John Mercer (scientist)

John Mercer ( born February 21, 1791 in Great Harwood, Lancashire, † November 30, 1866 in Oakenshaw, Lancashire ) was the founder of the eponymous method for textile finishing, the Merzerisation.

His father, Robert Mercer, was the first spinner, then hand-loom weavers. His mother's name was Betty Clayton. At the age of nine years, Mercer already filled the cops the shuttle for his father. He never went to school, a neighbor taught him to read and write, an official of higher mathematics. The knowledge of chemistry he acquired through self-study. In 1814 he married Mary Wolstenholme.

Mercer was concerned with the dyeing of textiles. He invented numerous dyes and was one of the first that could print photographs on fabric.

In 1844 he invented the process named after him, in 1851, it was patented in Great Britain and the United States.

Mercer was a member of the Royal Society, the Chemical Society, the Philosophical Society and juror of the Great Exhibition.