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"English chemist Charles Hatchett reported a new element similar to tantalum in 1801 and named it columbium."
it seems to put the cart before the horse, so to speak. If Charles Hatchett was finding something in 1801, and tantalum was first discovered in 1802, I would not say that he found something "similar to tantalum". Certainly he would not have thought it similar to something which had not yet been discovered. Would you agree that this is misleading? If so, then perhaps the sentence should just be shortened to:
"English chemist Charles Hatchett reported a new element in 1801 and named it columbium."
If there is any desire to point out the similarity, I think that is nicely handled in the History section which follows.
I am preparing a paper on Niobium for the 2003 Santa Fe Symposium. I can not find any information on Charles Hatchet who discovered Niobium.Who was Charles Hatchet? A scholar doing pure research? Did he discover other elements? How did he discover Niobium? Is there a picture of him anywhere?Thanks for your thoughts, Bill Seeleyreactive@commseed.netPS We are a supplier on Niobium to the jewelry market.
Help us conserve. See our online catalog @ <www.reactivemetals.com>. If we can serve your needs we would be pleased to send you a free catalog and put you on our 2002 mailing list. Please use the catalog request form for a hard copy. Thank you. Deborah, Michele, Stephanie & Bill
Sorry I really wish I could help. I'm pretty good at finding information by using search engines but alas this article kept coming up in the top results and the other results had even less information. It is shocking but I don't think anybody has posted any substantial information about this person on the Internet. There also doesn't seem to be any biographies done on this person. And a search at Amazon.com, bn.com and the US Library of Congress came up with nothing. IMO the only way to get good biographical info on this person is through primary research by visiting England. You might get lucky and find a dusty old book with information on him. --mav 09:54 Nov 24, 2002 (UTC)
According to the spelling in Sir Joseph Banks' (contemporaneous) correspondence, Hatchett has two 't's... Most sources spell it this way as well. user:sjc
Thank you - That may make a big difference in finding info on this person. --mav