Description: A biography of Henry Edward Armstrong, an underappreciated maverick in the history of chemistry.
Fifth Business is a biography of the English chemist, educator, and scientific critic Henry Edward Armstrong. Today, Armstrong, who was a central figure in the development of the science of chemistry between 1885 and 1914, is more remembered for his campaigns to improve the teaching of chemistry, and science generally, and less for his theory of residual affinity and reverse electrolysis--or his hostility toward physical chemistry. However, right up until his retirement, Armstrong was a significant and prolific organic chemist, as well as a major figure in the academic and social life of the Chemical Society.Fifth Business is structured as chronologically as possible, with Armstrong's life and achievements as an active chemist in Part I (1848-1911) and as a critic in his long retirement in Part II (1911-1937). Brock's authoritative biography provides a unique inside look at its subject, allowing us to better understand the history of British science, scientific institutions, scientific education, pedagogical theory, and social relations of science during the last third of the nineteenth century and the first third of the twentieth.
Brief description: William H. Brock (1936-2025) was a historian of science and the author of several books, among them The History of Chemistry: A Very Short Introduction; William Crookes (1832-1919) and the Commercialization of Science; Justus von Liebig: The Chemical Gatekeeper; Science for All: Studies in the History of Victorian Science and Education; and The Norton History of Chemistry.
Review Quotes:
"Fifth Business displays the erudition gained over a career spent studying nineteenth-century chemistry in the easy style of an accomplished and experienced biographer. . . . The reviewer was struck by the author's ability to weave together strands of chemical technicality, architectural detail, and educational philosophy with quotidian details of his subject's personal, social, and professional life."
-- "Ambix"