John Hadley (chemist)

English chemist and physician

This article is about the chemist. For the mathematician, see John Hadley.

John Hadley in 1759

John Hadley (1731 – 5 November 1764) was an English chemist and physician.

Born in London to Henry Hadley, he was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, graduating B.A. in 1753.[1]

In 1756 he was appointed the fourth Professor of Chemistry at Cambridge University, the oldest continuously occupied chair of Chemistry in the UK. During his time there he co-operated in 1758 with Benjamin Franklin on a series of experiments to investigate latent heat. They found that a mercury thermometer sprayed with ether which was then evaporated by blowing could fall to −7 degrees Celsius in a warm room.

The Professorship was unpaid so Hadley studied medicine and obtained in 1758 a Physick Fellowship. He then moved to London in 1760 and got a post as Assistant Physician at St Thomas' Hospital. In 1763 he became full Physician to Charterhouse School and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

In 1758 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. On 16 December 1763 he carried out the first recorded dissection of a mummy in British history.[2] He died in 1764 of a fever at the age of 33.

## References

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Wikisource has original works by or about:
John Hadley

1. ^ Biographical account of John Hadley ... and of his brothers, George and Henry. p. 32.
2. ^ Stienne, Angela (2022). Mummified: The Stories Behind Egyptian Mummies in Museums. Manchester University Press. pp. 109–110. ISBN 9781526161895.

* L.J.M.Coleby Annals of Science, Vol VIII, pp 165–174

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Holders of the 1702 Chair of Chemistry (University of Cambridge)

18th century|

* Giovanni Francisco Vigani (1703–1713)
* John Waller (1713–1718)
* John Mickleburgh (1718–1756)
* John Hadley (1756–1764)
* Richard Watson (1764–1771)
* Isaac Pennington (1773–1793)
* William Farish (1794–1813)

19th century|

* Smithson Tennant (1813–1815)
* James Cumming (1815–1861)
* George Downing Liveing (1861–1908)

20th century|

* William Jackson Pope (1908–1939)
* Alexander Robertus Todd (1944–1971)
* Ralph Alexander Raphael (1972–1988)
* Alan Rushton Battersby (1988–1992)
* Steven V. Ley (1992–2019)

21st century|

* Matthew J. Gaunt (2019–present)

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

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