Thomas Anderson

Thomas Anderson was a Scottish chemist of the mid-nineteenth century, professor of chemistry at the University of Glasgow from 1852 and chemist to the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. Trained in medicine at Edinburgh and in chemistry in Germany and Sweden, he made his name in organic chemistry, discovering pyridine and related bases in the oil obtained from heating bones. At Glasgow he drew Joseph Lister's attention to Louis Pasteur's work on fermentation, which led to antiseptic surgery. His Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, published in 1860, explained the chemistry of soils and fertilizers to farmers.