Life

Griffin was born in 1802 in Shoreditch, London, the son of a bookseller and publisher. The family moved to Glasgow when he was young, and he studied at the Andersonian Institution

University of Strathclyde

The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...

. He also received training in chemistry at Paris and at Heidelberg.

In 1832 he married Mary Ann Holder, with whom he had twelve children, including William Griffin, FCS

Chemical Society

The Chemical Society was formed in 1841 as a result of increased interest in scientific matters....

, and Charles Griffin, FSA

Society of Antiquaries of London

The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...

. Griffin died at his residence, Park Road, Haverstock Hill, on 9 June 1877.

Work

Griffin commenced business in Glasgow as a bookseller, publisher, and dealer in chemical apparatus, in partnership with his eldest brother. While still a young man he published a translation of Heinrich Rose

Heinrich Rose

Heinrich Rose was a German mineralogist and analytical chemist. He was the brother of the mineralogist Gustav Rose and a son of Valentin Rose....

's Handbuch der analytischen Chemie. Griffin also partly edited the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana

Encyclopaedia Metropolitana

The Encyclopædia Metropolitana was an encyclopedic work published in London, from 1817 to 1845, by part publication. In all it came to quarto, 30 vols., having been issued in 59 parts .-Origins:...

, of which his firm were the publishers.

In 1852 the partnership was dissolved, with the publishing branch being continued by his nephew (as Charles Griffin & Co.) and J. J. Griffin establishing a firm of chemical apparatus dealers (J. J. Griffin & Sons). By the 1860s this company had established a shop on Bunhill Row and later Long Acre in London, selling both self-made and imported equipment. Through a series of mergers the company was later to develop into the major apparatus supplier Griffin & George.

Griffin devised many new forms of chemical apparatus, including the common style of beaker

Beaker (glassware)

A beaker is a simple container for stirring, mixing and heating liquids commonly used in many laboratories. Beakers are generally cylindrical in shape, with a flat bottom. Most also have a small spout to aid pouring as shown in the picture...

 which sometimes bears his name, and did much in introducing scientific methods into commercial processes.

He was earnest in his attempts to popularise the study of chemistry, and in 1823 published his book Chemical Recreations: a popular manual of experimental chemistry, which was highly successful and went through several editions. Other books he authored include:

• Treatise on the Blow-pipe
• System of Crystallography (1841)
• The Radical Theory in Chemistry (1858)
• Centigrade Testing as applied to the Arts
• The Chemical Testing of Wines and Spirits (1866 and 1872)
• Chemical Handicraft (1866 and 1877)

Griffin assisted in the foundation of the Chemical Society

Chemical Society

The Chemical Society was formed in 1841 as a result of increased interest in scientific matters....

 in 1840, and also helped to revive the Glasgow Philosophical Society.

Nine of Griffin's papers appeared in various scientific periodicals. Of these the first was On a New Method of Crystallographic Notation; Report British Association, 1840, p. 88; and the last A Description of a Patent Blast Gas Furnace, Chemical News, 1860, pp. 27, 40.

Further reading

• Brian Gee and William H. Brock, "The Case of John Joseph Griffin: from artisan-chemist and author-instructor to business-leader" Ambix 38 (1991)