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53 as plain benjamin thompson。 thompson was dashing and ambitious；“handsome in feature and figure；” occasionally courageous and exceedingly bright； butuntroubled by anything so inconveniencing as a scruple。 at nineteen he married a rich widowfourteen years his senior； but at the outbreak of revolution in the colonies he unwisely sidedwith the loyalists； for a time spying on their behalf。 in the fateful year of 1776； facing arrest“for lukewarmness in the cause of liberty；” he abandoned his wife and child and fled justahead of a mob of anti…royalists armed with buckets of hot tar； bags of feathers； and anearnest desire to adorn him with both。
he decamped first to england and then to germany； where he served as a military advisorto the government of bavaria； so impressing the authorities that in 1791 he was named countvon rumford of the holy roman empire。 while in munich； he also designed and laid out thefamous park known as the english garden。
in between these undertakings； he somehow found time to conduct a good deal of solidscience。 he became the world’s foremost authority on thermodynamics and the first toelucidate the principles of the convection of fluids and the circulation of ocean currents。 healso invented several useful objects； including a drip coffeemaker； thermal underwear； and atype of range still known as the rumford fireplace。 in 1805； during a sojourn in france； hewooed and married madame lavoisier； widow of antoine…laurent。 the marriage was not asuccess and they soon parted。 rumford stayed on in france； where he died； universallyesteemed by all but his former wives； in 1814。
but our purpose in mentioning him here is that in 1799； during a paratively briefinterlude in london； he founded the royal institution； yet another of the many learnedsocieties that popped into being all over britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenthcenturies。 for a time it was almost the only institution of standing to actively promote theyoung science of chemistry； and that was thanks almost entirely to a brilliant young mannamed humphry davy； who was appointed the institution’s professor of chemistry shortlyafter its inception and rapidly gained fame as an outstanding lecturer and productiveexperimentalist。
soon after taking up his position； davy began to bang out new elements one afteranother—potassium； sodium； magnesium； calcium； strontium； and aluminum or aluminium；depending on which branch of english you favor。
1he discovered so many elements not somuch because he was serially astute as because he developed an ingenious technique ofapplying electricity to a molten substance—electrolysis； as it is known。 altogether hediscovered a dozen elements； a fifth of the known total of his day。 davy might have done farmore； but unfortunately as a young man he developed an abiding attachment to the buoyantpleasures of nitrous oxide。 he grew so attached to the gas that he drew on it （literally） three orfour times a day。 eventually； in 1829； it is thought to have killed him。
fortunately more sober types were at work elsewhere。 in 1808； a dour quaker named johndalton became the first person to intimate the nature of an atom （progress that will bediscussed more pletely a little further on）； and in 1811 an italian with the splendidlyoperatic name of lorenzo romano amadeo carlo avogadro； count of quarequa and cerreto；made a discovery that would prove highly significant in the long term—namely； that twoequal volumes of gases of any type； if kept at the same pressure and temperature； will containidentical numbers of molecules。
two things were notable about avogadro’s principle； as it became known。 first； itprovided a basis for more accurately measuring the size and weight of atoms。 usingavogadro’s mathematics； chemists were eventually able to work out； for instance； that atypical atom had a diameter of 0。00000008 centimeters； which is very little indeed。 andsecond； almost no one knew about avogadro’s appealingly simple principle for almost fiftyyears。
2partly this was because avogadro himself was a retiring fellow—he worked alone；corresponded very little with fellow scientists； published few papers； and attended nomeetings—but also it was because there were no meetings to attend and few chemicaljournals in which to publish。 this is a fairly extraordinary fact。 the industrial revolution was1the confusion over the aluminum/aluminium spelling arose b cause of some uncharacteristic indecisiveness ondavys part。 when he first isolated the element in 1808； he called it alumium。 for son reason he thought better ofthat and changed it to aluminum four years later。 americans dutifully adopted the new term； but mai britishusers disliked aluminum； pointing out that it disrupted the …ium pattern established by sodium； calcium； andstrontium； so they added a vowel and syllable。
2the principle led to the much later adoption of avogadros number； a basic unit of measure in chemistry； whichwas named for avogadro long after his death。 it is the number of molecules found in 2。016 grams of hydrogengas （or an equal volume of any other gas）。 its value is placed at 6。0221367 x 1023； which is an enormously largenumber。 chemistry students have long amused themselves by puting just how large a number it is； so i canreport that it is equivalent to the number of popcorn kernels needed to cover the united states to a depth of ninemiles； or cupfuls of water in the pacific ocean； or soft drink cans that would； evenly stacked； cover the earth to adepth of 200 miles。 an equivalent number of american pennies would be enough to make every person on eartha dollar trillionaire。 it is a big number。
driven in large part by developments in chemistry； and yet as an organized science chemistrybarely existed for decades。
the chemical society of london was not founded until 1841 and didn’t begin to produce aregular journal until 1848； by which time most learned societies in britain—geological；geographical； zoological； horticultural； and linnaean （for naturalists and botanists）—were atleast twenty years old and often much more。 the rival institute of chemistry didn’t e intobeing until 1877； a year after the founding of the american chemical s