Henry Clifton Sorby
Henry Clifton Sorby | |
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![]() Henry Clifton Sorby. Portrait in Mappin Hall, University of Sheffield | |
Born | Woodbourne near Sheffield in Yorkshire, England | 10 May 1826
Died | 9 March 1908 Sheffield, England | (aged 81)
Awards | Wollaston Medal (1869) Royal Medal (1874) |
Henry Clifton Sorby (10 May 1826 – 9 March 1908) was an English microscopist and geologist. His major contribution was the development of techniques for studying iron and steel with microscopes. This paved the way for the mass production of steel.
Biography
Early life
Sorby was born at Woodbourne, near Sheffield in Yorkshire, and attended Sheffield Collegiate School. He early on developed an interest in natural science. One of his first papers related to the excavation of valleys in Yorkshire. In 1847, when he was 21, his father died, leaving him a comfortable private income. He immediately established a scientific laboratory and workshop at his home.
Petrography
He subsequently dealt with the physical geography of former geological periods, with the wave-structure in certain stratified rocks, and the origin of slaty cleavage.[1]
He took up the study of rocks and minerals under the
In the mid-
- Mountains must indeed be examined with the microscope.[4]
Sorby was one of the first to understand the role and the importance of microscopic processes to explain
He studied the microscopical structure of meteorites.[6]
In the summer of 1876 at South Kensington, he gave a lecture to science teachers on microscopes.[7]
Metallography
In 1863, he used etching with acid to study the microscopic structure of iron and steel. Using this technique, he was the first in England to understand that a small but precise quantity of carbon gave steel its strength.[8] His metallographic observations allowed to scientifically confirm the merits and the soundness of the process patented by Henry Bessemer in 1855, and improved by Robert Forester Mushet in 1856, for mass-production of steel. Due to this accomplishment, Sorby is known to modern metallurgists as the "father of metallography", with an award bearing his name being offered by the International Metallographic Society for lifetime achievement.
Marine sciences
His interests were broad. After buying a yacht, "The Glimpse",
Fellow of scientific societies
In 1857, aged only 31, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in recognition of this work on slaty cleavage.[8]
He was president of the
Death
He died in Sheffield and was buried in Ecclesall churchyard.
Honours and awards
He was elected a
Both the International Association of Sedimentologists and the Yorkshire Geological Society have Sorby Medals named in honour of his achievements in geology. The Henry Clifton Sorby Award is offered by the International Metallographic Society in recognition of lifetime achievement in metallurgy. The University of Sheffield has a chair of geology/physical geology named after him and the Sorby Natural History Society [1] is named after Sorby. The area in which the society operates (north East Derbyshire, the Sheffield and Chesterfield areas) are known to members as 'Sorbyshire'.
The Dorsa Sorby wrinkle ridge system on the Moon is named after him. There is also a wing at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield (South Yorkshire) named after him.
See also
- Cleavage (crystal)
- Cleavage (geology)
- Dynamic quartz recrystallization
- Petrology
- Pressure solution
- Salt deformation
- Structural geology
References
- ^ a b c d Chisholm 1911.
- S2CID 128592719.
- ]
- .
- ISSN 1941-5982.
- S2CID 131171184.
- ^ "Microscopes by H. C. Sorby". Science Lectures at South Kensington. Vol. I. London: Macmillan & Company. 1878. pp. 193–215.
- ^ a b "Biography of Henry Clifton Sorby". Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Sorby, Henry Clifton". Who's Who. 1903. p. 1289.
- ^ Scientific American. Munn & Company. 1 April 1882. p. 201.
- ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 20 October 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter S" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
Attribution:
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sorby, Henry Clifton". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 431. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Further reading
- "A Biography of Henry Clifton Sorby". sorby.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
Henry Clifton Sorby Sheffield's Greatest Scientist
- Judd, John W. (August 1908). "Henry Clifton Sorby. 1826–1908". Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. 28 (4): 431–435. .
- Edyvean, Robert; Hammond, Christopher (1997). "The metallurgical work of Henry Clifton Sorby and an annotated catalogue of his extant metallurgical specimens". Historical Metallurgy. 31 (2): 54–85. ISSN 2755-0249.
- Humphries, D. W. (1973). The contribution of Henry Clifton Sorby (1826—1908) to mineral science and technology. Mineralia Slovaca, 5(4), 593–601.
External links
- Yorkshire Philosophical Society. "Henry Clifton Sorby". ypsyork.org. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
- Biographical material, Sorby Natural History Society, Sheffield
- Sorby Medal, or Award, attributed by different scientific societies: