chemistry

Richard Laming

Richard Laming 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 Richard Laming rather than just read about it. In short: Richard Laming (17 August 1799–3 May 1879) was a British surgeon, natural philosopher, inventor, chemist and industrialist. There is some uncertainty about his origins.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Richard Laming (17 August 1799–3 May 1879) was a British surgeon, natural philosopher, inventor, chemist and industrialist. There is some uncertainty about his origins. It is believed that he was born in Margate, England as the son of James Laming, a packet boat owner, and Sarah Walton. He had an elder brother James, born 1791, who was a prosperous merchant. In 1825, Richard qualified for membership of the Royal College of Surgeons, and he established a practice in London. During his leisure moments, Richard developed an interest in the theory of electricity. Between 1838 and 1851 he published a series of papers speculating about the electrical makeup of atoms. He hypothesized that there existed sub-atomic particles of unit charge; one of the first persons ever to do so. He suggested that the atom was made up of a core of material surrounded by concentric shells of these electrical 'atoms', or particles. He also believed that these particles could be added or subtracted to an atom, changing its charge. Around 1844, he suggested a mechanism for an insulator as an atom surrounded by "perfect external spherical strata" of electrical particles. He also supposed that chemical reactions could occur when two atoms share an electrical charge. However, perhaps because he provided no experimental backing for his ideas, he received little interest from the Royal Society. In 1838 he moved to Paris, where he remained for about a decade. There his ideas also received little interest and he was regarded as eccentric. His medical practice apparently ended some time around 1842. When he returned to England his interests leaned toward chemistry, and began working in the coal-gas industry. He applied for several patents:

1844, for improvements in the purification and application of ammonia. 1847, for a continuous recuperator made of iron tubes, which may be the oldest such device known. 1850, for improvements in the manufacture of gas for illumination and other purposes to which coal gas is applicable. 1850, for the Laming process, which was a method of removing hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide from coal gas. 1861, Improvements in manufacturing alkaline carbonates. During the 1860s, he apparently became interested in the telegraph and he applied for two patents for improvements to the device. He retired around 1865 to live along the south coast of England. He died on 3 May 1879 in Arundel, Sussex. He was twice married and had at least two sons.

Bibliography Laming, Richard (1838). On the Primary Forces of Electricity. Location. Laming, R. (1845). "Observations on a Paper by Prof. Faraday Concerning Electrical Conduction and the Nature of Matter". Philosophical Magazine. 27 (2): 420–423. doi:10.1080/14786444508646245. Laming, Richard (1851). Matter and Force: An Analytical and Synthetical Essay on Physical Causation. R. Taylor. Laming, Richard (1858). A New View of Electrical Action. Taylor and Francis. Laming, Richard (1873). God in second causes: a physical principia. Laming, Richard (1874). The Spirituality of Causation: A Scientific Hypothesis. London: Williams and Norgate.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard Laming

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard Laming 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 Richard Laming 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 Richard Laming 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 Richard Laming

In research: Richard Laming 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 Richard Laming 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: Richard Laming is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1790s births, 1879 deaths, 19th-century British surgeons, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard Laming 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.

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How to study Richard Laming in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Richard Laming 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 Richard Laming out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard Laming in simple terms?

Richard Laming (17 August 1799–3 May 1879) was a British surgeon, natural philosopher, inventor, chemist and industrialist. There is some uncertainty about his origins.

Why does Richard Laming 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 Richard Laming?

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 Richard Laming.