We meet in Thomas Beddoes an able chemist, engaged in a field where
impor- tant new discoveries were being made; a good doctor eager to fmd
experi- mentally soun. d ways of healing and to make known the
principles of maintaining good health; a vigorous, independent man
sharing the hope which the ideas of the French Revolution gave so many
9f his contemporaries. In his life he was a controversial figure and
judgement and detached appreciation of his work was often made
impossible by anger at his 'revolutionary' political views. It becomes
evident that where Beddoes was held in esteem and where he had influence
it was not for particular activities but for what he was 'in the round'.
With due respect - and with gratitude - to specialist accounts of his
achievements as a chemist and of his endeavours to fmd a cure for
pulmonary consumption and his efforts to bring about an understanding of
the importance of preventive medicine, I have tried in this account to
'see him whole'. Historians of chemistry and of medicine;
educationalists; and those concerned with 'women's studies' will each
continue to find particular episodes or parts of Beddoes' life of
special interest. At the same time I hope this, the first attempt at a
biography - for J. E. Stock's 1811 account is truly named "Memoirs" -
will add to our understanding of his varied activities.