Biography
Wollaston was born in East Dereham, Norfolk, the son of the priest-astronomer Francis Wollaston (1737–1815) and his wife Althea Hyde. He was educated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge: in 1793 William obtained a doctorate in medicine from Cambridge University and was a fellow of his college from 1787 to 1828. During his studies he became interested in chemistry, crystallography, metallurgy and physics. The mineral wollastonite is named after him. In 1800 he left medicine and concentrated on pursuing these interests instead of his trained vocation. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1793.
Wollaston died in London in 1828 and was buried in Chislehurst, England.
Read more about this topic: William Hyde Wollaston
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