Thomas Edward Thorpe

Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe (8 December 1845 – 23 February 1925) was a British chemist.

Born in Harpurhey, near Manchester, Thorpe originally worked as a clerk, but in 1863 began working as an assistant to Henry Roscoe, a professor of chemistry at Owen's College. Thorpe then studied for a PhD at the University of Heidelberg, and after a time working for August Kekulé in Bonn returned to Britain to accept a Chair at Anderson's University in Glasgow in 1870. He later held posts at the Yorkshire College of Science and the Normal School of Science, South Kensington (later the Royal College of Science).

Thorpe conducted research on a wide range of subjects. He contributed to the understanding of the relationship between substances' molecular weights and their specific gravities, and his work on phosphorus compounds led to a better understanding of phosphorus trioxide and the prevention of the illnesses it caused to workers in the match industry. Thorpe's work on the atomic weights of metals led to the award of a Royal Medal in 1889. He also took part in four eclipse expeditions, and a magnetic survey of the British Isles.

Thorpe left academia in 1894 to take up a government post, helping to establish what became the government laboratory. With his staff he worked on matters of public health, including the detection of arsenic in beer, and the elimination of lead from pottery.

Thorpe wrote a number of books, including the textbooks "Inorganic Chemistry" (1873), "Dictionary of Applied Chemistry" (1890) and a "History of Chemistry". Outside chemistry, his great interest was yachting, and he wrote two books on this subject; "A Yachtsman's Guide to the Dutch Waterways" (1905) and "The Seine from Havre to Paris" (1913).

Thorpe died of a heart attack in 1925, and was buried in Salcombe, Devon.

Further reading

*P. W. Hammond, ‘Thorpe, Sir Thomas Edward (1845–1925)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36514 doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36514 ] , accessed 13 Feb 2008
*cite journal
journal = Analyst
year = 1925
volume = 50
pages = 210–213
doi = 10.1039/AN9255000210
title = Obituary: Thomas Edward Thorpe
author = Geo. Stubbs
url = http://www.rsc.org/delivery/_ArticleLinking/DisplayArticleForFree.cfm?doi=AN9255000210&JournalCode=AN
*cite journal
journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A
year = 1925
volume = 109
issue = 752
pages = i-xxix
doi =
title = Obituary Notices of Fellows Deceased
author = A. E. H. T.
url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0950-1207%2819251201%29109%3A752%3Ci%3AONOFD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V