practise of medicine. These journeys, mostly on horseback, proved of great value to the young observer. During his travels he made notes on botany, geology, mineralogy, climate, and the habits of the people; these, having already served him for articles in St. Louis and Albany newspapers, 1820-1821, formed the basis of the Gazetteer of the States of Illinois and Missouri (1823), completed in 1822. The same year he published some observations on milk sickness, a serious disease, the cause of which is still unknown. Notwithstanding the fact that Beck engaged in the practise of his profession early in life and gained eminence therein, Beck's energies were directed mainly along educational and investigational lines. He began his public life in 1824 as teacher of botany in Berkshire Medical Institution and during the same year became junior professor of botany, mineralogy, and zoology in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. In 1826 he accepted the chair of botany and chemistry in the Vermont Academy of Medicine. Four years later he was professor of chemistry and natural history in Rutgers. He was professor in New York University in 1836 and accepted the professorship of chemistry and pharmacy in the Albany Medical College in 1840. He held his Albany and Rutgers positions simultaneously for many years. His lectures were continued at Albany up to the time of his death. Beck made numerous contributions to medicine, chemistry, botany, mineralogy, and the purity of foods and drugs. In 1831 there appeared his Manual of Chemistry Containing a Condensed View of the Present State of the Science. Two years later the Botany of the Northern and Middle States was published. His manual, Adulterations of Various Substances Used in Medicine and the Arts, with the Means of Detecting Them, was made available in 1846. A committee of the New York state legislature selected Beck to make an investigation of the purity, character, and manufacture of potash. The results were published as a state document in 1836. The same year the New York state officials decided to make a geological survey. Beck was employed as mineralogist, and published a Mineralogy of New York in 1842. The United States Congress in 1848 made the first appropriation for chemical examinations of foodstuffs. Beck was selected for the task and the results of his investigations, dealing primarily with breadstuffs, were published in Appendix I to the "Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the Year 1848" and in Part II of the "Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the Year 1849. "

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Botany Of The Northern And Middle States, Or, A Description Of The Plants Found In The United States, North Of Virginia: Arranged According To The ... Genera According To The Linnaean System ...

( This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)

Adulterations of Various Substances Used in Medicine and the Arts: With the Means of Detecting Them: Intended as a Manual for the Physician, the Apothecary, and the Artisan

(This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

A Manual of Chemistry: Containing a Condensed View of the Present State of the Science, with ... References to More Extensive Treatises, Original Papers, &c

(This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

Botany of the United States north of Virginia; comprising descriptions of the flowering and fern-lik

(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

Mineralogy of New-York; Comprising Detailed Descriptions of the Minerals Hitherto Found in the State of New-York, and Notices of Their Uses in the Art

(This historic book may have numerous typos and missing te...)

An Account of the Salt Springs at Salina

( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

Lewis Caleb Beck Edit Profile

chemist physician scientist

Background

Lewis Beck was born on October 4, 1798, at Schenectady, New York, the son of Caleb and Catherine (Romeyn) Beck, and brother of John Brodhead Beck and Theodric Romeyn Beck.

Education

Beck's early education was acquired in the grammar schools of his native city. In 1817 he received the A. B. degree from Union College. He immediately began the study of medicine with Dr. Thomas Dunlop; studied in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, 1816; and was licensed to practise medicine in February 1818.

Career

In the autumn of 1819 Lewis entered into active practise in his home city. On the solicitation of his brother Abram, an attorney, he went to St. Louis to establish a practise, but found no opening to his liking. Instead, he conceived the idea of collecting information for a gazetteer. A year later found him back in New York State. The death of his brother again took him to St. Louis but after a brief sojourn he returned to Albany, New York, where he began the practise of medicine. These journeys, mostly on horseback, proved of great value to the young observer. During his travels he made notes on botany, geology, mineralogy, climate, and the habits of the people; these, having already served him for articles in St. Louis and Albany newspapers, 1820-1821, formed the basis of the Gazetteer of the States of Illinois and Missouri (1823), completed in 1822. The same year he published some observations on milk sickness, a serious disease, the cause of which is still unknown.

Notwithstanding the fact that Beck engaged in the practise of his profession early in life and gained eminence therein, Beck's energies were directed mainly along educational and investigational lines. He began his public life in 1824 as teacher of botany in Berkshire Medical Institution and during the same year became junior professor of botany, mineralogy, and zoology in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. In 1826 he accepted the chair of botany and chemistry in the Vermont Academy of Medicine. Four years later he was professor of chemistry and natural history in Rutgers. He was professor in New York University in 1836 and accepted the professorship of chemistry and pharmacy in the Albany Medical College in 1840. He held his Albany and Rutgers positions simultaneously for many years. His lectures were continued at Albany up to the time of his death.

Beck made numerous contributions to medicine, chemistry, botany, mineralogy, and the purity of foods and drugs. In 1831 there appeared his Manual of Chemistry Containing a Condensed View of the Present State of the Science. Two years later the Botany of the Northern and Middle States was published. His manual, Adulterations of Various Substances Used in Medicine and the Arts, with the Means of Detecting Them, was made available in 1846.

A committee of the New York state legislature selected Beck to make an investigation of the purity, character, and manufacture of potash. The results were published as a state document in 1836. The same year the New York state officials decided to make a geological survey. Beck was employed as mineralogist, and published a Mineralogy of New York in 1842. The United States Congress in 1848 made the first appropriation for chemical examinations of foodstuffs. Beck was selected for the task and the results of his investigations, dealing primarily with breadstuffs, were published in Appendix I to the "Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the Year 1848" and in Part II of the "Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the Year 1849. "

Achievements

Lewis Beck is famous for his numerous contributions to medicine, chemistry, botany, mineralogy. He was chosen by the New York state legislature to conduct an investigation of the purity, character, and manufacture of potash. The results were published as a state document in 1836. Lewis Beck's major works on botany and chemistry: the Gazetteer of the States of Illinois and Missouri (1823); Manual of Chemistry Containing a Condensed View of the Present State of the Science (1831); Botany of the Northern and Middle States (1833); Adulterations of Various Substances Used in Medicine and the Arts, with the Means of Detecting Them (1846); Mineralogy of New York (1842); Botany of the United States North of Virginia (1848); An Account of the Salt Springs at Salina (1826), etc.