Edward Divers

Edward Divers FRS (27 November 1837 – 8 April 1912) was a British experimental chemist who rose to prominence despite being visually impaired from young age. Between 1873 and 1899, Divers lived and worked in Japan and significantly contributed to the science and education of that country.

Biography Divers was born in London and was of Kentish ancestry. He had one brother, who was connected with the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, and a sister. Inflammation in the eyes during infancy seriously impaired his vision, which could not be properly corrected by glasses. This deficiency was further aggravated by an explosion during an experiment in 1884 making him blind in the right eye. In 1850, Divers entered the City of London School where he became inspired by chemistry lectures given by Thomas Hall. In 1853–1854 he became an assistant in John Stenhouse's laboratory at the medical school of St Bartholomew's Hospital. Stenhouse regarded defective vision of Divers too serious a hindrance to admit of the attainment of success in a chemistry career, though he changed this opinion later. In 1854 an assistant vacancy opened with Edmund Ronalds (1819–1889) which Divers accepted and then continued in the same capacity under Thomas Henry Rowney (1817–1894). He then went to the Queen's College, Galway, Ireland, to take the university degree in medicine, one of the few scientific degrees then available, and to use the opportunities there afforded for teaching and research in chemistry. He remained in Galway for twelve years, defending his PhD in 1860, until 1866, when he left Ireland for London. After 1860, and until his Japanese appointment in 1873, Divers held various teaching appointments as lecturer in medicine (Queen's College, Birmingham, which later became Birmingham University), medical jurisprudence (Middlesex Hospital Medical School, London), physics (Imperial College London) and chemistry (Albert Veterinary College). His work during that period was acknowledged by D. Sc. honoris causa degree at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and by the various societies in England. He was president of Section B of the British Association (1902); vice-president of the Chemical Society (1900–02); vice-president of the Institute of Chemistry (1905), and president of the Society of Chemical Industry (1905). Divers was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1885, while still working in Japan. A memorial bust of Divers was erected in the university grounds on 17 November 1900.

Divers was survived by his two daughters, both of whom were married in Japan. The elder, Edith, being married to Count Labry, a military attache to the French Legation in Tokyo, and the younger, Ella, to E. W. Tilden, a resident of Kobe.