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William Allen Miller

1817 – 1870

British scientist

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About William Allen Miller

Lived 1817 – 1870 (aged 52). William Allen Miller was a British astronomer and chemist.

William Allen Miller FRS (17 December 1817 – 30 September 1870) was a British scientist.

Life Miller was born in Ipswich, Suffolk and educated at Ackworth School and King's College London. He was related to William Allen and first cousin to the leading suffragist Anne Knight.

On the death of John Frederic Daniell he succeeded to the Chair of Chemistry at King's. Although primarily a chemist, the scientific contributions for which Miller is mainly remembered today are in spectroscopy and astrochemistry, new fields in his time.

Miller wrote the textbook Elements of Chemistry, Theoretical and Practical, Part I Chemical Physics in 1855. In the preface he acknowledged the assistance of Charles Tomlinson.

He won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1867 jointly with William Huggins, for their spectroscopic study of the composition of stars. In 1845, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

In 1870 Miller had completed the manuscript for Introduction to the Study of Inorganic Chemistry when he fell ill. He passed it to Charles Tomlinson to prepare it for publication.

According to his obituary, Miller married Eliza Forrest of Birmingham in 1842. He died in 1870, a year after his wife, and they are both buried at West Norwood Cemetery. They were survived by a son and two daughters.

The crater Miller on the Moon is named after him.

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Important facts

Birth century
Occupation
Education
King's College London, Ackworth School
Employers
King's College London
Awards
Fellow of the Royal Society; Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society

People in William Allen Miller's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped William Allen Miller's

Frequently asked questions

Who was William Allen Miller?

British scientist

When was William Allen Miller born?

William Allen Miller was born on 17 December 1817 in Ipswich.

When did William Allen Miller die?

William Allen Miller died on 30 September 1870 in Liverpool.

What was William Allen Miller's occupation?

William Allen Miller was an astronomer and chemist.

What nationality was William Allen Miller?

William Allen Miller was British.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: William Allen Miller

· Wikidata: Q3098099

· DBpedia: William Allen Miller

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). William Allen Miller. https://biography.guide/william-allen-miller/

MLA: "William Allen Miller." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/william-allen-miller/.

Chicago: "William Allen Miller." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/william-allen-miller/.

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