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...
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...
Physicist and mathematician, best known for his invention of the barometer.
Chemist. Born Penzance. Wrote "Researches, Chemical and Philosophical". Discovered potassium, sodium, barium, strontium, etc. Invented the safety lamp for coal miners.
Chemist, physicist and science journalist. Born 143 Regent Street, presumably in a residential apartment above his father's gentlemen's outfitters shop in the Nash-designed terraces. Worked on spec...
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....
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