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William Prout

Born

in Horton, Gloucestershire, England, The United Kingdom

January 15, 1785

Died

April 09, 1850

Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Prout

Genre

Science, Chemistry, Medicine

Influences

Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac, Lazzaro Spallanzani ...more

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William Prout FRS (15 January 1785 – 9 April 1850) was an English chemist and physician. He is remembered today mainly for what is called Prout's hypothesis.

Prout was born in Horton, Gloucestershire in 1785 and educated at 17 years of age by a clergyman, followed by the Redland Academy at Bristol and Edinburgh University, where he graduated in 1811 with an MD. His professional life was spent as a practising physician in London, but he also occupied himself with chemical research. He was an active worker in biological chemistry and carried out many analyses of the secretions of living organisms, which he believed were produced by the breakdown of bodily tissues. In 1823, he discovered that stomach juices contain hydrochloric acid, which can William Prout FRS (15 January 1785 – 9 April 1850) was an English chemist and physician. He is remembered today mainly for what is called Prout's hypothesis.

Prout was born in Horton, Gloucestershire in 1785 and educated at 17 years of age by a clergyman, followed by the Redland Academy at Bristol and Edinburgh University, where he graduated in 1811 with an MD. His professional life was spent as a practising physician in London, but he also occupied himself with chemical research. He was an active worker in biological chemistry and carried out many analyses of the secretions of living organisms, which he believed were produced by the breakdown of bodily tissues. In 1823, he discovered that stomach juices contain hydrochloric acid, which can be separated from gastric juice by distillation. In 1827, he proposed the classification of substances in food into sugars and starches, oily bodies, and albumen, which would later become known as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

Prout is better remembered, however, for his researches into physical chemistry. In 1815, based on the tables of atomic weights available at the time, he anonymously hypothesized that the atomic weight of every element is an integer multiple of that of hydrogen, suggesting that the hydrogen atom is the only truly fundamental particle (which he called protyle), and that the atoms of the other elements are made of groupings of various numbers of hydrogen atoms. While Prout's hypothesis was not borne out by later more-accurate measurements of atomic weights, it was a sufficiently fundamental insight into the structure of the atom that in 1920, Ernest Rutherford chose the name of the newly discovered proton to, among other reasons, give credit to Prout.

Prout contributed to the improvement of the barometer, and the Royal Society of London adopted his design as a national standard.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1819. He delivered the Goulstonian Lecture to the Royal College of Physicians in 1831 on the application of chemistry to medicine.

Prout wrote the eighth Bridgewater Treatise, Chemistry, Meteorology, and the Function of Digestion. It was in this work that he coined the term "convection" to describe a type of energy transfer.

In 1814, Prout married Agnes Adam of Edinburgh, Scotland, and together they had six children. Prout died in London in 1850 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

The Prout is a unit of nuclear binding energy, and is 1/12 the binding energy of the deuteron, or 185.5 keV. It is named after William Prout. ...more

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Average rating: 5.0 · 1 rating · 1 review · 31 distinct works

	Chemistry, meteorology, and the function of digestion : considered with reference to natural theology / by William Prout. 1834 [Leather Bound] it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chemistry, Meteorology and the Function of Digestion Considered with Reference to Natural Theology 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2009 — 35 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Inquiry Into the Nature and Treatment of Diabetes, Calculus: And Other Affections of the Urinary Organs; With Remarks on the Importance of ... of the Kidney and Bladder 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2015 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	On the Nature and Treatment of Stomach and Renal Diseases; Being an Inquiry Into the Connexion of Diabetes, Calculus, and Other Affections of the Kidney and Bladder With Indigestion 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Inquiry Into the Nature and Treatment of Gravel, Calculus, and Other Diseases Connected with a Deranged Operation of the Urinary Organs 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	On The Nature And Treatment Of Stomach And Urinary Diseases (1840) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bridgewater Treatises Chemistry Meteorology & the Function of Digestion Considered with Reference to Natural Theology 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Onerie, Reteorologie Und Verwandte Gegenstande, Als Zeugnisse Fur Die Herrlichkeit Des Schoofers: Aus Dem Englischen ... Zweiter Band 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	CHEMISTRY, METEOROLOGY, AND THE FUNCTION OF DIGESTION Considered with Reference to Natural Theology [Bridgewater Treatise] 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	On The Nature And Treatment Of Stomach And Urinary Diseases: Being An Inquiry Into The Connexion Of Diabetes, Calculus, And Other Affections Of The Kidney And Bladder, With Indigestion 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by William Prout (?)

“That a free, or at least an unsaturated acid usually exists in the stomachs of animals, and is in some manner connected with the important process of digestion, seems to have been the general opinion of physiologists till the time of Spallanzani. This illustrious philosopher concluded, from his numerous experiments, that the gastric fluids, when in a perfectly natural state, are neither acid nor alkaline. Even Spallanzani, however, admitted that the contents of the stomach are very generally acid; and this accords not only with my own observation, but with that, I believe, of almost every individual who has made any experiments on the subject. ... The object of the present communication is to show, that the acid in question is the muriatic [hydrochloric] acid, and that the salts usually met with in the stomach, are the alkaline muriates.”
― William Prout

tags: acid, illustrious, lazzaro-spallanzani, observation, philosopher, science, spallanzani, stomach

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“I had come to the conclusion, that the principal alimentary matters might be reduced to the three great classes, namely the saccharine, the oily and the albuminous.”
― William Prout

tags: alimentary, conclusion, oily, saccharine

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William Prout’s Followers (1)

William Prout

Combine EditionsWilliam Prout’s books

Combine Editions
William Prout’s books