Editing Arthur Aikin

{{Short description|English chemist, mineralogist and scientific writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Arthur Aikin
| honorific_suffix  = [[Fellow of the Linnean Society|FLS]], [[Geological Society of London|FGS]]
| image             = ArthurAikin2.jpg
| image_size        = 250px
| caption           = Arthur Aikin (1773–1854)
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1773|05|19|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Warrington, England|Warrington]], [[Lancashire]], [[England]]
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1854|04|15|1773|05|19|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[Hoxton]], [[Middlesex]], England
| residence         =
| nationality       = [[British people|British]]
| field             = [[Chemistry]]
| work_institutions = 
| alma_mater        = 
| known_for         = [[Geological Society of London]]
| prizes            = 
| footnotes         = 
| signature         =  
}}

'''Arthur Aikin''' (19 May 1773{{snd}}15 April 1854) was an English [[chemist]], [[mineralogy|mineralogist]] and scientific writer, and was a founding member of the [[Chemical Society]] (now the [[Royal Society of Chemistry]]). He first became its treasurer in 1841,<ref name=Knights-earth>{{cite journal|last1=Knight|first1=David|title=Chemists get down to earth|journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications|date=2009|volume=317|issue=1|pages=93–103|doi=10.1144/SP317.3|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/staff/chang/knight_020310.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/staff/chang/knight_020310.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|bibcode=2009GSLSP.317...93K|s2cid=130452589}}</ref> and later became the society's second president.<ref name=GG>{{cite web|title=Arthur Aiken|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Arthur_Aiken|website=Grace's Guide|access-date=14 January 2015}}</ref>

==Life==
He was born at [[Warrington, England|Warrington]], [[Lancashire]] into a distinguished literary family of prominent [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]]. The best known of these was his paternal aunt, [[Anna Letitia Barbauld|Anna Laetitia Barbauld]], a [[man of letters|woman of letters]] who wrote poetry and essays as well as early [[children's literature]]. His father, [[John Aikin|Dr John Aikin]], was a medical doctor, historian, and author. His grandfather, also called [[John Aikin (Unitarian)|John]] (1713–1780), was a Unitarian scholar and theological tutor, closely associated with [[Warrington Academy]]. His sister [[Lucy Aikin|Lucy]] (1781–1864) was a historical writer. Their brother [[Charles Rochemont Aikin]] was adopted by their famous aunt and brought up as their cousin.

Arthur Aikin studied chemistry under [[Joseph Priestley]] in the [[New College at Hackney]], and gave attention to the practical applications of the science. In early life, he was a [[General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches|Unitarian minister]] for a short time.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Aikin, Arthur|volume=1|page=437}}</ref> Aikin lectured on chemistry at [[Guy's Hospital]] for thirty-two years. He became the President of the [[British Mineralogical Society]] in 1801 for five years up until 1806 when the Society merged with the [[Askesian Society]].<ref name=Knights-earth /> From 1803 to 1808 he was editor of the ''[[Annual Review (19th century)|Annual Review]]''. In 1805 Aiken also became a proprietor of the [[London Institution]], which was officially founded in 1806. He was one of the founders of the [[Geological Society of London]] in 1807 and was its [[honorary secretary]] in 1812–1817. He also gave lectures in 1813 and 1814.<ref name=Knights-earth /> He contributed papers on the [[Telford and Wrekin|Wrekin]] and the [[Shropshire]] coalfield, among others, to the transactions of that society.<ref name="EB1911"/> His ''Manual of Mineralogy'' was published in 1814. Later he became the paid secretary of the [[Society of Arts]] and later was elected as a fellow. He was founder of the [[Chemical Society]] of London in 1841, being its first treasurer and, between 1843 and 1845, second president.

In order to support himself, outside of his work with the British Mineralogical Society, the London Institution and the Geological Society, Aiken worked as a writer, translator and lecturer to the public and to medical students at Guy's Hospital. His writing and journalism were useful for publicising foreign scientific news to the wider British public. He was also a member of the [[Linnean Society]] and in 1820 joined the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]].

He was highly esteemed as a man of sound judgement<ref name="EB1911"/> and wide knowledge. Aikin never married, and died at [[Hoxton]] in London in 1854.<ref name=Knights-earth />

==Publications==
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2022}}
* [https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-natural-history-of-t_aikin-arthur_1798/page/n1/mode/2up ''The natural history of the year; being an enlargement of Dr. Aikin's Calendar of nature''], 1798
* [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_tpEGvJnP3lIC/page/n5/mode/2up ''Journal of a Tour through North Wales and Part of Shropshire with Observations in Mineralogy and Other Branches of Natural History''] (London, 1797)
* [https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_syllabus-of-a-course-of-_aikin-arthur_1799 ''Syllabus of a course of lectures on chemistry, by A. and C.R. Aikin''], 1799
* [https://archive.org/details/annualreviewand00aikigoog/page/n7/mode/2up ''The Annual review and history of literature; for 1807''], 1808
* [https://archive.org/details/amanualmineralo00aikigoog/page/n4/mode/2up ''A Manual of Mineralogy''] (1814; ed. 2, 1815)
* [https://archive.org/details/b22011638_0001/page/n3/mode/2up '' dictionary of chemistry and mineralogy, with an account of the processes employed in many of the most important chemical manufactures. To which are added a description of chemical apparatus, and various useful tables of weights and measures, chemical instruments, &c. &c''. Vol. I]; [https://archive.org/details/b22011638_0002/page/n3/mode/2up Vol. II] (with his brother C. R. Aikin), 2 vols. (London, 1807, 1814).
*[https://archive.org/details/AnAccountOfTheMostImportantRecentDiscoveriesAndImprovementsInChemistryAndMineralogy/aikin-a-account-1814-RTL000985-LowRes/page/n5/mode/2up ''An account of the most important recent discoveries and improvements in chemistry and mineralogy, to the present time : being an appendix to their Dictionary of chemistry and mineralogy''], 1814

For ''[[Rees's Cyclopædia]]'' he wrote articles about chemistry, geology and mineralogy, but the topics are not known.

==References==
{{More citations needed|date=March 2016}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{DNB poster|Aikin, Arthur|Arthur Aikin}}
* [https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/finding-aids/D190/ The Aikin Family Papers], D.190, at Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester.
* {{wikisource author-inline}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aikin, Arthur}}
[[Category:1773 births]]
[[Category:1854 deaths]]
[[Category:English mineralogists]]
[[Category:19th-century English chemists]]
[[Category:People from Warrington]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Linnean Society of London]]
[[Category:People from Hoxton]]
[[Category:English Unitarians]]
[[Category:Anna Laetitia Barbauld]]
[[Category:18th-century English writers]]
[[Category:18th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:19th-century English writers]]