史密森·特南特1761—1815

生平

1761年出生于约克郡的Selby，1781年开始在爱丁堡大学学习医学，但在几个月后前往剑桥，在那里开始投身于植物学和化学的学习和研究，于1796年在剑桥大学获得医学博士学位，同年在剑桥附近的Cheddar购置土地开展农业试验。1813年被剑桥大学聘为化学教授。1815年在骑马经过法国滨海布洛涅附近的一座桥时因桥坍塌而丧生。

他在化学研究方面的主要贡献在于从铂矿石提取物溶液残渣中发现了元素铱和锇。在进入他曾就读过的Beverley小学的每个入口都挂有一块牌匾以此纪念他发现的这两个元素。

Smithson Tennant FRS (30 November 1761 – 22 February 1815) was an English chemist. He is best known for his discovery of the elements iridium and osmium, which he found in the residues from the solution of platinum ores in 1803. He also contributed to the proof of the identity of diamond and charcoal. The mineral tennantite is named after him.

Life

Tennant was born in Selby in Yorkshire. His father was Calvert Tennant (named after his grandmother Phyllis Calvert, a granddaughter of Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore).

His own name derives from his grandmother Rebecca Smithson, widow of Joshua Hitchling. He attended Beverley Grammar School and there is a plaque over one of the entrances to the present school commemorating his discovery of the two elements, osmium and iridium.

He began to study medicine at Edinburgh in 1781, but after a few months moved to Cambridge, where he devoted himself to botany and chemistry.

He graduated M.D. at Cambridge in 1796, and about the same time purchased an estate near Cheddar, where he carried out agricultural experiments.

He was appointed professor of chemistry at Cambridge in 1813, but lived to deliver only one course of lectures, being killed near Boulogne-sur-Mer by the fall of a bridge over which he was riding.

Legacy

In 2006, American Elements discovered new technology allowing for the casting of seamless iridium rings for use in spacecraft and satellites. In 2016, the company utilized the same technology to introduce a line of iridium wedding bands marketed under the trademark Smithson Tennant.