Hesham el gakh biography of william henry

Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New

W illiam Henry was a leading experimental chemist who helped establish the validity of Dalton's atomic theory. Best known for his investigation of gases, he formulated Henry's Law, which describes the relationship between mass and pressure for a gas dissolved in liquid. Henry also wrote the most influential chemistry textbook of his time, which stood as the standard for over thirty years.

Henry was born into a wealthy English family in Manchester. At age 10, he was injured by a falling beam and left with chronic, lifelong pain. This limited his play and led to his becoming an avid student. At age 16, he began his studies in medicine and in entered the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. A year later, however, he left to work in the family's manufacturing business.

During this period, he did original research in chemistry. He returned to school in and earned his medical degree in Henry was fascinated by the work of the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier A generation earlier, Lavoisier had made chemistry a true scientific discipline, providing basic principles and challenging the existing vestiges of alchemy.

Henry delivered lectures on the French chemist's work, and these evolved into Elements of Experimental Chemistry. First published in , this textbook went through 11 editions in 30 years and introduced generations of chemists to Lavoisier's chemical nomenclature and the use of careful experimental measurement. Henry was a friend of John Dalton , a friendship that was pivotal to both of their careers and to chemistry.