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Friedrich Accum

Friedrich Christian Accum or Frederick Accum (29 March 1769 – 28 June 1838) was a German chemist, whose most important achievements included advances in the field of gas lighting, efforts to keep processed foods free from dangerous additives, and the promotion of interest in the science of chemistry to the general populace. From 1793 to 1821 Accum lived in London. Following an apprenticeship as an apothecary, he opened his own commercial laboratory enterprise. His business manufactured and sold a variety of chemicals and laboratory equipment. Accum, himself, gave fee-based public lectures in practical chemistry and collaborated with research efforts at numerous other institutes of science.

Intrigued by the work of Frederick Winsor, who had been championing the introduction of gas lighting in London, Accum too, became fascinated by this innovation. At the request of the Gas Light and Coke Company, he carried out many experiments in this novel field of inquiry. After a time of close working association with this company, he became a member of its board of directors in 1812. The company was charged with founding the first gasworks in London to supply gas lighting to both private and public areas. Accum was instrumental in the conception and design of this extremely successful gasworks.

The majority of Accum's publications were written in English. They were executed in a style that made them quite accessible. Many scientific contributions were brought forth through his writings, which were influential in the popularization of chemistry during this era. In 1820, Accum published A Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons, in which he denounced the use of chemical additives to food. This work marked the beginning of an awareness of need for food safety oversight. Accum was the first person to tackle the subject and to reach a wide audience through his activities. His book, controversial at the time, found a wide audience and sold well. However, it threatened established practices within the food processing industry, earning him many enemies among the London food manufacturers. Accum left England after a lawsuit was brought against him. He lived out the rest of his life as a teacher at an industrial institution in Berlin.

Youth and education
Accum was born in Bückeburg, Schaumburg-Lippe, about 50 km west of Hanover. His father was from Vlotho, and had been in an infantry regiment in the service of Count Wilhelm von Schaumburg-Lippe. In 1755, Accum's father converted from Judaism to Protestant Christianity. Soon after, his father married Judith Berth dit La Motte in Bückeburg. Judith was the daughter of a hat maker, who lived in the French community in Berlin, and the granddaughter of a refugee who suffered under the Huguenot persecutions in France.

At the time of his conversion baptism, the senior Accum changed his name from Markus Herz to Christian Accum. In addition to choosing the name "Christian," Accum's father chose to emphasize his newly embraced religion by adopting the surname Accum, which derives from the Hebrew word "Akum," meaning "not-Jewish." It is not known whether he did this on his own initiative or because of pressure from his fiancee's family. After his marriage, Christian Accum opened his own soap-making shop in Bückeburg at his in-law's home. Nine years after his marriage to Judith, he received legal citizenship from the city.

Friedrich Accum attended the Bückeburg Gymnasium Adolfinum and additionally received private tutelage in the subjects of French and English. Following the conclusion of his studies, he finished an apprenticeship as an apothecary with the Brande family in Hanover, who were family friends. The Brandes also conducted business in London and were the apothecaries to the Hanoverian King of England, George III. As one of the leading centers for scientific research and industry at the close of the eighteenth century, London attracted the best and brightest minds of Europe.

The first year in London
After gaining experience as an assistant in the apothecary, Accum pursued scientific and medical studies at the School of Anatomy in Great Windmill Street in London. He became acquainted with the surgeon Anthony Carlisle (1768–1842) and the London chemist William Nicholson (1753–1815). In Mr. Nicholson's circulating journal, (Nicholson's Journal)

In the fall of the year 1799, a translation of Franz Carl Achard's ground-breaking work on the production of sugar from beets appeared in Nicholson's Journal. Until that time, sugar cane, which was grown overseas, was the only plant from which sugar could be derived. This information made possible the creation of a domestic sugar industry, and was greeted with great interest. A short time after the article's publication, Accum had samples of beet sugar sent from Berlin, and presented them to William Nicholson. This was the first time sugar derived from beets had ever been present in England. Following his careful analysis of both types of sugar, Nicholson published a detailed report in the January edition of his journal, stating that there was no appreciable difference in taste between the two.

Laboratory worker, merchant and private tutor
In 1800, Accum and his family changed residence in London from 17 Haymarket to 11 Old Compton Street. There he would live for the next twenty years. His family home also served as a school, an experimental laboratory and place he sold chemicals and scientific instruments. Accum's business cards of the time described his activities thus:

"Mr Accum acquaints the Patrons and Amateurs of Chemistry that he continues to give private Courses of Lectures on Operative and Philosophical Chemistry, Practical Pharmacy and the Art of Analysis, as well as to take Resident Pupils in his House, and that he keeps constantly on sale in as pure a state as possible, all the Re-Agents and Articles of Research made use of in Experimental Chemistry, together with a complete Collection of Chemical Apparatus and Instruments calculated to Suit the conveniences of Different Purchasers."

For many years, Accum's establishment was the only significant institution in England that provided lectures on the theory of chemistry as well as training in laboratory practice. Amateurs were welcome to perform simple experiments on site to enhance their knowledge. Accum's teachings attracted various prominent students. These included the well-known London politician and later prime minister Lord Palmerston, the Duke of Bedford, and the Duke of Northumberland. Additionally, his laboratory was the first in Europe to be visited by students and scientists from the United States, among whom were Benjamin Silliman and William Dandridge Peck. When Silliman later became Professor of Chemistry at Yale College (precursor to Yale University) in New Haven, he ordered his first laboratory equipment from Accum in London. Accum's biographer, Charles Albert Browne, stated in his 1925 work that some of the older American colleges still had sales receipts from Accum's London business.

With the development of new laboratory apparatus, Accum positioned himself in the middle market range with respect to cost and usability. Accum developed portable laboratory kits, intended for farmers, for the analysis of soils and stones. With affordable prices ranging from three to eighty pounds sterling, these chests were the first truly portable laboratories.

Teacher and researcher
In March 1801, Frederick Accum was offered a position at the Royal Institution in Ablemarle Street, a research institute founded two years earlier by Count Rumford.

By 1803, Accum had published a series of articles in Nicholson's Journal, which discussed a number of subjects: investigating methods to determine the purity of medicines, determining the existence of benzoic acids in vanilla extract, observing the explosivity of sulphur-phosphorus mixtures. In 1803 one of Accum's most significant publications was completed. Cole, Accum's biographer states that this book, System of Theoretical and Practical Chemistry, "was the first text-book of general chemistry written in the English language to be based on Lavoisier's new principles; it is outstanding, also, in that it is written in a popular style, the subject matter being graduated as with a modern text-book."

