Born Birmingham. Initially worked on improved methods of electroplating. 1856 patented Parkesine, a celluloid recognised as the first man-made plastic (chewing gum, shellac and natural rubber are all classified as plastics).
1866 he set up The Parkesine Company at Hackney Wick intending to manufacture Parkesine cheaply in bulk but this was not successful and closed in 1868. Died London.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Alexander Parkes
First plastic in the world, known as 'parkesine', invented by Alexander Parke...
Biostatistician, human geneticist and eugenicist. Born at The Larches, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, a half-cousin of Charles Darwin. An enthusiastic traveller, particularly in Africa. Darwin's publicati...
Molecular biologist, geneticist and zoologist. Born Chicago as James Dewey Watson. 1962 awarded a Nobel Prize with Crick and Wilkins, for their work on the theory of a double-helix structure for DNA.
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. Although the discovery of its double heli...
Physicist. Born Kensington, Served in the navy in WW1. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1948. Government and military advisor in WW2. Created a life peer in 1969 as Baron Blackett of Chelsea....
Astronomer. Born Sherborne, Gloucestershire. Elected as the Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford 1721-62, his death. In 1742 he was appointed Astronomer Royal. He is best known for two fundame...
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