chemistry

George Fownes

George Fownes is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand George Fownes rather than just read about it. In short: George Fownes, FRS (14 May 1815 in London – 31 January 1849) was a British chemist. He attended the Palace School in Enfield.

Key takeaways

George Fownes belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect George Fownes to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of George Fownes from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

George Fownes, FRS (14 May 1815 in London – 31 January 1849) was a British chemist. He attended the Palace School in Enfield. He obtained his PhD at Giessen, in Germany. From 1842 he was chemistry professor at the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, and from 1846 at University College, London. He was also secretary of the Chemical Society of London. In 1844, he published a chemistry textbook. In 1842, he had been awarded the Royal Agricultural Society's prize for his essay Food of Plants. In 1844, he received the first Actonian Prize (of 100 guineas) for his essay Chemistry as Exemplifies the Wisdom and Beneficence of God. This work was compared to the Bridgewater Treatises and Fownes was referred to as "a thorough chemist, a sound philosopher, and an enlightened Christian." He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1845, but that same year resigned from his academic positions due to ill health. For his researches in organic chemistry, he was awarded the Royal Society's Royal Medal in 1847. He spent time in Barbados from 1847, in an attempt to treat the pulmonary disease afflicting him, but, on his return to England in 1848, he caught a cold and died at his father's house in Brompton at the age of 34.

Papers “On the Direct Formation of Cyanogen from its Elements,” Rep. Brit. Assoc., 1841, part ii. pp. 52, 53 “On the Preparation of Artificial Yeast,” Mem. Chem. Soc., i., 1841–43, pp. 100–103 “On the Preparation of Hippuric Acid,” Phil. Mag., xxi., 1842, pp. 382–384 “On the Food of Plants” [prize essay], Jour. Agric. Soc., iv., 1843, pp. 498–556 “On the Existence of Phosphoric Acid in Rocks of Igneous Origin,” Phil. Trans., 1844, pp. 53–56 “An Account of the Artificial Formation of a Vegeto-alkali” (Furfurol), and “On Benzoline,” Phil. Trans., 1845, pp. 253–268 “On the Production of Furfurol,” Pharm. Journ., 1849, 113–116 “On the Equivalent or Combining Volumes of Solid Bodies,” Pharm. Journ., pp. 334–339.

Sources "Fownes, George" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. Baynes, T. S., ed. (1879). "Fownes, George" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (9th ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Entry for Fownes in the Royal Society's Library and Archive catalogue's details of Fellows (accessed 21 April 2008)

References

External links George Fownes biography from Today In Science History The life and work of George Fownes, F.R.S. (1815–49), J. S. Rowe in Annals of Science (1850) George Fownes's Chemistry, as exemplifying the wisdom and beneficence of God (1844)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George Fownes

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George Fownes claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to George Fownes before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about George Fownes ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of George Fownes

In research: George Fownes appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses George Fownes in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: George Fownes is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1815 births, 1849 deaths, British chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for George Fownes outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “George Fownes” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study George Fownes in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what George Fownes means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain George Fownes out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is George Fownes in simple terms?

George Fownes, FRS (14 May 1815 in London – 31 January 1849) was a British chemist. He attended the Palace School in Enfield.

Why does George Fownes matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study George Fownes?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on George Fownes.