Who Was Henry Enfield Roscoe?

Abstract In this chapter, after discussing the historiography of scientific biography, the authors explain to the reader who Henry Enfield Roscoe was. Although he was born in London, his family was from Lancashire and he was educated in Liverpool, where his grandfather William Roscoe had been eminent. Thanks to his time in Heidelberg, he was very pro-German and pushed for the introduction of German methods into English education. Roscoe made his career in Manchester, at Owens College, which, thanks to his efforts, became Victoria University. Having developed his own methods of chemical education at Owens, Roscoe campaigned for the reform of technical education. He served on the Samuelson Commission for Technical Education and was knighted for this public service. Roscoe acted as a consultant for industry and became a director of the Castner–Kellner Alkali Company. For 10 years he served as a Liberal member of Parliament in the House of Commons. Roscoe then had an active retirement.