GEOLOGIST

William Nicol

1770 - 1851

William Nicol

William Nicol FRSE FCS (1768? – 2 September 1851) was a Scottish geologist and physicist who invented the Nicol prism, the first device for obtaining plane-polarized light, in 1828. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of William Nicol has received more than 10,938 page views. His biography is available in 16 different languages on Wikipedia. William Nicol is the 66th most popular geologist (down from 38th in 2019), the 4,196th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 2,868th in 2019) and the 15th most popular British Geologist.

Memorability Metrics

11k
Page Views (PV)
45.98
Historical Popularity Index (HPI)
16
Languages Editions (L)
5.00
Effective Languages (L*)
2.09
Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among GEOLOGISTS

Among geologists, William Nicol ranks 66 out of 90. Before him are Felix Andries Vening Meinesz, Archibald Geikie, Marcel Alexandre Bertrand, Robert Jameson, Maria Klenova, and William Barton Rogers. After him are Ivan Gubkin, Walter Alvarez, Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, Rinchen Barsbold, Lawrence Lambe, and M. King Hubbert.

Most Popular Geologists in Wikipedia

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Felix Andries Vening Meinesz
1887 - 1966
HPI: 46.90
Rank: 60
Archibald Geikie
1835 - 1924
HPI: 46.87
Rank: 61
Marcel Alexandre Bertrand
1847 - 1907
HPI: 46.85
Rank: 62
Robert Jameson
1774 - 1854
HPI: 46.65
Rank: 63
Maria Klenova
1898 - 1976
HPI: 46.33
Rank: 64
William Barton Rogers
1804 - 1882
HPI: 46.33
Rank: 65
William Nicol
1770 - 1851
HPI: 45.98
Rank: 66
Ivan Gubkin
1871 - Present
HPI: 45.78
Rank: 67
Walter Alvarez
1940 - Present
HPI: 45.65
Rank: 68
Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden
1829 - 1887
HPI: 45.63
Rank: 69
Rinchen Barsbold
1935 - Present
HPI: 45.62
Rank: 70
Lawrence Lambe
1863 - 1919
HPI: 45.38
Rank: 71
M. King Hubbert
1903 - 1989
HPI: 45.32
Rank: 72

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1770, William Nicol ranks 42. Before him are Princess Louise of Orange-Nassau, William Clark, William Huskisson, Albrecht Berblinger, Zaman Shah Durrani, and Thomas Phillips. After him are James Hogg, and David Thompson. Among people deceased in 1851, William Nicol ranks 47. Before him are Andrés Quintana Roo, Karl Freiherr von Müffling, Baji Rao II, Mizuno Tadakuni, Giovanni Berchet, and Joel Roberts Poinsett. After him are Dean Mahomed, Sylvester Graham, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, Samuel George Morton, Joanna Baillie, and Levi Woodbury.

Others Born in 1770

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Princess Louise of Orange-Nassau
NOBLEMAN
1770 - 1819
HPI: 51.10
Rank: 36
William Clark
EXPLORER
1770 - 1838
HPI: 50.98
Rank: 37
William Huskisson
POLITICIAN
1770 - 1830
HPI: 47.93
Rank: 38
Albrecht Berblinger
INVENTOR
1770 - 1829
HPI: 46.86
Rank: 39
Zaman Shah Durrani
POLITICIAN
1770 - 1845
HPI: 46.44
Rank: 40
Thomas Phillips
PAINTER
1770 - 1845
HPI: 46.11
Rank: 41
William Nicol
GEOLOGIST
1770 - 1851
HPI: 45.98
Rank: 42
James Hogg
WRITER
1770 - 1835
HPI: 45.39
Rank: 43
David Thompson
EXPLORER
1770 - 1857
HPI: 41.67
Rank: 44

Others Deceased in 1851

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Andrés Quintana Roo
POLITICIAN
1787 - 1851
HPI: 49.32
Rank: 41
Karl Freiherr von Müffling
MILITARY PERSONNEL
1775 - 1851
HPI: 48.65
Rank: 42
Baji Rao II
POLITICIAN
1775 - 1851
HPI: 48.57
Rank: 43
Mizuno Tadakuni
MILITARY PERSONNEL
1794 - 1851
HPI: 47.94
Rank: 44
Giovanni Berchet
WRITER
1783 - 1851
HPI: 47.71
Rank: 45
Joel Roberts Poinsett
PHYSICIAN
1779 - 1851
HPI: 47.19
Rank: 46
William Nicol
GEOLOGIST
1770 - 1851
HPI: 45.98
Rank: 47
Dean Mahomed
PHYSICIAN
1759 - 1851
HPI: 44.97
Rank: 48
Sylvester Graham
RELIGIOUS FIGURE
1794 - 1851
HPI: 44.76
Rank: 49
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
PHILOSOPHER
1787 - 1851
HPI: 44.62
Rank: 50
Samuel George Morton
PHYSICIAN
1799 - 1851
HPI: 42.46
Rank: 51
Joanna Baillie
WRITER
1762 - 1851
HPI: 42.02
Rank: 52
Levi Woodbury
POLITICIAN
1789 - 1851
HPI: 40.42
Rank: 53