TURNER, EDWARD. - ATOMIC WEIGHTS REVISED.

Experimental Researches on Atomic Weights. Received April 25, - Read ay 16, 1833.

(London, Richard Taylor, 1833). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from "Philosophical Transactions" 1833 - Part II. Pp. 523-544.

First edition of the paper in whichTurner revised the atomic weights stipulated by Prout and Thomson and thus confirming the values of Berzelius.

"In 1828 Turner decided to place himself in the delicate position of "umpire between two of the greatest of living chemists" by investigating the discrepancies between Thomson’s and Berzelius’ atomic weights. He found immediately that Berzelius’ criticism of Thomson’s careless use of the reagent barium chloride was justified. From 1829 to 1833 he gradually showed that the remarkable edifice raised by Thomson’s Principles was a house of cards. At the meeting of the British Association for Advancement of Science held at Oxford in 1832, and at the Royal Society in 1833, Turner demonstrated by careful analyses (in the paper offered) that Thomson’s atomic weights for chlorine, nitrogen, sulfur, lead, and mercury were in serious error, that his own values confirmed those of Berzelius, and, consequently, that although integral atomic weights might be used as convenient approximations by "medical men, students, and manufactures," the true values were inconsistent with Prout’s original hypothesis."(DSB).

Order-nr.: 46010