19th century
20th century
A01=William H. Brock
academic reform
affinity
Author_William H. Brock
biography
British science
campaigns
Category=JH
Category=JHB
Category=JHBA
Category=KCK
chemical research
Chemical Society
chemist
chemistry
critic
development
education
educator
Edwardian era
electrolysis
English
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eq_business-finance-law
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eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
gender roles
institutions
physical chemistry
residual affinity
reverse electrolysis
scientific
scientific controversy
scientific criticism
scientific debates
scientific education
scientific institutions
scientific progress
scientific theory
social relations
teaching
Victorian era
women
Product details
- ISBN 9780226839585
- Weight: 626g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 04 Jun 2025
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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A biography of Henry Edward Armstrong, an underappreciated maverick in the history of chemistry.
Fifth Business is a biography of the English chemist, educator, and scientific critic Henry Edward Armstrong. Today, Armstrong, who was a central figure in the development of the science of chemistry between 1885 and 1914, is more remembered for his campaigns to improve the teaching of chemistry, and science generally, and less for his theory of residual affinity and reverse electrolysis—or his hostility toward physical chemistry. However, right up until his retirement, Armstrong was a significant and prolific organic chemist, as well as a major figure in the academic and social life of the Chemical Society.
Fifth Business is structured as chronologically as possible, with Armstrong’s life and achievements as an active chemist in Part I (1848–1911) and as a critic in his long retirement in Part II (1911–1937). Brock’s authoritative biography provides a unique inside look at its subject, allowing us to better understand the history of British science, scientific institutions, scientific education, pedagogical theory, and social relations of science during the last third of the nineteenth century and the first third of the twentieth.
Fifth Business is a biography of the English chemist, educator, and scientific critic Henry Edward Armstrong. Today, Armstrong, who was a central figure in the development of the science of chemistry between 1885 and 1914, is more remembered for his campaigns to improve the teaching of chemistry, and science generally, and less for his theory of residual affinity and reverse electrolysis—or his hostility toward physical chemistry. However, right up until his retirement, Armstrong was a significant and prolific organic chemist, as well as a major figure in the academic and social life of the Chemical Society.
Fifth Business is structured as chronologically as possible, with Armstrong’s life and achievements as an active chemist in Part I (1848–1911) and as a critic in his long retirement in Part II (1911–1937). Brock’s authoritative biography provides a unique inside look at its subject, allowing us to better understand the history of British science, scientific institutions, scientific education, pedagogical theory, and social relations of science during the last third of the nineteenth century and the first third of the twentieth.
William H. Brock (1936–2025) was a historian of science and the author of several books, among them The History of Chemistry: A Very Short Introduction; William Crookes (1832–1919) and the Commercialization of Science; Justus von Liebig: The Chemical Gatekeeper; Science for All: Studies in the History of Victorian Science and Education; and The Norton History of Chemistry.
