Abstract
MUCH attention is being given at present to affairs in the Far Bast, in connexion with which it is of interest to recall the pioneer efforts of nearly seventy years ago of Prof. Alexander W. Williamson, F.R.S., the distinguished chemist, to enable Japanese youth of high rank to obtain a knowledge of European methods in education, the arts and sciences, commerce, and manufactures. In association with him was a small band of men, inspired by his enthusiasm and example. Williamson was born at Wandsworth in 1824, and he died in 1904. Educated mostly abroad, he was a pupil of Gmelin, at Heidelberg, and Liebig, at Giessen. In 1849 he was elected professor of practical chemistry at University College, London, with which the chair of general chemistry was later (1855) combined; he remained in the service of the College for thirty-nine years, Williamson was foreign secretary of the Royal Society from 1873 until 1890, and a Royal medallist of that body. On two occasions he was chosen president of the Chemical Society.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prof. A. W. Williamson and Japanese Development. Nature 129, 338–339 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/129338c0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/129338c0