Accum held his first lecture on chemistry and mineralogy in a small room in his house on Old Compton Street. His audience grew so rapidly that he soon had to rent the Medical Theatre on Cork Street. After resigning from the Royal Institution and taking a new position with the Surrey Institution, he continued with his popular lectures. An advertisement in The Times on 6 January 1809 indicates that Accum offered a course on mineralogy and the chemical analysis of metals every Wednesday evening.

His increasing interest in mineralogy at this time is also apparent from the titles of two books he authored between 1803 and 1809. The first was a two volume work that appeared in 1804 entitled A Practical Essay on the Analysis of Minerals, which was reissued in 1808 as A Manual of Analytical Mineralogy. In 1809 he published Analysis of a Course of Lectures on Mineralogy. Beginning in 1808, while at the Surrey Institution, Accum also published, a series of articles on the chemical properties and composition of mineral water in Alexander Tilloch's Philosophical Journal.

In 1811, when the Parisian saltpetre manufacturer Bernard Courtois made iodine for the first time from the kelp ash, his discovery was greeted with great interest by experts. Accum was among the first chemists in England to undertake experiments to isolate iodine. In two articles published in Tilloch's Philosophical Journal in January and February 1814, Accum described the iodine content of different kinds of seaweed and gave a detailed account of a process for iodine production.

Accum's role in the history of gaslight
Artificial lighting of any sort was largely absent during the industrial development of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Using candles or oil lamps to illuminate a textile factory was costly, and economically unsound. With the advent of industrial means of production, not only were new textile halls physically larger, but they also had to be lit more brightly for longer periods of time. Driven by great demand, and made possible through Lavoisier's theoretical work regarding the role of oxygen in combustion, the end of the 18th century saw a continuous series of improvements in lighting technology.

The production of gases from coal had been noted by Henry Clayton. He shared this observation with Robert Boyle in a letter written in the 17th century. The letter was published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1739. Clayton wrote:

"I then got some Coal from one of the Pits nearest thereunto, which I distilled in a Retort in an open Fire. At first there came over only Phlegm, afterwards a black Oil, and then likewise a Spirit arose, which I could noways condense, but it forced my Lute, or broke my Glasses. Once, when it had forced the Lute, coming close thereto, in order to try to repair it, I observed that the Spirit which issued out caught Fire at the Flame of the Candle, and continued burning with Violence as it issued out, in a Stream, which I blew out, and lighted again, alternately, for several times."

Clayton's findings did not have any practical application until the end of the 18th century. The gas produced during the coking of coal was allowed to escape unused until William Murdoch began to promote coal gas as an illuminant. Other such experiments, though limited in depth, had been done by: George Dixon in 1780 in Cockfield, Jean-Pierre Minckelers in 1785 in Louvain, and Archibald Cochrane in 1787 at his estate Culross Abbey. The true prototypes for later gasworks were first constructed in 1802 at the Soho Foundry and in 1805 at George Lee's cotton mill in Salford close to Manchester. However innovative the new technology, it was met with great skepticism by many critics. As late as 1810 Murdock was asked in a committee of the House of Commons: "Do you mean to tell us that it will be possible to have a light without a wick?" Not until the second decade of the 19th century did gaslight spread from industrial mills to urban street lighting and domestic lighting. Accum played a crucial role in this unfolding revolution.

Accum became involved with the production of gas for lighting purposes through the efforts of Friedrich Albert Winsor (1763–1830), another German émigré, who had been waging a longstanding publicity campaign. In 1809, Accum was asked to appear before a Parliamentary committee that was considering granting a charter for a gaslight company Winsor had been promoting. While unsuccessful in its first attempt, the bill passed in 1810 and the company was incorporated under the name "Gas Light and Coke Company". The newly incorporated company met the conditions laid out in the bill and began operating in 1812 with Accum as a member of its board of directors. Accum oversaw the construction of a gas plant on Curtain Road, which was the first such plant in the history of gaslight. After that time, gaslight was no longer limited to industrial mills and was introduced into urban life. Westminster Bridge was lighted with gas lamps in 1813, and a year later, the streets in Westminster followed. In 1815, Accum published "Description of the Process of Manufacturing Coal-Gas". In the introduction, Accum compared the newly formed gas utility with the water companies that had been operating in London since the early 18th century: "Through gas, it will be possible to have light in all rooms, as is presently the case with water." When this book was translated into German in Berlin in 1815, an explanatory note had to be added, as no such water utilities existed there: "There are many private homes in England that are provided with pipes in the walls so that in almost all rooms, all one needs to do to get water is open a faucet."

In London, in 1814, there was a single gasometer of 400 m3, by 1822, there were four gas companies, whose gasometers had a total combined volume of almost a million ft3 To keep delivery routes for the gas pipelines as short as possible, gas plants were set up within the city districts where the gas was consumed. The arrival of these types of chemical plants to inhabited parts of the city provoked public criticism of the new technology. This was also directed at poisonous effluent generated by the plant operations. These harsh critiques were especially fierce once accidental explosions occurred at some plants. Accum, who by this point was a leading proponent of gaslight in addition to his work as a chemist, strongly refuted these criticisms in his writings. Through careful analysis he showed that as a whole, accidents were caused by carelessness of plant workers rather than problems with the technology, and were therefore avoidable.

From early on in its conception, Accum had been concerned with the byproducts of coal gas production, which included tar and sulphur compounds. These were typically buried or dumped into nearby waterways. The ammonium and sulphur compounds were especially damaging to the environment. In 1820, Accum began demanding legal measures to prevent the discharge of these byproducts into the sewage systems and rivers.

"There is death in the pot"
In 1820 Accum began the public struggle against harmful food additives with his book entitled A Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons. Some additives derived from plants, and used as preservatives or to alter tastes or appearance, had already been in use for some time. The beginning of the 19th century saw a rapid increase in the industrial preparation and packaging of foods. The drastic increase of additives used in these processes became a serious health concern. The production and distribution of food, instead of being one between local farmers and townspeople, increasingly became a centralized process in large factories. The proliferation of newly discovered chemicals and the absence of laws moderating their use, made it possible for unscrupulous merchants to use them to boost profits at a cost to the public health. Accum was the first to publicly proclaim the hazards of this practice and to reach a wide audience with his concerns.

Accum alludes to his moral stance on food adulterations as he claims that:

"The man who robs a fellow subject of a few shillings on the high-way, is sentenced to death; while he who distributes a slow poison to a whole community, escapes punishment."

A thousand copies of A Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons were sold within a month of its publication.

The various chapters of the book alternate between harmless forgeries such as mixing dried pea grounds in coffee, and much more dangerous contamination by truly poisonous substances. Accum explained to his readers that there was a high lead content in Spanish olive oil, caused by the lead containers used to clear the oil, and recommended using oil from other countries such as France and Italy, where this was not practiced. He warned against bright green sweets sold by itinerant merchants in the streets of London as the colour was produced with "sapgreen", a colorant with high copper content. "Vinegar", he explained to his readers, "was frequently mixed with sulphuric acid in order to increase its acidity."

