Arthur Aikin

Arthur Aikin (1773-1854), English chemist and mineralogist, was born on 19 May 1773, at Warrington in Lancashire.

He studied chemistry under Joseph Priestley and gave attention to the practical applications of the science.

He was one of the founders of the Geological Society of London[?] in 1807 and was its honorary secretary in 1812-1817. He contributed papers on the Wrekin and the Shropshire coalfield, among others, to the transactions of that society.

Later he became secretary of the Royal Society of Arts, and in 1841 treasurer of the Chemical Society[?]. In early life he had been a Unitarian minister for a short time. He was highly esteemed as a man of sound judgment and wide knowledge. He died in London on 15 April 1854.

Publications:

Journal of a Tour through North Wales and Part of Shropshire with Observations in Mineralogy and Other Branches of Natural History (London, 1797)

A Manual of Mineralogy (1814; ed. 2, 1815)

A Dictionary of Chemistry and Mineralogy (with his brother C. R. Aikin), 2 vols. (London, 1807, 1814).

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Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed