John William Draper
John William Draper | |
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Grotthuss–Draper law | |
Awards | Rumford Medal (1875) |
John William Draper (May 5, 1811 – January 4, 1882) was an English-born American scientist, philosopher, physician, chemist, historian and photographer. He is credited with pioneering portrait photography (1839–40) and producing the first detailed photograph of the moon in 1840. He was also the first president of the American Chemical Society (1876–77) and a founder of the New York University School of Medicine.
One of Draper's books, the History of the Conflict between Religion and Science, popularised the conflict thesis proposing intrinsic hostility in the relationship between religion and science. It was widely read and was translated into several languages.[1]
His son, Henry Draper, and his granddaughter, Antonia Maury, were astronomers. His granddaughter, Carlotta Maury (Antonia's younger sister), was a paleontologist. His eldest son, John Christopher Draper, was a chemist; and son Daniel Draper, a meteorologist.[2]
Early life
John William Draper was born May 5, 1811, in
On September 13, 1831, John William Draper married Antonia Caetana de Paiva Pereira Gardner (c. 1814–1870), the daughter of Daniel Gardner, a court physician to
Following his father's death in July 1831, John William's mother was urged to move with her children to the US state of
Virginia
In 1832, the family settled in
New York
In 1837, Draper accepted an appointment to be head of chemistry in a proposed medical school at
Work
Draper did important research in photochemistry, made portrait photography possible by his improvements (1839) on Louis Daguerre's process, and published Organization of Plants (1844), a textbook on Chemistry (1846), textbook on Natural Philosophy (1847), textbook on Physiology (1866), and Scientific Memoirs (1878) on radiant energy.
In the spring of 1839, Draper, with years of experience in photochemistry, took Talbotype photographs at Hampden Sydney College in Virginia. However, he was dissatisfied with the results and decided to wait for the publication of the daguerreotype process. Once the details of the process arrived in America in late September 1839, Draper, now a professor at New York University, captured landscape photographs. On or around September 23, he took one of the earliest daguerreotype portraits, which depicted his assistant, William Henry Goode.[11][12]
Throughout 1839 and 1840, Draper focused on solving the challenge of creating daguerreotype portraits. He collaborated with Samuel Morse and in spring 1840 operated a daguerreotype studio, one of the earliest of its kind, in a building on the roof of the New York University.[13] Draper also photographed his sister, Dorothy Catherine Draper, and one of those pictures (see image) became known to the public via the letter which Draper sent to John Herschel in 1840. Several copies were made of this picture in the 19th century, and the photograph attached with Draper's letter was also likely a copy made by Draper himself.[4][14]
In March 1840 Draper became the second person to produce photographs of an astronomical object, the
Draper developed the proposition in 1842 that only light rays that are absorbed can produce chemical change.
In 1847 he published the observation that all solids glow red at about the same temperature, about 977 °F (798 K), which has come to be known as the Draper point.[18][19]
On Saturday 30 May the
Draper was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1844.[23] He served as the first president of the American Chemical Society in 1876.[24] He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1877.[25]
Children
- John Christopher Draper (1835–1885)
- Henry Draper (1837–1882)
- Virginia Draper Maury (1839–1885)
- Daniel Draper (1841–1931)
- William Draper (1845–1853)
- Antonia Draper Dixon (1849–1923)
Death
He died on January 4, 1882, at his home in
Legacy
In 1975, Draper's house, known as the Henry Draper Observatory, in Hastings was designated a National Historic Landmark.
In 1976, New York University founded the John W. Draper Interdisciplinary Master's Program in Humanities and Social Thought (Draper Program)[28] in honor of his lifelong commitment to interdisciplinary study.
In 2001, Draper and the founding of the American Chemical Society were designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark at New York University.[29]
Publications
Draper wrote a number of books and articles for magazines and journals (Google Scholar). His books include:
- Elements of Chemistry, Including the Most Recent Discoveries and Applications of the Science to Medicine and Pharmacy, and to the Arts. by Robert Kane and John William Draper. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1842.
- History of the American Civil War. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1867–70.
- History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science. New York: D. Appleton, 1874.
- History of the Intellectual Development of Europe. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1863, 1900 edition, v.1,v.2
- Human Physiology, Statistical and Dynamical; or, the Conditions and Course of the Life of Man. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1856.
- Life of Franklin, Edited by Ronald S. Wilkinson. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1977.
- Draper, John William. (1875). History of the Conflict between Religion and Science. Henry S. King & Co (reissued by ISBN 978-1-108-00069-7)
- Science in America: Inaugural address of Dr. John W. Draper, as president of the American Chemical Society New York: J.F. Trow & Son, Printers, 1876.
- Scientific Memoirs; Being Experimental Contributions to a Knowledge of Radiant Energy. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1878.
