science · 13 July 1937 · 87 years ago
death
Died 13 Jul 1937 at age 89 (born 6 May 1848).
English organic chemist whose major research in substitution reactions of naphthalene was important to the synthetic-dye industry. In early work, he developed a method for sanitary surveys of water supplies by determining the organic impurities (sewage) content, which helped to control typhoid fever. Later, Armstrong also pioneered in organic crystallography, and the understanding of the chemical composition of camphor and related terpene compounds. He also devised a centric formula for benzene. Armstrong challenged Arrhenius's ionic theory, proposing instead that water is a complex saturated with the gas “hydrone.” He maintained that vapor pressure was a measure of the concentration of free hydrone molecules.
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