Accum paid particular attention to beer, introducing the subject with the comment: "Malt beverages, and especially port, the preferred drink of the inhabitants of London and other large cities, is among the items which is most frequently adulterated in the course of supply." He claimed that English beer was occasionally mixed with molasses, honey, vitriol, pepper and even opium. Among the most shocking customs he pointed out was the practice of adding fishberries, part of the family Menispermaceae, to port. It became evident during the French Revolutionary Wars that the practice was getting out of hand, and Accum attributed the intoxicating power of the drink to the addition of this plant matter.

The Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons has two further notable characteristics. First, like Accum's earlier writings, it was written with descriptions of the simple techniques of analytical chemistry he employed, thereby making them more accessible to his readers. He wanted to make every test repeatable in the simplest possible way by a non-expert. Accum wrote in the foreword to his first edition:

"In stating the experimental proceedings necessary for the detection of the frauds which it has been my object to expose, I have confined myself to the task of pointing out such operations only as may be performed by persons unacquainted with chemical science; and it has been my purpose to express all necessary rules and instructions in the plainest language, divested of those recondite terms of science, which would be out of place in a work intended for general perusal."

The second characteristic was that Accum did not limit his campaign to simply exposing problems. At the end of every chapter, he included names of merchants of who had in years prior to 1820 been caught adulterating foodstuffs. In this way, Accum tried to deprive them of business and thereby had an effect on the London economy.

Reaction to Treatise on Adulterations of Food
Accum was well aware before the publication of his book that mentioning specific names from London's business world would provoke a resistance and a possibly a severe reaction. In the foreword to the first edition he called the publication of the names of those adulterating foodstuffs an "invidious office" and a "painful duty," which he undertook as a verification for his statements. Although he further stated that he carefully avoided citing any except those authenticated in Parliamentary documents and other records, this did not save him from the ire of his opponents. By the time the second edition appeared, he mentioned in the foreword that he had received threats. At the same time, this did not stop him from putting "the unwary on their guard" against the deceits of unscrupulous men. He further added that he wished to notify his hidden enemies that he would report for posterity the crimes these swindlers and their base associates had been found guilty of in public justice—that is, of having made basic foodstuffs poisonous.

Scandal and lawsuit
The process that ultimately led to Accum's departure from England and return to Germany began a few months after the publication of his book on the poisoning of foodstuffs. For a long time, many contradictory accounts have been given of the exact circumstances of his exile. Finally in 1951, R. J. Cole, in an addendum to the minutes of Royal Institution, proved that the presentation of the events adopted in the article in the Dictionary of National Biography, and also later in the Allgemeinen Deutschen Biographie.

Cole completely reprinted the minutes of an extraordinary meeting of the Royal Institution of 23 December 1820, which show that these events were initiated through an observation made by a librarian of the Royal Institution named Sturt. Sturt reported to his superiors that on 5 November 1820, a number of pages were removed from books in the reading room of the institution, books Accum had read. On the instructions of his superiors, Sturt cut a small hole in the wall of the reading room to watch Accum from an adjoining room. On the evening of 20 December, as recorded in the minutes, Sturt could see Accum tear out and walk off with a paper concerning the ingredients and uses of chocolate. The paper had been in an issue of Nicholson’s Journal. Accum's premises on Old Compton Street were searched on the order of a magistrate for the City of London, and torn pages were indeed discovered there. These could be matched to books belonging to the Royal Institution.

"The Magistrate after hearing the whole of the Case observed that however valuable the books might be from which the leaves found in Mr Accum’s house had been taken, yet the leaves separated from them were only waste paper. If they had weighed a pound he would have committed him for the value of a pound of waste paper, but this not being the case he discharged him."

The Royal Institution committee that met on 23 December 1820 was not, however, satisfied with this judgment, and decided to take further legal action against Accum. On 10 January 1821, an open letter directed to Earl Spencer, the president of the Institution, appeared in The Times defending Accum. The letter was signed "A.C", and Cole supposed that the author was the surgeon Anthony Carlisle, who had been friends with Accum since the first years of the latter's stay in London. This unsought support availed Accum little, as the minutes of the Royal Institution from 16 April 1821 show. These report the commencement of a lawsuit against Accum for theft of paper valued at 14 pence. Two of his friends were included in the indictment: the publisher Rudolph Ackermann and the architect John Papworth. These three appeared in court and paid altogether 400 pounds sterling as surety.

Return to Germany
In the two years before his return to Germany, Accum had published a number of books dealing with nutrition chemistry. In 1820, he published two works, one on beer production (A Treatise on the Art of Brewing) and another on wine (A Treatise on the Art of Making Wine). The following year appeared Culinary Chemistry, in which Accum provided practical information about the scientific basis of cooking. He also published a book on bread (A Treatise on the Art of Making Good and Wholesome Bread). Even when he had returned to Germany, his works continued to be reprinted and were translated into French, Italian and German, reaching a wide readership in Europe, as well as in the US after it was reprinted there.

Immediately upon his arrival in Germany, Accum went to the town of Althaldensleben. There, the industrialist Johann Gottlob Nathusius had acquired various estates and was using them to found a sprawling industrial settlement. Nathusius was a German pioneer in the field of sugar production from beets, and had established a factory for its production in that town between 1813 and 1816. It was probably Nathusius’ extensive library and chemical laboratory that drew Accum. He remained only a short time in Althaldensleben, however, as he soon got a professorship at the Gewerbeinstitut and the Bauakademie in Berlin. His teaching in the areas of physics, chemistry, and mineralogy, were collected in the two volume work, Physische und chemische Beschaffenheit der Baumaterialien, deren Wahl, Verhalten und zweckmässige Anwendung, published in Berlin in 1826. It was the only work Accum published originally in German.

A few years after settling down in Berlin, Accum had a house built at 16 Marienstraße (later 21 Marienstraße), where he dwelt until his death. During his last years, he suffered from a bad case of gout, which ultimately led to his death. His illness took a serious turn for the worse in June 1838, and he rapidly deteriorated. On 28 June, approximately 16 years after he return to Germany, Accum died at the age of 69 in Berlin. He was buried there at the Dorotheenstädtischen Friedhof.

