chemistry

William Edward Augustin Aikin

William Edward Augustin Aikin 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 William Edward Augustin Aikin rather than just read about it. In short: William Edward Augustin Aikin (6 February 1807 – 31 May 1888), known professionally as William E. A.

Key takeaways

William Edward Augustin Aikin belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Connect William Edward Augustin Aikin to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of William Edward Augustin Aikin from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

William Edward Augustin Aikin (6 February 1807 – 31 May 1888), known professionally as William E. A. Aikin, was an American analytical chemist and natural scientist. He was chair of the chemistry department at the University of Maryland from 1837 to 1883. While most of his work focused on chemistry, he held accomplishments in other fields in the natural sciences.

Early years, education, and personal life Aikin was born in Rensselaer County, New York on February 6, 1807. He graduated from the Rensselaer Institute in 1829 and shortly thereafter earned a license from the New York State Medical Society. Aikin married twice and had 28 children. He outlived both wives and all but three of his children.

Academic career Despite completing his training and earning an honorary M.D. degree from the Vermont Academy of Medicine, Aikin turned away from the medical profession and took a position in 1833 teaching natural sciences at the Western Female Collegiate Institute in Pittsburgh. In Baltimore, he became an associate professor teaching chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Maryland for one year until he was elected chair of the chemistry department in October 1837. He filled that role until his withdrawal as Emeritus Professor in 1883. He was Dean of the School of Medicine at the university from 1840–1841 and from 1844 to 1855. Other positions he held included Professor of Natural Philosophy in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Maryland, Lecturer at the Maryland Institute, and Professor of Physics, Chemistry, and Natural Philosophy at Mount Saint Mary's College in Emmitsburg.

Other accomplishments Aikin held an interest in a broad range of sciences. A colleague said of him: If you want a pretty good practical mathematician, one of the best botanists in America, an experimental chemist, of the first order, a very superior Geologist, Mineralogist, and Zoologist, you have him in Dr. William Aikin. In 1837, Aikin published a catalog of botanical specimens he studied in the Baltimore area. Aikin was appointed assistant geologist on The Geological Survey of Virginia from June 1, 1837, to April 13, 1839. In 1839, Aikin was appointed Governor of the Baltimore Infirmary. Aikin experimented with photography and published some of his findings in 1840. Aikin served as an expert witness in the murder trials of Nancy W. Hufford in 1851, Dr. Paul Schoeppe in 1872, and Elizabeth G. Wharton in 1873. From about 1868 until 1888, Aikin served as Baltimore's Inspector of Gas and Illuminating Oils. After Aikin's death, a steam-powered automobile was discovered in his office at The University of Maryland. The car was built in 1882 and credited to Aikin; he may have built it with his son, Albert, a civil engineer who wrote a thesis on steam machinery and, at the time, lived with his father in Baltimore.

Publications Aikin, William E. A. (1834). "Some Notices of the Geology of the Country between Baltimore and the Ohio River, with a Section illustrating the Superposition of the Rocks". American Journal of Science. 26 (2): 219–232. Retrieved January 20, 2024. Aikin, William E. A. (1837). Catalogue of phænogamous plants and ferns, native or naturalized, growing in the vicinity of Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore: n.p. OCLC 10918705. Retrieved January 20, 2024. Aikin, William E. A. (1837). "Death from the careless use of a hair dye". American Journal of Pharmacy. 32: 313–315. Retrieved January 20, 2024. Aikin, William E. A. (1837). "On some supposed fallacies in determining the presence of tartar emetic". The Richmond and Louisville Medical Journal. 15: 7–13. Retrieved January 20, 2024. Aikin, William E. A. (1840). Notice of the daguerreotype. Baltimore: J. Murphy. OCLC 8774397. Retrieved January 20, 2024. Aikin, William E. A.; Dunglison, Robley (1840). An introductory lecture : delivered before the medical class of the University of Maryland, September, 1840. Baltimore: J. Murphy. OCLC 33077305. Aikin, William E. A. (1841). Address delivered before the Philomathian Society of Mount St. Mary's College, near Emmittsburg, Maryland, at the annual commencement, June 30th, 1841, by Wm. E. A. Aikin. Baltimore: John Murphy. OCLC 16120550. Aikin, William E. A. (1842). Report of a geological examination of some tracts of land in Allegany country, Md. and Hampshire Country, Va., belonging to the estate of the late Robert Oliver, esq. Baltimore: John D. Toy. OCLC 250281572. Aikin, William E. A. (1859). On the causes of the variable illuminating power of coal-gas: Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Twelfth Meeting, Held at Baltimore, Maryland, May, 1858. Cambridge: Joseph Lovering. pp. 133–138. Aikin, William E. A. (1859). On the variable illuminating power of coal gas. The American Journal of Science and Arts, Second Series, 27(79), 82–86. Retrieved January 20, 2024. Aikin, William E. A. (1873). A review of "Prof. Resse's Review" of the Wharton trial : with a brief notice of the Schoeppe trial (PDF). New York: D. Appleton. OCLC 495281116. Retrieved January 20, 2024.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William Edward Augustin Aikin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William Edward Augustin Aikin 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 William Edward Augustin Aikin 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 William Edward Augustin Aikin 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 William Edward Augustin Aikin

In research: William Edward Augustin Aikin 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 William Edward Augustin Aikin 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: William Edward Augustin Aikin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1807 births, 1888 deaths, 19th-century American geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William Edward Augustin Aikin 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 William Edward Augustin Aikin in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
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Frequently asked questions

What is William Edward Augustin Aikin in simple terms?

William Edward Augustin Aikin (6 February 1807 – 31 May 1888), known professionally as William E. A.

Why does William Edward Augustin Aikin 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 William Edward Augustin Aikin?

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 William Edward Augustin Aikin.