author
Rufus P. (Rufus Phillips) Williams
1851–1911
A nineteenth-century chemistry teacher and textbook writer, he helped make science instruction more practical for students and teachers alike. His books and essays reflect a lifelong interest in how chemistry should be taught in American schools.
1 Audiobook
An Introduction to Chemical Science
by Rufus P. (Rufus Phillips) Williams
About the author
Born in Ashfield, Massachusetts, in 1851, Rufus Phillips Williams was an American teacher, chemist, and author. Records from McGill University describe him as a teacher and author who studied at Dartmouth College and Harvard University, and spent much of his career teaching chemistry and serving as a school principal.
Williams wrote widely on chemical education. Listings in major library catalogs and public-domain archives show works such as Chemical Experiments, General and Analytical, Introduction to Chemical Science, and The Planting of Chemistry in America, suggesting that he was especially interested in making chemistry clearer and more usable in the classroom.
He died in 1911. Although detailed biographical material appears to be limited online, the surviving record shows a writer closely connected with the growth of science teaching in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century.