Joseph Black (16 April 1728 – 6 December 1799) was
a Scottish physician, known for his discoveries of
latent heat,
specific
heat, and
carbon dioxide.
He was
professor of Medicine at University of Glasgow
(where he also served as lecturer in
Chemistry). James Watt, who was
appointed as philosophical instrument maker at the same university
(1756), became involved in Black's works and conducted experiments
on steam with Black.
The chemistry
buildings at both the University
of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow are named after Black.
In about 1750, Joseph Black developed the
analytical balance based on a
light-weight beam balanced on a wedge-shaped
fulcrum. Each arm carried a pan on which the sample
or standard weights was placed. It far exceeded the accuracy of any
other balance of the time and became an important scientific
instrument in most chemistry laboratories..
In 1757,
he was appointed Regius
Professor of the Practice of Medicine at the University of
Glasgow.
In 1761 Black deduced that the application of heat to ice does not
cause its immediate liquefaction, rather the ice absorbed the heat
without a rise in
temperature.
Additionally, Black observed that the application of heat to
boiling water does not result in immediate evaporation. From these
observations, he concluded that the heat applied must have combined
with the ice particles and boiling water and become
latent. The theory of latent heat marks the
beginning of thermal science.
Black's theory of latent heat was one of his more-important
scientific contributions, and one on which his scientific fame
chiefly rests. He also showed that different substances have
different specific heats. This all proved important not only in the
development of abstract science but in the development of the
steam engine.
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