Frank Austen Gooch

Frank Austen Gooch (1852 – 1929) was a chemist and engineer. He invented the Gooch crucible, which is used, for example, to determine the solubility of bituminous materials such as road tars and petroleum asphalts. He was awarded a Ph.D. by Harvard University in 1877.

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He devised or perfected a large number of analytical processes and methods, including:

• Invented the Gooch filtering crucible.
• Studied the quantitative separation of lithium from the other alkali metals, and the estimation of boric acid by distillation with methanol and fixation by calcium oxide.
• Developed methods for estimating molybdenum, vanadium, selenium, and tellurium.
• Studied the use of the paratungstate and pyrophosphate ions in analysis.
• Developed a series of methods for estimating various elements based on the volumetric determination of iodine.
• Discovered a method for the rapid electrolytic estimation of metals.

References

• Biog. Mem. Nat. Acad. Sci. 1931, 15, 105-135.
• Ind. Eng. Chem. 1923, 15, 1088-1089.
• Proc. Am. Acad. Arts Sci. 1935-36, 70, 541.
• Am. J. Sci. (Ser. 5) 1929, 18, 539-540.
• National Cyclopaedia of American Biography; James T. White & Co.: 1921-1984; vol. 12, p329-330.