Bibliography and primary sources
The first biographical sketch of Friedrich Accum's life was written by the American agricultural chemist and historian of science Charles Albert Browne, Jr. in 1925. He studied the life and works of Accum closely for ten years, which he was able to complement with information from civil and ecclesiastical sources in Bückeburg. His enthusiasm for the subject was so great that he traveled to Germany in July 1930 to meet with Hugo Otto Georg Hans Westphal (26 August 1873 – 15 September 1934), a great-grandson of Accum's. Brown's last writing on the subject, which appeared in 1948 in Chymia, a journal for the history of chemistry, relied to a great extent on the information he gathered from Hans Westphal. Three years later, R. J. Cole published an outline of Accum's life based on English sources. He was particularly concerned with bringing new information to light about the judicial process of 1821. Like Browne, Cole also provided relatively little data about the last part of Accum's life in Berlin. A modern presentation of Accum's life and works that fills in the lacuna in the available biographies has not been written. Lawson Cockroft of the Royal Society of Chemistry in London observed that Friedrich Accum was one of those chemists who, despite significant achievements in his lifetime, was by and large forgotten today.

Probably the best known pictorial representation of Accum was an engraving by James Thomson made in July 1820 for the English journal European Magazine. It shows Accum sitting at a table close to a gas lamp. Thomson's engraving was probably based on an oil painting by the London portrait painter Samuel Drummond (1765–1844), who had shown Accum in a similar pose in a painting produced a few years prior to this. In addition, Accum's brother-in-law, the artist Wilhelm Strack, painted an oil portrait that shows Accum as a young man.

A few letter fragments and documents relating to Accum still exist in his family's possession. A certificate from the Gesellschaft naturforschender Freunde (society of natural philosophical friends), based in Berlin and granting honorary membership to Accum, dated 1 November 1814, was made available online in 2006. A letter from Accum written in London and addressed to his brother Philipp in Bückeburg, about life in London after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, is also available online at Wikisource.

Publications

 * System of Theoretical and Practical Chemistry, London 1803 Vol 1, Vol 2 Second edition 1807; Reprint Philadelphia 1808 Vol 1 Vol 2, Second edition 1814 Vol 1 Vol 2
 * A Practical Essay on the Analysis of Minerals, London 1804; Reprint Philadelphia 1809; and a new edition expanded to two volumes in 1808 with the title A Manual of Analytical Mineralogy
 * An Analysis of a Course of Lectures on Mineralogy, London 1809, expanded edition in 1810 under the title A Manual of a Course of Lectures on Experimental Chemistry and Mineralogy
 * Descriptive Catalogue of the Apparatus and Instruments Employed in Experimental and Operative Chemistry, in Analytical Chemistry, and in the Pursuits of the Recent Discoveries of Electro-Chemical Science, London 1812
 * Elements of Crystallography, London 1813
 * Practical Treatise on Gas-Light, London 1815, went through four English editions to 1818, rewritten with the title Description of the Process of Manufacturing Coal-Gas. For the lighting of streets, houses, and public buildings, with elevations, sections, and plans of the most improved sorts of apparatus. Now employed at the gas works in London, London 1819, Second edition 1820; German translation by Wilhelm August Lampadius entitled Praktische Abhandlung über die Gaserleuchtung: enthaltend eine summarische Beschreibung des Apparates und der Maschinerie, Berlin 1816, Second edition 1819; the 1816 French edition Traité pratique de l’éclairage par le gaz inflammable contained a forward and was expanded by Friedrich Albert Winsor, Paris 1816; Italian Trattato pratico sopra il gas illuminante: contenente una completa descrizione dell’apparecchio ... con alcune osservazioni, Milan 1817
 * A Practical Essay on Chemical Re-agents or Tests: Illustrated by a Series of Experiments, London 1816, expanded second edition 1818 with the title Practical Treatise on the Use and Application of Chemical Tests with Concise Directions for Analyzing Metallic Ores, Metals, Soils, Manures and Mineral Waters, Third edition 1828; reprint Philadelphia 1817; French Traité pratique sur l’usage et le mode d’application des réactifs chimiques, Paris 1819; Italian (translation of second English edition) Trattato practico per l’uso ed apllicazione de’reagenti chimici, Milan 1819
 * Chemical Amusement, a Series of Curious and Instructive Experiments in Chemistry Which Are Easily Performed and Unattended by Danger, London 1817, Second edition 1817, Third edition 1818, fourth reprint 1819; German Chemische Unterhaltungen: eine Sammlung merkwürdiger und lehrreicher Erzeugnisse der Erfahrungschemie, Kopenhagen 1819, entitled Chemische Belustigungen Nürnberg 1824; second American edition based on the third English edition with additions by Thomas Cooper, Philadelphia 1818; French translation by V. Riffault Manual de Chimie Amusante; ou nouvelles recreations chimiques, contenant une suite d’experiences d’une execution facile et sans danger, ainsi qu’un grand nombre de faits curieux et instructifs, 1827, Second edition 1829 later reprinted by A. D. Vergnaud, final and sixth reprinting Paris 1854; two volume Italian translation Divertimento chimico contenente esperienze curiose, Milan 1820, second expanded edition by Pozzi La Chimica dilettevole o serie di sperienze curiose e instruttive di chimica chi si esequiscono con facilità e sicurezza, Milan 1854
 * Dictionary of the Apparatus and Instruments Employed in Operative and Experimental Chemistry, London 1821, reprinted omitting the author's name as Explanatory Dictionary of the Apparatus and Instruments Employed in the Various Operations of Philosophical and Experimental Chemistry by a Practical Chemist, London 1824
 * A Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons: Exhibiting the Fraudulent Sophistications of Bread, Beer, Wine, Spirituous Liquors, Tea, Coffee, Cream, Confectionery, Vinegar, Mustard, Pepper, Cheese, Olive Oil, Pickles, and Other Articles Employed in Domestic Economy, and Methods of Detecting Them, London 1820, Second edition 1820, Third edition 1821, Fourth edition 1822; reprint Philadelphia 1820; German translation by L. Cerutti Von der Verfälschung der Nahrungsmittel und von den Küchengiften, Leipzig 1822, Second edition 1841
 * A Treatise on the Art of Brewing: exhibiting the London practice of Brewing, Porter, Brown Stout, Ale, Table Beer, and various other Kinds of Malt Liquors, London 1820, Second edition 1821; German translation by Accum's niece Fredrica Strack Abhandlung über die Kunst zu brauen, oder Anweisung Porter, Braun-Stout, Ale, Tischbier ... zu brauen, Hamm 1821; French translation by Riffault Manual théorique et pratique du brasseur, Paris 1825, later reprinted by A. D. Vergnaud
 * Guide to the Chalybeate Spring of Thetford, London 1819
 * A Treatise on the Art of Making Wine, London 1820, followed by many edition, the last being 1860; French Nouveau Manuel complet de la Fabrication des Vins de Fruits, 1827, later translation by Guilloud and Ollivier as Nouveau Manuel complet de la fabrication des vins de fruits, du cidre, du poiré, des boissons rafraîchissantes, des bières économiques et de ménage ..., Paris 1851
 * Treatise on the Art of Making Good and Wholesome Bread, London 1821
 * Culinary Chemistry, exhibiting the scientific principles of Cookery, with concise instructions for preparing good and wholesome Pickles, Vinegar, Conserves, Fruit Jellies with observations on the chemical constitution and nutritive qualities of different kinds of food, London 1821
 * Physische und chemische Beschaffenheit der Baumaterialien, deren Wahl, Verhalten und zweckmässige Anwendung, 2 volumes, Berlin 1826

