   william hyde wollaston prs (; 6 august 1766 â 22 december 1828) was an english chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering two chemical elements; he also developed a way to process platinum ore into malleable ingots.melvyn c. usselman: william hyde wollaston encyclopedia britannica, retrieved 31 march 2013 ==biography== wollaston was born in east dereham, norfolk, the son of the priest-astronomer francis wollaston (1737â1815) and his wife althea hyde. the family, which included 17 children, was financially well-off and were part of an intellectually stimulating environment. wollaston was educated at gonville and caius college, cambridge: in 1793 he obtained a doctorate in medicine from cambridge university, and was a fellow of his college from 1787 to 1828. he worked as a physician in rural areas between 1793 and 1797, then moved to london. during his studies, wollaston had become interested in chemistry, crystallography, metallurgy and physics. in 1800, after he had received a large sum of money from one of his older brothers, he left medicine. he concentrated on pursuing his interests in chemistry and other subjects outside his trained vocation. he was elected a fellow of the royal society in 1793, where he became an influential member. he served as president in 1820. in 1822 he was elected a foreign honorary member of the american academy of arts and sciences. wollaston never married. he died in london in 1828 and was buried in chislehurst, england. ==work== after having established a partnership with smithson tennant in 1800 in order to produce and sell chemical products, wollaston became wealthy by developing the first physico-chemical method for processing platinum
1766_births 1828_deaths 18th-century_English_people 18th-century_chemists 19th-century_English_people 19th-century_chemists Alumni_of_Gonville_and_Caius_College,_Cambridge Battery_inventors British_metallurgists Discoverers_of_chemical_elements English_chemists English_physicists Fellows_of_Gonville_and_Caius_College,_Cambridge Fellows_of_the_American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society Honorary_Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh Members_of_the_Royal_Swedish_Academy_of_Sciences Optical_physicists Palladium People_from_Dereham Recipients_of_the_Copley_Medal Rhodium Royal_Medal_winners