science · 05 February 1790 · 234 years ago
death
Died 5 Feb 1790 at age 79 (born 15 Apr 1710).
Scottish physician and chemist who held the first independent university lectureship designated for chemistry (founded 1747) in the British Isles at Glasgow University. The university also provided a modest sum for a laboratory. (An earlier chair at Edinburgh was entitled chemistry and medicine.) Cullen extended the subject of chemistry beyond medicine by connecting it to many "arts" including agriculture, bleaching, brewing, mining, and the manufacture of vinegar and alkalies. He moved to the University of Edinburgh in 1755. Cullen was active in the founding of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Medical Society (Edinburgh). His sole paper (1756) was on his investigation of the cold produced by the evaporation of various fluids.
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