author
Joseph Black
1728–1799
A pioneering chemist of the Scottish Enlightenment, he helped transform the study of heat and gases through careful experiments and clear teaching. His work on carbon dioxide, latent heat, and specific heat shaped the foundations of modern chemistry and physics.
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About the author
Born in Bordeaux on April 16, 1728, to a family with Scottish and Irish connections, he was educated in Scotland and built his career at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. He trained in medicine, but his lasting fame came from experimental science, where he became known for exact measurements and a calm, lucid style of explanation.
His early investigations showed that the substance then called "fixed air" was distinct from ordinary air; it is now known as carbon dioxide. He also developed the ideas of latent heat and specific heat, helping scientists understand why different materials absorb and release heat in different ways. These insights were important not only for chemistry and physics, but also for practical technologies of the era.
He was admired as a lecturer as well as a researcher, and his teaching influenced a generation of students during the Scottish Enlightenment. Joseph Black died in Edinburgh in 1799, but his reputation has endured as one of the key figures who helped make chemistry a precise experimental science.