SILLIMAN, Benjamin, Amer ican scientist: b. North Stratford (now Trum bull), Conn., 8 Aug. 1779; d. New Haven, Conn., 24 Nov. 1864. He was graduated from Yale in 1796, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1802, but accepted the chair of chemistry and natural history at Yale in 1802. He went abroad in 1805 to continue his studies, and while in Edinburgh became interested in geology. On his return home he made a geological survey of a part of Connecticut, the first survey of the kind made in the United States, and in 1807 published an account of the celebrated Weston meteorite of 14 Dec. 1807. In 1811 he began a series of experiments with the compound blow pipe, obtained for the first time in the United States the metals sodium and potassium, and discovered in 1822 the fusion of the carbons in the voltaic arc. He founded the American Journal of Science in 1818, acting as its sole editor until 1838, and as senior editor until 1846, opened the Lowell Institute in Boston with a series of lectures on geology in 1838, and in 1840 was elected president of the American Association of Geologists. He resigned his
chair at Yale in 1853 and was made professor emeritus, but continued to lecture until 1855 when he retired. He was named by Congress for one of the original members of the National Academy of Sciences in 1863. His publications include 'Journal of Travels in England' (1810) ; 'A Tour to Quebec' (1819) ; 'Elements of Chemistry' (1829) ; 'Consistency of Discoveries of Modern Geology with the Sacred History of the Creation and the Deluge' (1837) ; 'Narra tion of a visit to Europe in 1851' (1854), etc. Consult Fisher, 'Life of Benjamin Silliman' (2 vols., New York 1866) and Gilman, D. C., 'Leading American Men of Science' (New York 1910).