title: Friedrich Accum


text:
Minitel

The Minitel, officially known as TELETEL, was an interactive videotex online service accessible through telephone lines. It was the world's first and most successful mass-market online service prior to the World Wide Web. It was developed in Cesson-Sévigné, Brittany by government-owned France Télécom.

The service was initially launched on an experimental basis on 15 July 1980 in Saint-Malo and extended to other regions in autumn 1980. It was commercially introduced throughout France in 1982 by the PTT (Postes, Télégraphes et Téléphones; since 1991, divided into France Télécom and La Poste). From its inception, users were able to make online purchases, book train tickets, access business information services, search the telephone directory, maintain a mailbox, and utilize chat functionalities similar to those now supported by the World Wide Web.

In February 2009, France Télécom reported that the Minitel network still maintained 10 million monthly connections. The service was discontinued by France Télécom on 30 June 2012.

Name
Officially known as TELETEL, the name Minitel is derived from the French title Médium interactif par numérisation d'information téléphonique (Interactive medium for digitized information by telephone).

History
Videotex was a crucial element in the telecommunications sector of many industrialized countries, with numerous national post, telephone, and telegraph companies and commercial ventures launching pilot projects. It was viewed as a major force in advancing towards an information society.

In 1978, Postes, Télégraphes et Téléphones (PTT) initiated the design of the Minitel network. By distributing terminals capable of accessing a nationwide electronic directory of telephone and address information, the PTT aimed to increase the utilization of the country’s 23 million phone lines and reduce the costs associated with printing phone books and employing directory assistance personnel. Millions of terminals were given for free (officially loans, and property of the PTT) to telephone subscribers.

The telephone company prioritized ease of use. The French government's decision to provide free Minitel terminals to every household was a key factor in the widespread adoption and success of Minitel. By providing a popular service on simple, free equipment, Minitel achieved high market penetration and avoided the chicken and egg problem that hindered the widespread adoption of similar systems in the United States. In exchange for the terminal, Minitel users received only the yellow pages (classified as commercial listings with advertisements), while the white pages were freely accessible on Minitel and could be searched faster than through a paper directory.

In the early 1980s, parallel to the US development of the ARPANET, France launched the Minitel project to bring data networking into homes. According to the PTT, during the first eight years of nationwide operation, 8 billion francs were spent on purchasing terminals, resulting in a profit of 3.5 billion FRF after deducting payments to information providers such as newspapers. Additionally, an average of 500 million francs was saved annually by printing fewer phone books.

A trial involving 55 residential and business telephone customers using experimental terminals commenced in Saint-Malo on 15 July 1980, two days after a presentation to President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on 13 July. This trial expanded to 2,500 customers in other regions in autumn 1980. Beginning in May 1981, 4,000 experimental terminals with a different design were distributed in Ille-et-Vilaine, and commercial service using Minitel terminals was launched in 1982. By the end of 1983, there were 120,000 Minitel terminals in France. It became highly successful in 1984 when the French government distributed free Minitel terminals to households.

Minitel became a financial success for the PTT, as using the service cost the 2022 equivalent of 30 euro cent per minute. The telephone company primarily provided the white pages, while establishing infrastructure for other entities to offer services. Minitel facilitated access to various categories including the phone directory (free), mail-order retail companies, airline or train ticket purchases, information services, databases, message boards, online dating services, and computer games.

By 1985, games and electronic messaging accounted for 42 percent of Minitel traffic, with messaging alone representing 17 percent of traffic by 1988. The platform became particularly popular among young people, who would engage in late-night sessions playing text-based online video games.

By early 1986, 1.4 million terminals were connected to the Minitel network, with plans to distribute an additional million by the end of the year. This expansion faced opposition from newspapers concerned about competition from an electronic network. In 1980, Ouest-France expressed the concern that Minitel would "separate people from each other and endanger social relationships." To mitigate opposition from the newspapers, they were permitted to establish the first consumer services on Minitel. Libération offered 24-hour online news, including results from events at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles that occurred overnight in France. Providers promoted their services in their own publications, which helped to market the Minitel network. Newspapers were founded specifically to create Minitel services.

By 1988, three million terminals were installed, with 100,000 new units being added monthly. The telephone directory received 23 million calls per month, with 40,000 updates daily. Approximately six thousand other services were available, with around 250 new ones being added each month.

The emergence of Minitel led to the proliferation of numerous start-up ventures, similar to the later dot-com bubble of World Wide Web-related companies. Many of these small enterprises encountered challenges due to an oversaturated market or poor business practices, such as inadequate infrastructure for online retailers. By the late 1980s, the Minitel system had become widespread in France, with numerous products displaying their Minitel numbers as a direct marketing tool.

Despite initial expectations, messageries roses ("pink messages"), adult chat services facilitated by operators posing as receptive women, gained significant traction, causing some discomfort among government officials who preferred to focus on the growing business applications of messaging. Extensive street advertising promoted services such as "3615 Sextel," "Jane," "kiss," "3615 penthouse," and "men." These and other pornographic sites faced criticism for their potential accessibility to minors. While the government opted against implementing coercive measures, it underscored the responsibility of parents, rather than governmental intervention, in regulating children's online activities. The government did impose a tax on pornographic online services.

Numerous services were covertly operated by conservative newspapers, which publicly expressed disapproval the sex industry. The majority of operators were not the scantily-clad women depicted in the advertisements, but were men engaged in their regular occupations.

By the mid-1990s, it provided over 20,000 services, including home banking and specialized databases. Minitel was widespread in French homes a decade before the Internet became known in the US. France Télécom, maintained steady income from Minitel and cautiously approached the Internet to protect its business model. This slow adaptation paralleled the hesitant adoption of high-definition TV in the U.S., where companies resisted new technologies to safeguard profits. France's struggle with Internet adoption reflected typical free-market issues, rather than those associated with centralized economies.

