SMITH, EDGAR FAHS

(b. York, Pennsylvania, 23 May 1854; d. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 3 May 1928)

chemistry.

After graduating from Gettysburg College, Smith studied under Friedrich Wöhler at the University of Göttingen, where he received the Ph.D. in 1876. He taught chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania (1876–1881), Muhlenberg College (1881–1881), Wittenberg College (1883–1888), and the University of Pennsylvania again (1888–1920). At Pennsylvania he also held the important executive offices of vice-provost (1898–1911) and provost (1911–1920) of the university. Smith was three times president of the American Chemical Society and served as scientific adviser to the federal government.

Smith’s most important research was in electrochemistry. In 1901 he developed the rotating anode, which permitted the application of higher cathode current densities and greatly decreased the time required for electroanalysis. In turn this led to broader application of electroanalysis in research and industry.

In studies on atomic weights Smith and his students endeavored to determine more precisely the atomic weights of eighteen elements, using electrolytic and chemical methods. Other research was on complex inorganic acids. He and his collaborators prepared many salts of complex acids (for example, ammonium vanadico-phospho-tungstate) and elucidated their relationships.

A prominent historian of chemistry in the United States, Smith wrote mainly from a biographical viewpoint. He collected and endowed a notable library of books, manuscripts, prints, and other memorabilia, now known as the Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Collection in the History of Chemistry, at the University of Pennsylvania.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A complete list of Smith’s books, translations, and brochures, and of doctoral theses by his students, is in the biography by Meeker (below) and in Memorial Service for Edgar Fahs Smith... December 4, 1928 (n.p., 1928[?]). His books include Electrochemical Analysis (Philadelphia, 1890; 6th ed., 1918): Elements of Electrochemistry (Philadelphia, 1913); and Chemistry in America: Chapters From the History of the Science in the United States (New York, 1914).

George H. Meeker, “Biographical Memoir of Edgar Fahs Smith, 1854–1928,” in Biographical Memoirs. National Academy of Sciences, 17 (1936), 103–149, has a portrait and references to seven other biographical accounts of Smith.

Wyndham D. Miles