John William Mallet | |
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| Born | (1832-10-10)10 October 1832 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 7 November 1912(1912-11-07) (aged 80) Charlottesville, Virginia, US |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Signature | |
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John William MalletFRS (10 October 1832 – 7 November 1912) was an Irish chemist who lived and worked in the United States.
John William Mallet was born nearDublin toRobert Mallet and Cordelia Mallet (Watson). Robert Mallet was a civil engineer and a fellow of the Royal Society and other societies and had an ample scientific library which his son had explored. Before entering college, John was attending private lessons in chemistry and at the age of 17 was admitted toTrinity College Dublin, where he obtained the degreeBachelor of Arts in 1853. During his college years, Mallet assisted his father inseismological studies, received a gold medal in experimental physics, and published a paper on "Chemical examination ofKilliney" in 1849, just after entering college. In the summers of 1851 and 1852 he went to theUniversity of Göttingen where he attended the lectures ofFriedrich Wöhler and received a degree in 1852. He presented the associated thesis on the chemical composition of Celtic antiquities to the museum of theRoyal Irish Academy.[1]
After returning to Ireland and completing his college courses, Mallet went to the United States for the purpose of acquiring information for his father. He resided there for the rest of his life, but never became an American citizen. In 1854, he was appointed professor of analytical chemistry at Amherst, where a Göttingen friendWilliam S. Clark held a leading position, but in January 1855 moved to the State Geological Survey of Alabama and became professor of chemistry at theUniversity of Alabama. He served in that capacity, with a brief leave of absence spent at Mobile, until theAmerican Civil War. In the autumn of 1861 he enlisted as a private in a troop ofConfederate Cavalry, but almost immediately was chosen asaide-de-camp on the staff of GeneralRobert E. Rodes. Hewas transferred to the artillery in May 1862 and by 1865 becamelieutenant colonel and then superintendent of the ordnance laboratories of the Southern States.[1]
After peace had been established Mallet became professor of chemistry in the medical department of theUniversity of Louisiana. The appointment was the outcome of a mission which he undertook on behalf of some Northern financiers, to search for petroleum in this southern state. The result of the appointment was to direct his attention to medicine, in which he gained the degree of M.D. in 1868. In that year he was called to theUniversity of Virginia, which became his final home. During the years when UVA is listed as having no president, he may have served as the acting president, because he signed a telegram toJessie Andrews in 1886 as "President, The University of Virginia."[2] At first his work included analytical, industrial and agricultural chemistry, but, as time progressed, his scope became broader and broader. He lectured atJohns Hopkins University in 1877 and again in 1878, and during the winter of 1883–84 was professor of chemistry and physics, and chairman of the faculty at theUniversity of Texas. The following year found him at theJefferson Medical College in Philadelphia as professor of chemistry, but the unsatisfactory conditions there caused him to return in 1885 to the University of Virginia, which he never again left. In 1908 Mallet was appointed professor emeritus at the age of seventy-six, but still kept his residence atCharlottesville. Besides his services to the Southern States during the war, he undertook a number of other commissions of a public or semipublic nature, having served as judge in the bureau of awards at theCentennial Exposition in 1876 and been a member of theUnited States Assay Commission in 1886, 1888 and 1896. He was a fellow or member of many chemical and other learned societies, including the
He received the honorary degree ofLegum Doctor from theCollege of William & Mary,University of Mississippi,Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University, and theUniversity of Pennsylvania. His interest in the US South was emphasized and strengthened by his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Ormond (1836–1886), the daughter of an Alabama judgeJohn James Ormond, in 1857, and again, after the death of his first wife in 1886, to Josephine Burtlhe of Louisiana, in 1888. Josephine survived him with two of the three children from his first marriage, as his first son, John Ormond Mallet, died at an early age.[1]
In 1961,Mallet Assembly, a self-governing residential honors program was created by theUniversity of Alabama. Mallet Assembly was located inMallet Hall, which was named for him.[3][4] He is buried at theUniversity of Virginia Cemetery.
The scientific work of Mallet covered a wide field including general and applied chemistry and chemical mineralogy. He devised methods for the determination of organic matter in potable water and characterised meteorites and rare terrestrial minerals; in particular, he studied the occurrence of silver in the ash of South American volcanoes. He accurately determined the density of solid mercury, molecular weight ofhydrofluoric acid and the atomic weights of lithium (1856), aluminium (1880) and gold. For comparison, his result for lithium (6.943) agrees within the error with the currently accepted value of 6.941(2). Mallet also served as expert witness in many court cases involving poisoning, value of iron ore, pollution of river water and other chemical questions.[1]
This article incorporates text fromObituary notices, byTheodore William Richards, a publication from 1913, now in thepublic domain in the United States.
