John William Nicholson


John William Nicholson, FRS was an English mathematician.

Career

Based on the results of astronomical spectroscopy of nebula he proposed in 1911 the existence of several yet undiscovered elements. Coronium with an atomic weight of 0.51282, nebulium with a weight of 1.6281 and protofluorine with a weight of 2.361. Ira Sprague Bowen was able to attribute the spectroscopical lines of nebulium to doubly ionized oxygen making the new elements obsolete for their explanation.

Awards and honours

Nicholson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1917. In 1919, Nicholson won the Adams Prize.