William Crookes' long life was one of unbroken scientific and business activity, culminating in his appointment as President of the Royal Society in 1913. This biography guides us through the abundant catalogue of Crookes' accomplishments, placing his scientific activities in the context of the business of making a living from science.

We also see Crookes in the lab, as an independent researcher, and learn the processes behind his discovery of thallium, his investigations into matter and energy, and his crucial work on cathode rays. We see the public man, the celebrity who was much sought after for his opinions on the latest discovery, and who was widely regarded as Britain's leading scientist at the beginning of the twentieth century.Scientist, spiritualist, entrepreneur: Sir William Crookes' extraordinary life and many endeavours provide a unique window into Victorian and Edwardian science and industry.

Introduction
Preliminary: a chemist at work
A tailor's son
Photographic chemist. The making of an editor
Earning a living
Thallium
Carbolic and cattle plague
Selling science, 1865-75
Spiritualism
Mysterious forces: investigating Mr Home
Chemistry is strictly a science of precision
The investigation of Florence Cook, 1872-74
Scandal: the investigations of Annie Eva Fay and Rosina Showers
The radiometer and its lessons: William Carpenter versus William Crookes
Dark spaces and the 4th state of matter
Ubi crux ubi lux. The business of electricity
The commercialization of public health: water
The commercialization of public health: adulteration, sewage and hygiene
radiant spectroscopy. The rare earths crusade
Esoteric chemistry in the nineties
Inert gases and transmutations
The wheat problem
Radioactivity
Welsh gold and African diamonds
The grand old man of chemical physics, 1907-1913
The final years, 1913-1919
The afterlife
Appendices
Bibliography
Index.