author
Raphael Meldola
1849–1915
A Victorian scientist with wide-ranging curiosity, he moved easily between the laboratory and the natural world, earning distinction both as a chemist and as an entomologist. His work linked academic research, industry, and public science in a way that still feels modern.
1 Audiobook
Coal, and What We Get from It
by Raphael Meldola
About the author
Born in Islington, London, on 19 July 1849, Raphael Meldola became one of the best-known British scientists of his generation. He is remembered chiefly as a chemist and entomologist, and he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1886.
Meldola built his reputation through work in organic chemistry and through his connection with the dye industry; the compound known as Meldola's blue still carries his name. He later served as Professor of Organic Chemistry in the University of London from 1912 until his death in 1915, while also remaining deeply involved in insect study and scientific societies.
That mix of practical chemistry and lifelong natural-history enthusiasm gives his career its special character. He died in London on 16 November 1915, leaving behind the image of a scientist who was at home both in research and in the wider public life of science.