In 1997, recognizing the emerging global Internet society, the French government partially privatized France Télécom, ending its telephone monopoly and introducing competition in the telecommunications sector. This led to reduced prices for telephone communications, allowing more affordable dial-up Internet access by the late 1990s. Minitel became quickly outpaced by the development of the Internet. France Télécom estimated that by the end of 1999, almost 9 million terminals, including web-enabled personal computers (Windows, Mac OS, and Linux), had access to the network, which was used by 25 million people out of a total population of 60 million. Developed by 10,000 companies, nearly 26,000 different services were available by 1996.

Finances
Payment methods included credit cards for purchases and telephone bills, with rates contingent upon the websites visited. Initially, users subscribed to individual services, but adoption surged following the introduction of a "kiosk" model by the telephone company, named after newsagent shops. Charges for Minitel usage and voice calls were amalgamated on the monthly telephone bill without itemized breakdown. Service providers typically received two-thirds of the $10 per hour fee paid by customers as of 1988.

Since the telephone company managed bill collection and users who failed to settle bills risked losing telephone service, the customer acquisition cost for service providers remained low. The consolidated billing system fostered impulse shopping, as users, while browsing, often discovered and utilized additional services beyond their original intention. Given the anonymity of users and services, Minitel usage was prevalent in workplaces where companies covered telephone expenses.

In 1985, France Télécom generated 620 million francs (approximately US$70 million) in revenue from Minitel. Throughout the year, 2,000 private companies collectively earned 289 million francs (about US$35 million), while Libération, a prominent newspaper, garnered 2.5 million francs (about US$300,000) from the service in September. Despite the increasing prevalence of the World Wide Web, Minitel connections remained stable in the late 1990s, with a consistent monthly volume of 100 million connections alongside 150 million online directory inquiries.

In response to the rising incidence of cybercrime, France Telecom has developed a new contract specifying that all Minitel service operators must identify themselves by providing their name and address. This measure aims to enhance security and accountability within the network.

In 1998, Minitel returned €832 million (US$1121 million) in revenue, with €521 million allocated by France Télécom to service providers. Notably, Minitel sales in the late 1990s constituted nearly 15 percent of total sales for La Redoute and 3 Suisses, prominent mail order companies in France. By 2005, the most popular Minitel application was Teleroute, an online real-time freight exchange, which accounted for nearly 8 percent of Minitel usage.

In December 1985 Minitel users made more than 22 million calls, up 400 percent in one year. In 1994 they made 1,913 million Minitel calls, used the system for 110 million hours, and spent 6.6 billion francs. In 2005, there were 351 million calls for 18.5 million hours of connection, generating €206 million of revenue, of which €145 million were redistributed to 2,000 service providers (these numbers were declining at around 30 percent per year). There were still six million terminals owned by France Télécom, which had been left with their users in order to avoid recycling problems.

Key utilization of Minitel included banking and financial services, which leveraged Minitel's security features, as well as access to professional databases. France Télécom cited 12 million updates to personal carte vitale healthcare cards were facilitated through Minitel.

By 2007, revenue exceeded US$100 million. This trend persisted into 2010, with revenues reaching €30 million, of which 85 percent was allocated to service providers.

Phonebook
The most popular service of the Minitel was the Annuaire Electronique. It garnered significant popularity, with approximately half of the network's calls directed on it in 1985. In May of that same year, a nationwide white pages directory covering all 24 million telephone subscribers was introduced, accessible through the phone number 11. Following the adoption of the new French numbering system on 18 October 1996, access to the phone directory transitioned to 3611. Companies had the option to include up to three lines of supplementary information and a rudimentary website. Advertisement space within the Minitel phone directory was managed by the Office d'Annonces (ODA), today known as Solocal / Pages Jaunes Groupe based in Sèvres, France. In 1991, the "Minitel Website" for the Paris Sony Stores contained already over 100 pages. Today the 3611 Minitel Directory is replaced by the online white or yellow pages.

On 11 February 2009, France Télécom and PagesJaunes jointly announced the cancellation of plans to discontinue the Minitel service in March 2009, despite its continued high usage of its directory assistance service, which was still accessed over a million times monthly. France Télécom retired the service on 30 June 2012, attributing the decision to operational costs and declining customer interest.

Technology
Minitel utilized computer terminals featuring a text-only monochrome screen, a keyboard, and a modem, all integrated into a single tabletop unit. These terminals had the capability to display basic graphics using a predefined set of block graphics characters. Color units were eventually offered for an additional fee, they saw limited adoption. Aftermarket printers were also available to users.

Operating over the existing Transpac network, Minitel terminals connected to the system by dialing a short code number, initiating a connection to a PAVI (Point d'Accès VIdéotexte, meaning "videotext access point") via the subscriber's analog telephone line. The PAVI was then digitally linked to the destination servers of the relevant company or administration through Transpac. The surge in popularity of the service led to a temporary disruption in June 1985, lasting two weeks, when an increase in connection attempts per second revealed a dormant software bug.

In France, the widely recognised dial number for accessing Minitel services was 3615, with 3617 reserved for premium services. Minitel service names typically incorporated these numbers as prefixes to signify their association with the system. Billboard advertisements during this period often featured minimal content, comprising an image, company name, and a "3615" number. The inclusion of the "3615" number implied the promotion of a Minitel service. A notable instance of this cultural reference can be observed in the title of the film 3615 code Père Noël, where a child endeavors to contact Santa Claus using Minitel, to inadvertently connect with a local criminal. The film faced accusations of plagiarizing the storyline from Home Alone.

Minitel used a full-duplex data transmission method facilitated by its modem. The downlink operated at a speed of 1200 bit/s (equivalent to 9 KB/min), while the uplink operated at 75 bit/s (equivalent to 0.6 KB/min). This configuration enabled relatively swift downloads by the standards of its time. Referred to colloquially as "1275", the system was more accurately designated as V.23. Originally designed for general-purpose data communications, it found widespread application in Minitel and analogous services worldwide.

Technically, Minitel refers to the terminals, while the network is known as Télétel.

Minitel terminals were equipped with an AZERTY keyboard, reflective of the standard keyboard layout in France, as opposed to the QWERTY layout more commonly used in English-speaking regions. Some early models deviated from this convention, featuring an ABCDEF keyboard arrangement.

Minitel and the Internet
The impact of Minitel on the development of the Internet in France remains a topic of significant debate, partly because Minitel offered over a thousand services, many of which are now available on the Internet. In 1986, French university students effectively organized a national strike utilizing Minitel, showcasing an early instance of digital communication tools being employed for technological political objectives. The French government's allegiance to the domestically developed Minitel impeded the uptake of the Internet in France. Despite reaching a peak of nine million terminals in the 1990s, there remained 810,000 terminals in the country as late as 2012. Resources within France Télécom were directed towards Minitel development, diverting attention from Internet-related initiatives. The sustained emphasis on Minitel by France Telecom did not significantly impact the adoption or advancement of internet-based companies in France. By 2018, the country is comparable with the other western countries in terms of high-speed internet penetration in households.

