William Higgins at the Dublin Society, 1810--20: The Loss of a Professorship and a Claim to the Atomic Theory (2010)
Grossman, Mark I. (Author)
Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science
Volume: 64
Pages: 417--434
William Higgins is primarily remembered for his claims to have developed the principles of the atomic theory before John Dalton. Why did Higgins, who did not issue a single word in print on the atomic theory for 25 years after his 1789 book A Comparative View, suddenly claim priority in 1814, and then continue to pursue his assertions against Dalton and his supporters with such vitriol? This paper argues that Higgins's delay in sending a sample of the Mooresfort meteorite to the naturalist and illustrator James Sowerby contributed to the Dublin Society's decision to split Higgins's dual professorship of chemistry and mineralogy, which led to the hiring of mineralogist Charles Giesecke. Higgins's subsequent frustrations, including an ongoing competition with Giesecke, indicate that his claims to the atomic theory were attempts to rebuild his diminished status.
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