- Text-Book on Chemistry. For the Use of Schools and Colleges. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851, 1861 edition
- Text-Book on Natural Philosophy. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1847.
- Thoughts on the Future Civil Policy of America. 3rd ed. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1867.
- Treatise on the Forces Which Produce the Organization of Plants. With an Appendix Containing Several Memoirs on Capillary Attraction, Electricity, and the Chemical Action of Light. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1844.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-226-71020-4. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
- ^ a b John William Draper. The Notable Names Database
- ^ "Personal". Engineering News-record. January 7, 1882. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ a b c Howard R. McManus, "The Most Famous Daguerreian Portrait: Exploring the History of the Dorothy Catherine Draper Daguerreotype," The Daguerreian Annual 1995, pp. 148–171.
- ^ Fleming 1950.
- ^ Wickliff, Gregory A. "John William Draper's Experiments in Light, Photography, and Photolithography". Daguerreian Annual 2011: 145.
- ^ Fleming 1950, pp. 7–8.
- ^ Fleming 1950, p. 8.
- ^ Fleming 1950, pp. 9–13.
- ^ Barker, George F. (April 21, 1886). Memoir of John William Draper. 1811-1882 (PDF). Read before the Natural Academy. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Draper, John W. (1858). "Who Made the First Photographic Portrait?". American Journal of Photography. 1 (1): 2–6.
- ^ Beck, B. "First photo". Retrieved May 6, 2023.
- ISBN 978-0262034104.
- ^ Scientific American. Munn & Company. 1882-01-14. p. 16.
- Chemical Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- S2CID 143548845.
- ^ On the idiosyncratic interpretation of the action of what Draper called "Tithonic rays" see Hentschel (2002).
- ^ "Science: Draper's Memoirs". The Academy. XIV (338). London: Robert Scott Walker: 408. October 26, 1878.
- ISBN 978-0-471-21270-6.
- ^ Keith Thomson (May–June 2000). "Huxley, Wilberforce and the Oxford Museum". American Scientist. p. 210. Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
- Darwin Correspondence Project. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
- ^ Numbers "Myths and Truths in Science and Religion: A historical perspective" Lecture archive Archived 11 October 2017
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-04-12.
- ^ "ACS President: John W. Draper (1811-1882)". American Chemical Society. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ "National Academy of Sciences". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
- ^ New York Times, January 5, 1882.
- ^ New York Times, January 11, 1882.
- ^ John W. Draper Interdisciplinary Master's Program in Humanities and Social Thought | New York University | Draper Program | NYU Archived 2012-04-24 at the Wayback Machine. Draper.fas.nyu.edu. Retrieved on 2011-09-05.
- ^ "John W. Draper and the Founding of the American Chemical Society, 1876". American Chemical Society. Retrieved June 5, 2012.[permanent dead link]
Sources
- Barker, George Frederick. Memoir of John William Draper: 1811–1882.[permanent dead link] Washington, D.C., 1886.
- Fleming, Donald Harnish (1950). John William Draper and the Religion of Science. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. JSTOR j.ctv5134fn.
- Hentschel, Klaus (2002). "Why not one more Imponderable?: John William Draper and his `Tithonic rays'". Foundations of Chemistry. 4 (1): 5–59. .
- Miller, Lillian B., Frederick Voss, and Jeannette M. Hussey. The Lazzaroni: Science and Scientists in Mid-Nineteenth-Century America. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1972.
- Ungureanu, James C. Science, Religion, and the Protestant Tradition: Retracing the Origins of Conflict. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019.
External links
- McManus, Howard R. "The Most Famous Daguerreian Portrait: Exploring the History of the Dorothy Catherine Draper Daguerreotype," The Daguerreian Annual, 1995, 148–71.
- McManus, Howard R. "Into the Light: John William Draper and the Earliest American Photographic Portraits."
- THE DAGUERREOTYPE PORTRAIT OF DOROTHY DRAPER. The Photographic Journal (Royal Photographic Society), December 1970, vol. 110, pp. 478–482
- John William Draper family papers, 1777-1951 at the Library of Congress
- Draper Family Collection, ca. 1826–1936 Archived 2014-04-09 at the Wayback Machine at the National Museum of American History
- Draper Family Collection, 1836–1982 at the New York University Archives
- Works by John William Draper at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about John William Draper at Internet Archive
- Harper's Magazine articles by John William Draper
- John W. Draper and the Founding of the American Chemical Society, 1876 at National Historic Chemical Landmarks
- Dorothy Catherine Draper, taken by John W. Draper
- Moon - 1840 - The Metropolitan Museum of Art Collections
- NYU First Medical Faculty, 1841 J.W. Draper lower right corner
- New York University John W. Draper Interdisciplinary Master's Program in Humanities and Social Thought (Draper Program) Archived 2012-04-24 at the Wayback Machine
- Draper Chemical Society: The NYU Chemical Society
- National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir