Mar., 191j
T H E J O C R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
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PERKIN MEDAL AWARD The Perkin Medal for 1915 was conferred on Edward Weston, Sc D., LL.D., for his distinguished services in the field of Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy, a t the regular meeting of the New York Section of the Society of Chemical Industry held a t The Chemists’ Club, January 2 2 , 1915. Dr. Weston’s pioneer work in the fields of nickel plating, dynamos, arc lights, incandescent lamps and filaments and his remarkable success in the invention and manufacture of standard electrical measuring apparatus, based on his alloy researches, were reviewed in addresses by Prof. Chandler, Dr, Leo H. Baekeland, Mr. Carl Hering, and by the medalist himself. Owing to illness, Dr. Weston had been unable to prepare a manuscript copy of his address and the version printed below was abstracted by the editors from their stenographic notes. The other addresses are presented in 1 full herewith. [EDITOR.
testing instruments, with which we mostly know Dr. Weston and his connections. The presentation of the medal, however, does not rest upon this, and while i t is the thing which we are most apt to think of, and for that reason I mention it a t this time, his work in the chemical industry itself warrants us in the presenting of this medal. The first speaker on our program is the senior American Past President of the Society of Chemical Industry, and I take much pleasure in asking Dr Chandler, whom we 11 love and revere, to begin the speeches of the evening. 129 Y O R K STRBET BROOKLYX
PRESENTATION ADDRESS By C. F. CHANDLER
MR. CHAIRMANAND BROTHER CHEMISTS: I t is my privilege and very pleasant duty, as the senior Past-President of the Society of ChemINTRODUCTORY ical Industry, residing ADDRESS in this country, to preBy G W. THOMPSON sent to Edward Weston, LADIESAND GENTLELL.D. and D S c . , the MEN: ninth impression of the Perkin Medal, in recogThis is the annual nition of his most valugathering when the Perkin Medal Comable work in applied mittee makes its prechemistry. Dr. Weston has sentation of the Perkin Medal. It is hardly worked upon a great variety of subjectsnecessary or even advisable that your Chairchemical, electrical and mechanical-and in each man tonight should do more than preside a t of these fields he has been led to most importhis meeting. T h e speakers that will come tant discoveries which after will go into detail have been promptly recconcerning the work ognized and as promptly which leads up to this applied in their respecpresentation. There is tive uses. Prominent only one thing which among these are his has come to me which improvements in nickel I am taking the liberty plating, in the applicaof presenting, hoping tion of dynamos as subEDWARD WESTON, P E R K I N MEDALIST, 19 1 5 that in doing so I shall stitutes for galvanic not anticipate anything batteries in electroplatthat may be said later on. It would seem as though in the last ing, electrotyping, etc., the Weston standard cell, the flaming fifteen or twenty years, during which great progress has been made arc, the structureless carbon filaments for incandescent electrical in our electrochemical industries, that much of that progress has lighting, and resistance alloys for electrical measuring instrubeen dependent upon the proper measurement of currents and ments. voltage, and the recipient of the medal tonight is one who has It is not my purpose to give the details of the varied discontributed particularly in laying the foundation for precision coveries and inventions of Dr. Weston, as Dr. Baekeland will in electrochemical industry. Efficiency in this means a great follow me and set forth more particularly their nature. deal. Efficiency in labor, efficiency in the utilization of maDr. Weston was born on May 9, 1850, a t Brynn Castle, near terials, and especially efficiency in the utilization of power, and Oswestry, Shropshire, angland. While he was still a lad, his this final efficiency in the utilization of power would hardly father moved to Wolverhampton in Staffordshire. There he have been possible a t all without the development of precision was educated under private tutors. He received his first in-
structioii in physics and chemistry from Henry A. Horton, B.Sc. Later he was associated with \1Tilliam H. Harrison, and still later with Thomas Sherlock, both fellows of the London Chemical Society. By this time even, he had already manifested a great taste for science and also for experimenting and occupying himself in the use of mechanical tools. His parents desired him to select some well-established proiession for his life work, and they first placed him with a dentist, but this did not suit his tastes. Then they tried him with two physicians, Drs. E. H. and J. 11.Colman. He decided that he could stand surgery, but he did not’like medicine. However, these physicians exercised a most beneficial influence upon him because they were broad-minded scientific men, both of them in the habit of lecturing on scientific subjects and illustrating them by experiments. So Weston’s interest in chemical, metallurgical and electrical subjects, which he had developed while still a boy, was greatly increased by his association with these men. When only sixteen years of age, he delivered an illustrated lecture on electricity, performing the experiments with apparatus which he had himself constructed. The fact soon became apparent to him that he had no taste for the practice of medicine, so he determined to l e a w home and strike out for himself. Armed with some letters of introduction, he prepared t o go to London, but on thinking the matter over, hc finally concluded to go to America and make a career there, which he certainly has done. He arrived in New York in May, 1870, with his modest library &nd outfit of chemical and physical. apparatus, a very limited amount of cash and a very simple wardrobe. He began a t once t o look for employment, tramping daily through New York, Long Island and wherever he thought chemical operations were carried on. Finally he ran across the small concern of n’illiam H. Mardock & Co., manufacturers of photographic chemicals and dealers in photbgraphic supplies and apparatus. Here he made his beginning, manufacturing pyroxyline, and a general line of photographic chemicals, staying about a year. During this period and later, for about three years, he assisted Professor Charles S. Stone, Professor of Chemistry a t the Cooper Union. He watched the daily papers and one day sail- an advertisement for a man having some chemical and electrical knowledge, especially of electroplating. He answered this advertisement and the next morning a man came to the store and inquired for Weston. This man was a representative of \XYliam H. Belden, President of the American Nickel Plating Company. After a short interview, Mr. Belden proposed to engage him a t once, but he felt that he could not leave his employers so suddenly, and arranged to continue his position with Mardock & Co. for a fortnight, and to work nights in Belden’s establishment. He found t h a t the nickel plating works were in very poor shape, especially the galvanic batteries He as a Source Of to work jmmediately, put the batteries and other things in order and a t the end of two weeks everything was working satisfactorily. When Dr. Weston took his position with the American Kickel Plating Company, he made a most careful investigation into all the details of the art, and made many improvements in these details, by which he improved the quality of the coating, secured great economy in nickel, greatly reduced the time required €or plating, and particularly he succeeded in the preparation of the surface to which the nickel was to be applied and in the polishing of the nickel coating. He also discovered a dip which could be conveniently used €or removing nickel from damaged goods in order to coat them again. 115th these improvements the business of the company increased very rapidly and they nickelplated the greatest variety of articles from a bunch of keys to a fire engine. Owing to dissentions among the stockholders of the company, the business was finally given up. \Yeston then went to the
Silver Nickel Plating Company about the middle of 1872. He found the process they were carrying on was entirely unsatisfactory and turned the place into a nickel plating business. He soon left the company, however, and was appointed con.sulting expert by the Commercial Printing Telegraph Company, operating the patents of Foot and Randall. The company was soon bought out by the Gold and Stock Tclcgraph Company. Dr. Weston then formed a partnership with a LIT. Harris under the firm name of Harris & \Veston for general plating business: copper, brass, nickel, silver and gold. Here he built, in the latter part of 1872, a dynamo as a substitute lor batteries in electroplating. This greatly increased his busines, so hc enlarged the plant and finally moved t o Center Street. Here he built another dynamo, larger and somewhat different. Then he built a third dynamo for a manufacturing firm in S e w i r k . A t this time he withdrew from the plating business and matic an arrangement with the Newark firm t o build dynamos for electroplating; he made about twenty OF them. They ivcrc so expensive, however, that they could be used only by large concerns. He started to design a simpler and cheaper machine, but the firm decided t o give up the business. -4 new firm, Stevens, Robbins & Hayville, bought them out and Tf-eston went in-to the partnership in order to develop a new nickel anode which he had invented and for vhich he obtaiuccl his first patent in 1875. Born in I8j0, Weston was twenty years of age when he came t o America in 1870, and he took out his first patent in 1875 a t the age of twenty-five. The record of his varied esperience, his efforts and successes for the first five years of his working life is certainly very remarkable, and gave promise of all t h a t he has accomplished since. He has taken out over 3 j o patents for his various inventions, and has made radical improvements in several arts. Besides that, a great deal of his work has involved the most patient and careful scientific investigations, often of microscopic accuracy, and has contributed largely to the advance of scientific knowledge and theory. It would give me a great deal of pleasure to csplain to you in detail the great variety of subjects which Dr. V-eston has .investigated and developed during the forty years sirice he took out his first patent, but as I am to be followed hy Dr. Baekeland and by Dr. \Yeston himself, I must deny myself the pleasure. I n 1903 McGill University conferred upon Mr. Wcston the degree of LL.D.; in 1904 the Stevens Institutc of Technology bestowed upon him the degree of D.Sc., and in Junc, 1910, Princeton University conferred the same degree. T o DR. \vEsTnx: . . . ~~
E ~~ ~ v ~ ~OF, ~~~s~ ~~ ~~ ScrBscE, ~~ M~ D~~~ pRIEND:It gives me the greatest pleasure, as the representative of the affiliated chemical arid electrochemical societies, to place in your hands this beatltiful token of appreciation and of your felloFv chemists,
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NB’IV YoRK
EDWARD WESTON’S INVENTIONS By I, H. BAEKELAXD The pioneer work of Dr. Edward n‘eston is not easy to dcscribe in a few words. His restless inventive activity has been spread o\-er so many subjects, has intertwined so many interlocking problems, that in order to understand its iull \-alucx it would be necessary to enter into the intimate study o l the various obstacles which opposed themselves to the development of several leading industries which he helped to create: the electro-deposition of metals, the electrolytic refining of copper, the construction of electric generators and motors, the devclopment of electric illumination by arc and by incandescent light,
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