Daniel Rutherford

Daniel Rutherford (3 November 1749 – 15 December 1819) was a Scottish physician, chemist and botanist who is known for the isolation of nitrogen in 1772. Life Rutherford was born on 3 November 1749, the son of Anne Mackay and Professor John Rutherford (1695–1779). He began college at the age of 16 at Mundell's School on the West Bow close to his family home, and then studied medicine under William Cullen and Joseph Black at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a doctorate (MD) in 1772. From 1775 to 1786 he practiced as a physician in Edinburgh. On 12 April 1782 Rutherford was one of the founding members of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh and served as President in 1787. In 1783 he was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1784 he was elected a member of the Aesculapian Club. At this time he lived at Hyndford Close on the Royal Mile a house he (or his father) had purchased from Dunbar Douglas, 4th Earl of Selkirk