Minitel in other countries

 * Belgium: Minitel was launched by Belgacom and delivered services led by Teleroute. Although it was used by businesses, it was rarely used by the public. The main reason was that the terminals were not offered for free as in France and that usage of the service was expensive (50 Euro cents a minute). Moreover, there was never much promotion thereof by Belgacom.
 * Brazil: Telebrás had a videotex service called "Videotexto" or "VTX" during the 1980s and 1990s with services provided by local telephone companies such as Telesp (now part of Telefônica Vivo). Services included chats, games, telephone list search, and electronic banking, among others. The Minitel protocol is still used by some cable TV companies to provide general information to their customers.
 * Canada: Bell Canada experimented with a Minitel-like system known as Alex with terminals called AlexTel. The system was conceptually similar to Minitel, but used the Canadian NAPLPS protocols and North American Bell System RJ-11 standard telephone connectors. Originally launched experimentally in the Montreal area, Alex was then launched in most areas served by Bell Canada (primarily Ontario and Quebec) with offers of a free trial period and terminal. The principal information offering was the telephone directory. Although branded as a "bilingual" (English and French Canadian) service, the majority of other services offered were the experimental ones originally offered in Quebec and completely Francophone. Retention rates were reportedly close to zero. The service closed down shortly after exiting the experimental stage. Telidon was an earlier Canadian text and graphics service using the same technological underpinnings.
 * Finland: In 1986, PTL-Tele, then Sonera (now part of Telia Company) launched the on-line service called TeleSampo. TeleSampo included not only videotex services, but also many other Ascii-based Value Added Services (VAS). Roughly at the same time, HPY HTF (now Elisa) launched a videotex service called Infotel (fi) . TeleSampo service was switched off in 2004.
 * Germany: "Bildschirmtext" (BTX) that existed between 1983 and 2001 is almost as old as Minitel and technically very similar, but it was largely unsuccessful because consumers had to buy expensive decoders to use it. The German postal service held a monopoly on the decoders that prevented competition and lower prices. Few people bought the boxes, so there was little incentive for companies to post content, which in turn did nothing to further box sales. When the monopoly was loosened, it was too late because PC-based online services had started to appear. Some post offices in Germany offered BTX boxes for public use, allowing access to BTX without owning a box.
 * Ireland: Minitel was introduced to Ireland by Eir (then called Telecom Éireann) in 1988. The system was based on the French model and Irish services were even accessible from France via the code "36 19 Irlande". A number of major Irish businesses came together to offer a range of online services, including directory information, shopping, banking, hotel reservations, airline reservations, news, weather and information services. The system was also the first platform in Ireland to offer users access to e-mail outside of a corporate setting. Despite being cutting edge for its time, the system failed to capture a large market and was ultimately withdrawn due to lack of commercial interest. The rise of the internet and other global online services in the early to mid-1990s played a major factor in the death of Irish Minitel. Minitel Ireland's terminals were technically identical to their French counterparts, except that they had a Qwerty keyboard and an RJ-11 telephone jack which is the standard telephone connector in Ireland. Terminals could be rented for 5.00 Irish pounds (6.35 euros) per month or purchased for 250.00 Irish pounds (317.43 euros) in 1992.
 * Italy: In 1985 the national telephone operator SIP – Società italiana per l'esercizio telefonico (now known as Telecom Italia) launched the Videotel (it) service. The system use was charged on a per-page basis. Due to the excessive cost of the hardware and the expensive services, diffusion was very low, leading to the diffusion of a FidoNet-oriented movement. The service was shut down in 1994.
 * Netherlands: The then state-owned phone company PTT (now KPN) operated two platforms: Viditel (nl) and Videotex Nederland (nl) . The main difference was that Viditel used one big central host where Videotex NL used a central access system responsible for realizing the correct connection to the required host: owned and managed by others. Viditel was introduced on 7 August 1980, and required a Vidimodem as well as a compatible home computer (one such example was the Philips P2000T which had a built-in Teletext chip) or a television set which could support Teletext; the required equipment itself would cost anywhere between 3000 and 5000 Dutch guilders overall. Viditel was shut down in September 1989 due to high operating costs and was succeeded by the cheaper and more widely used Videotex Nederland. The Videotex NL services offered access via several premium rate numbers and the information/service provider could choose the costs for accessing his service. Depending on the number used, the tariff could vary from 0–1 guilders (0.00–0.45 euro) per minute. Some private networks such as Travelnet (for travel-agencies) and RDWNet for automotive industry, used the same platform as Videotex NL but used dedicated dial-in phone numbers, dedicated access-hardware and also used authentication. Although the protocol used in France for Minitel was slightly different from the international standard one could use the "international" terminal (or PC's with the correct terminal-emulation software) to access the French services. It was possible to connect to most French Minitel services via the Dutch Videotex NL network, but the price per minute was considerably higher: most French Minitel services were reachable via the dial-in number 06-7900 which had a tariff of 1 guilder/minute (approx. €0,45/minute). Videotex Nederland was eventually shut down in 1997, and the parent company behind Videotex Nederland was subsequently renamed as Planet Media Group.
 * Singapore: Singapore Teleview was first trialled by the Telecom Authority of Singapore (now Singtel) beginning in 1987, and was formally launched in 1991. The Teleview system, while similar in concept to the Minitel and Prestel, was unique in that it was able to display photographic images instead of graphical images used by Minitel and Prestel. Teleview was eventually rendered obsolete by SLIP/PPP-based modem Internet connections in the late 1990s.
 * South Africa: Videotex was introduced by Telkom in 1986 and named Beltel. The Minitel was introduced later to popularise the service.
 * Spain: Videotex was introduced by Telefónica in 1990 and named Ibertex. The Ibertex was based on the French model but used the German Bildschirmtext CEPT-1 profile.
 * Sweden: Swedish state-owned telephone company Televerket (now Telia Company) introduced a similar service, called Teleguide (sv), in 1991. Teleguide was shut down in 1993 due to a contract dispute between Televerket and the vendors IBM and Esselte.
 * United Kingdom: The Prestel system was similar in concept to Minitel, using dedicated terminals or software on personal computers to access the network. The number of Prestel subscribers only reached 90 thousand.
 * United States: In 1991, France Télécom launched a Minitel service called "101 Online" in San Francisco; this venture was not successful. In the early 1990s US West (subsequently Qwest and now Lumen Technologies) launched a Minitel service in the Minneapolis and Omaha markets called "CommunityLink". This joint venture of US West and France Télécom provided Minitel content to IBM PC, Commodore 64 and Apple II owners using a Minitel-emulating software application over a dialup modem. Many of the individual services were the same as or similar to those offered by France Télécom to the French market; in fact, some chat services linked up with France Télécom's network in France. The service was fairly short-lived as competing offerings from providers like AOL, Prodigy, and CompuServe as well as independent bulletin board systems and internet service providers offered more services targeted at American users for a lower price. Many of US West's Minitel offerings were charged à la carte or hourly while competitors offered monthly all-inclusive pricing and many smaller BBSes were completely free of charge as long as users called a local number. Minitel also offered services directly in the US with a DOS based client that was sent out to customers for use with an IBM PC compatible. In 1983, the publishing company Knight Ridder and AT&T offered a competing service called Viewtron. The service offered news, aviation schedules and educative content, but no way of mail communication, as the publishing company thought communication should be one-way only.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Minitel


