Henry Baker (naturalist)
Henry Baker (pseudonym Henry Stone Castle of Northumberland, born May 8, 1698 London, † November 25, 1774 ) was an English polymath. He was the founder of the Baker Lecture of the Royal Society.
- 4.1 Literature
- 4.2 Notes and references
Life and work
1713 Henry Baker began a seven-year apprenticeship with John Parker, a bookseller in Pall Mall. In April 1720, he spent his holidays in Enfield, Middlesex (now the London Borough of Enfield ), where he began to teach the deaf daughter of a relative reading, writing and lip-reading. The case which he has adopted methods - which he always kept secret - proved to be very successful. As Baker treated a patient in Newington, he learned to know in 1724 Daniel Defoe, whose youngest daughter Sophia he married on April 30, 1729. The couple had two sons and lived in London's beach.
1723 Baker published with An Invocation of Health: A Poem his first literary work, which was followed by two collections of poetry to 1727. Under the pseudonym Henry Stone Castle of Northumberland he gave on October 12, 1728 published the first issue of The Universal Spectator and Weekly Journal, for which he wrote until 1733 contributions and in which Daniel Defoe published. Under his leadership, the bilingual book of poems medulla poetarum Romanorum, the classical Latin poems and translated by different English versions of poets was contained. Together with playwright James Miller (1703-1743) translated the works of Molière Baker, who appeared in 1739 in a ten -volume edition.
1740 Baker was a member of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and on 12 March 1741, he was inducted into the Royal Society, for which he spent four years in their advice. Between 1740 and 1758 Baker published 32 articles in the Philosophical Transactions of the Company which covered very different topics. Baker employed, for example, with the optical properties of the microscopes of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, who were in the possession of the Company, examined the healing power of currant jelly against sore throats and dealt with the medical applications of electricity. His first scientific book The Microscope Made Easy was published in 1743 and was an introduction to microscopy for beginners. In the same year Baker published a study on the Commons freshwater polyps ( Hydra vulgaris). For his microscopic studies on the crystallization and assembly of salt particles Baker received in 1744 the Copley Medal in gold. The results of these studies appeared, supplemented by a description of the life of insects, 1753 Employment for the Microscope. He was one of the ten members of the Royal Society of Arts, who founded this on March 22, 1754.
Baker played a key role in the introduction of rhubarb Rheum palmatum to Britain. Their powdered roots were a popular drug and were subject to a Russian monopoly. The botanist John Hope (1725-1786) succeeded in the Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the way in 1767 successfully raise from seed and multiply.
John Baker was buried in the cemetery of St. Mary le beach.
Baker Lecture
In his will, Baker of the Royal Society left a sum of £ 100 for an annual speech or a presentation on a natural philosophical issue that determined by the President and Council of the Society, and should be presented or announced by a member of the Royal Society. The first of the Bakerian Lectures held Peter Woulfe. Important speakers from the first 50 years of the Baker - lecture are Tiberius Cavallo, which held a total of 13 lectures on various subjects, Humphry Davy through the electrolysis and alkalis as well as Michael Faraday, who spoke with six lectures three times on the optical properties of glass and electricity.
Writings
As the author
- An invocation of health: A poem. J. Parker, London, 1723.
- Original poems: serious and humourous. 2 vols, London 1725-1726.
- The Universe, a Poem Intended to restrain the Pride of Man. 1727
- The Microscope Made Easy. R. Dodsley, London 1743, online.
- An attempt towards a natural history of the polype: in a letter to Martin Folkes, Esq; president of the Royal Society. Describing Their different species; the Places where to seek and how to find them; Their wonderful Production and Increase; the form, Structure and Use of Their several parts. London 1743 online.
- Employment for the Microscope. R. Dodsley, London 1753, online.
As editor
- Medulla poetarum Romanorum: or, the most beautiful and instructive passages of the Roman poets. With ... translations of the Same in English verse. 2 volumes, London, 1737, Volume 1, Volume 2
- The Works of Molière. 10 volumes, J. Watts, London 1739