MEMOIR OF WOLCOTT GIBBS 
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MEMOIR OF WOLCOTT GIBBS. 1 
By Theodore William Richards. 
The death of Wolcott Gibbs takes a commanding figure from the ranks 
of the veterans of science. Attaining the age of over eighty-six years, he 
had been for a long time almost the sole survivor among the pioneers of 
American chemistry. He was one of the founders of the National Academy 
of Sciences in 1870; and he alone saw his name included among those of 
living members in 1908. 
For over a decade, he had headed in academic seniority the list of the 
faculties of Harvard University. He served there as Rumford professor for 
twenty-four years, and in honorable retirement bore the title of Rumford 
professor emeritus for twenty-one years more. The infirmity due to his 
increasing years had withdrawn from him the privilege of contributing to 
the growth of his beloved science; but his interest in the work of others 
remained keen and enthusiastic until the end had almost come — until 
pain had driven away all the joy of life. 
It has been said that he was one of the pioneers of American chemistry. 
He was made assistant professor in New York at the age of twenty-six, in 
1848. His eager and energetic spirit and his thorough training under the 
inspiring guidance of Rose, Rammelsberg, Liebig, Laurent, Dumas and 
Regnault had given him an insight into the possible future of chemistry 
which forbade his contentedly settling down into the mere routine of teach¬ 
ing. Thus at once he joined the then pitifully small band of Americans 
who sought to advance the bounds of knovdedge. 
It is impossible here to present a detailed survey of the greatly varied 
fields in which his work lay, but a brief sketch will give some idea of the 
activity of his scientific imagination. His first important research concerned 
the complex ammonia-cobalt compounds, one of the most interesting series 
among inorganic substances. This masterly work, conducted with the 
collaboration of F. A. Genth, shed much light upon the puzzling nature of 
the complex compounds in general and laid the foundation for one of the 
most elaborate of modern chemical theories. The following years (1861-4) 
saw him engaged upon a careful study of the platinum metals, upon which 
he was engaged when he accepted the call to Cambridge in 1863. Shortly 
afterward (1864) he published for the first time a description of his use of 
the voltaic current for depositing copper and nickel in such a manner that 
1 Reprinted from Science , vol. XXIX, pp. 101-103. Jan. 15, 1909. Professor Gibbs died 
9 December, 1908, having been an Honorary Member of the Academy since 1890. 
