| John Kidd | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 September 1775 Westminster |
| Died | 7 September 1851 |
| Nationality | English |
| Fields | Chemistry Geologist |
John Kidd (10 September 1775 – 7 September 1851) was an English physician, chemist and geologist. John Kidd was born in Westminster, the son of a naval officer and was educated at Christ Church, Oxford.
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He became reader in chemistry at Oxford in 1801, and in 1803 was elected the first Aldrichian professor[1] of chemistry. He then voluntarily gave courses of lectures on mineralogy and geology: these were delivered in the dark chambers under the Ashmolean Museum, and there William Conybeare, William Buckland, Charles Daubeny and others gained their first lessons in geology. Kidd was a popular and instructive lecturer, and through his efforts the geological chair, first held by Buckland, was established.
The first of the scriptural geologists, "Kidd argued in his book A Geological Essay on the Imperfect Evidences in Support of a Theory of the Earth, on philosophical grounds, that a science of observation cannot claim certainty for its inferences as to causes, and that consequently theoretical geology cannot stand against an indisputable authority such as revelation."[2] In 1818 he became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians; in 1822 regius professor of medicine in succession to Sir Christopher Pegge; and in 1834 he was appointed keeper of the Radcliffe Library.
In March 1822 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.[3] He delivered the Harveian Oration before the Royal College of Physicians in 1836.
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