Discoverer of Strontium

 

1. Adair Crawford

Adair Crawford FRS FRSE (1748 – 29 July 1795^[1]), a chemist and physician, was a pioneer in the development of calorimetric methods for measuring the specific heat capacity of substances and the heat of chemical reactions. In his influential 1779 book "Experiments and Observations on Animal Heat", Crawford presented new experiments proving that respiratory gas exchange in animals is a combustion (two years after Antoine Lavoisier's influential "On combustion in general"). Crawford also was involved in the discovery of the element strontium.

2. William Cruickshank (chemist)

William Cruickshank (died 1810 or 1811) was a Scottish military surgeon and chemist, and professor of chemistry at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

William Cruickshank was awarded a diploma by the Royal College of Surgeons of England on 5 October 1780. In March 1788 he became assistant to Adair Crawford at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, at a salary of £30 a year. On 24 June 1802, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).^[1]

Discovery of strontium

In 1790, along with his colleague William Cruickshank at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, London, Crawford noted the distinctiveness of strontianite from barium minerals, and may thereby be said to be the discoverer of strontium. However, it could also be claimed that the honour should go to Humphry Davy who, in 1808, became the first to isolate the pure element.^[5][6]