Organic Chemistry II

Abstract

Henry Edward Armstrong (London; 6 May 1848–13 July 1937), a pupil of Hofmann, Frankland, and Kolbe, was assistant to Frankland at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, then professor at the London Institution and (1884–1913) at the Central Technical College of the City and Guilds of London Institute until it was closed and he lost his position. He early recognised the importance of the periodic law (see p. 897) and to the end of his life was interested in modern work, such as the determination of structure by X-rays. He was an outspoken critic but essentially a kindly man, helpful to young chemists he thought showed promise, even if he differed from their opinions. He regarded sound experimental work highly and disliked pompous formalism in theory.¹ He was an admirer of Faraday, whose work he had studied carefully, and adopted a modification of Faraday’s view that an electric current is a result of chemical change (see p. 126). According to Armstrong, chemical change is ‘reversed electrolysis’.² His views on residual affinity³ were based on Kolbe’s (see p. 504).