George E. Davis: Editing the Chemical Trade Journal, 1887–1906

Abstract

This article explores George Davis’s editing of the Chemical Trades Journal (CTJ) between 1887 and 1906, a period during which he was also working as a consultant chemist and consultant chemical engineer. Davis had worked from 1870 in various sectors of the chemical industry before becoming a sub-inspector in the Alkali Inspectorate between 1878 and 1884. It was during this period that the British chemical industry was facing severe economic pressure and to remain competitive was having to adapt to less wasteful and more efficient production. Drawing on this wide industrial experience, Davis developed a framework for chemical engineering with the broad aim of making chemical manufacture as economic as the latest science and technology would allow. Several important issues are raised by Davis’s editorship of the weekly CTJ alongside his extensive consultancy work and other responsibilities: Davis’s motivation given the likely impact on his consultancy work; the community the CTJ hoped to serve; competitive periodicals addressing the same market niche; the degree of focus on his chemical engineering framework; the changing content of the CTJ; and Davis’s role as editor over a period of nearly twenty years.