AIKIN, ARTHUR (1773-1854), English chemist and mineralogist,
was born on the 19th of May 1773, at Warrington in Lancashire.
He studied chemistry under Priestley and gave attention to
the practical applications of the science. To mineralogy
he was likewise attracted, and he was one of the founders
of the Geological Society of London, 1807, and honorary
secretary, 1812-1817. To the transactions of that society
he contributed papers on the Wrekin and the Shropshire
coalfield, etc. Later he became secretary of the Society of
Arts, and in 1841 treasurer of the Chemical Society. In
early life he had been for a short time a Unitarian minister.
He was highly esteemed as a man of sound judgment and wide
knowledge. He died in London on the 15th of April 1854.
PUBLICATIONS.--Journal of a Tour through North Wales and part
of Shropshire with observations in Mineralogy and other branches
of Natural History (London, 1797)