Edward Charles Howard, born 28 May 1774, the youngest son of the Duke of Norfolk, died 27 September 1816 was a Britishchemist, who has also been described as "the first chemical engineer of any eminence[1].
In 1800 he was awarded the Copley medal of the Royal Society of London for his work on mercury. He discovered mercury fulminate a powerful primary explosive. In 1813 he invented a method of refining sugar which involved boiling the cane juice not in an open kettle, but in a closed vessel heated by steam and held under partial vacuum. At reduced pressure, water boils at a lower temperature, and this development both saved fuel and reduced the amount of sugar lost through caramelization. The invention, known as Howard's vacuum pan, is still in use. He was also interested in the composition of meteorites especially in "natural iron" ones. He found that many contained an alloy of nickel and iron which was not found on Earth, and thus may have fallen from the sky. A type of meteorite is known as Howardite.
References
^ Transactions of the IChemE (1951) volume 29 page 163
