BULLETIN FOR THE HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY
Volume 49, 2024
Giunta, Carmen J., “J. A. R. Newlands: Beyond the Law of Octaves,” Bull. Hist. Chem., 2024, 49, 122-132.
Abstract/Description: John Alexander Reina Newlands is remembered today by historians of chemistry for one thing, namely being one of those who independently discovered the periodic law; he called his version of it the “law of octaves.” This article examines other aspects of Newlands's life and work—of a career that was little noticed before his relatively late recognition in Britain as a discoverer of the periodic law. Analytical chemistry and the production of sugar were Newlands's principal occupations. But his interests in chemistry were wide ranging, as indicated by the breadth of subjects about which he wrote to The Chemical News. The law of octaves was not his only foray into chemical classification and systems, or even his first: he wrote about classification in organic chemistry and systematic organic nomenclature as well. Outside chemistry, Newlands was one of a group of volunteer soldiers who served under Giuseppe Garibaldi for the unification of Italy. And at about the same time as the Chemical Society of London declined to publish his paper on the law of octaves, he had a volume of verse published.