Archibald Scott Couper

Couper, Archibald Scott 

Born Mar. 31, 1831, in Kirkintilloch; died there Mar. 11, 1892. Scottish chemist.

Couper studied in Glasgow and Paris and was an assistant in Edinburgh. He also worked in the laboratory of C. A. Wurtz in Paris (1856). In 1858 he returned to Scotland and soon after was forced to terminate his scientific work because of a nervous disorder. Couper’s name is associated with the development of the concept of valency. He explained (1858) all the unique characteristics of organic matter by the ability of carbon atoms to link with 4 or 2 equivalents of various elements as well as with each other into a chain.

WORKS

In Russian translation:
“O novoi khimicheskoi teorii.” In the collection Stoletie teorii khimicheskogo stroeniia. Moscow, 1961. Pages 31–45.

REFERENCES

Butlerov, A. M. “Zamechaniia po povodu novoi khimicheskoi teorii A. S. Kupera.” Soch. vol. 1. Moscow, 1953. Pages 37–45.
Bykov, G. V. Istoriia klassicheskoi teorii khimicheskogo stroeniia. Moscow, 1960. Pages 39–50.