text:
Antoine Achard

Antoine Achard (1696–1772) was a Genevan Protestant minister born in Geneva. He settled in Berlin in 1724 where he received the title of privy counsellor and was admitted into the Royal Academy of Berlin in 1743. He died in 1772.

After his death two volumes of his sermons were prepared, and they were published in 1774.

title: Antoine Achard


text:
Talk:Coupling (British TV series)

Series 4
Actually, Coupling has not finished in the UK. Series 4 is about to go into pre-production as we speak!

Who has described it as "the funniest thing since Red Dwarf". Is it an informed opinion?(I'd doubt it); and does their opinion matter? My opinion is that it is NOT, and my opinion doesn't matter either. Mintguy 11:13, 4 Aug 2003 (UTC)

I've updated the article mentioning that Coupling may return to the BBC in 2004. I've read speculation on this from various sources, but I can't find anything up to date that definitively says that a fourth season will be filmed. Anyone have a reliable source? I've also read that Jeff (Richard Coyle) may not be returning for the fourth season due to scheduling conflicts. - wonko 00:10, Aug 26, 2003 (UTC)

Removed that bit about it beeing the funniest thing since Red Dwarf because thats completely POV and irelevant. Saul Taylor 09:31, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Coupling is over
!! unfortunately this great series is over, Jeff murdoch left the show at the end of season 3 and never made a reentry and this made the producers add a new character called oliver.... well!!! was not that funny and it is safe to say that this great show ended!!!!!!!!!
 * Yeah, it's unlikely there will be a season 5, according to Moffat. He has suggested that they might be a Christmas special to wrap things up. The JPS 22:25, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Where to find quotes?
Does anybody know a good comprehensive site with quotes from the series? The oficial ones are woefully lacking... --Malyctenar 17:43, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

Stations around the world
I don't think it's necessary to list every station on which the show has aired. Comments? Xiner (talk, email) 18:57, 20 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Agree, and certainly not in such a prominent position. The JPS talk to me  19:52, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

 * (edit conflict) You might be right but I still find that pretty interesting. Maybe countries list will do, though.Ori[[image:orimosenzon-signature.png|25px]] 19:54, 20 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Deleted passage: "The show also airs in the Czech Republic on CT1, in Australia via the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and The Comedy Channel, in Catalan Countries on public channel TVC, in France on the Comedie Channel, in Finland, in Germany on ProSieben (Season 1-3) and Nickelodeon (Season 1-4), in Belgium (Flanders) on public channel Canvas, in Italy on MTV Italia, in Spain on People + Arts, in Sweden on SVT 2, in Denmark on DR2, in Turkey on CNBC-e, in Argentina on I-Sat, and in Israel on Channel One." Xiner (talk, email) 17:22, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

Merge US article
There's no reason why the short article on the US version shouldn't be merged into the short article on the UK version. WindsorFan 07:29, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't think so. It was confusing when they were both in one article, that's why I split them. Especially when it came to describing the characters & the actors -- SteveCrook 09:52, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Just checked the history. It was even more confusing when people started adding categories like ones for it being a "cancelled series" which applied to the US version but not the British version -- SteveCrook 09:54, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
 * "Confusing"? How is this confusing? I don't mean to sound rude but much of the US article is OR ("which likely explains why the BBC would choose to let NBC work on Coupling and why NBC would attempt such an adaptation.") or unverified ("which NBC was reportedly hoping to position as a replacement for Friends"). The Cold Feet article has a section on its US remake which gives a comprehensive summary of the series without the need to make a new stub. The same can be achieved here. WindsorFan 17:03, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
 * It's confusing because when they were merged the following categories were applied at various times. 2000s American television series, 2000 television program debuts, 2003 television program debuts, 2003 television program cancellations, American programs based on British programs, BBC television sitcoms, NBC network shows, Television flops, Television programmes set in London, Television series by NBC Universal Television. Which of them applies to just the UK series and which to just the US series. That plus having both sets of casts in the one article. It was just easier & neater to give them each their own article. What's the advantage in merging them again? -- SteveCrook 23:34, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
 * If you look at some featured music articles you will see that they include cover versions in the same article, and the US series is just that as it is a word-for-word remake. Those music articles double up on categories without confusion. My point is you have two articles, neither of which are very long and one of which has little chance of being expanded. WindsorFan 07:28, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, but none of those seem to have such a wildly different reaction. The UK version of Coupling was a great success. The US version was a total flop (so it seems). That means that you would have the two sets of categories saying the opposite things about the same article. I think it's the categories that are the biggest problem with re-joining them. That's why I split them. -- SteveCrook 21:07, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Well at least beef up the US article! I'm going to cut some OR from it. WindsorFan 11:50, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I'll leave that for someone that actually saw it or knows about it. I don't know much about it. Just that it was a flop and that it needed to be separated from this article -- SteveCrook 12:25, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
 * As a Coupling UK fan, and a US citizen, I'm embarrassed by the US version. I don't think the two should be associated at all, but since the one was based on the other, there's going to be associations. That said, the US one was a horrid flop (didn't even get through a half season), and the UK was unbelievably good. The two should not be merged. Bouncehoper 02:34, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I too would say a merge would be a problem. The US version had a substantially different fate than the UK version; despite the nearly identical scripts, they turned out to not be very alike after all, at least in the public mind.  And, as SteveCrook mentioned, they have rather different Wikipedia categories as well, and having them together was already tried and found messy. --Closeapple 04:20, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

Removed ref link
Link removed under WP:EL "A site that requires registration or a subscription should not be linked unless the web site itself is the topic of the article."...

...and because the link isn't working (getting a 404 error)...

--Berean Hunter (talk) 22:16, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Only, External links is a different thing from than WP:REF and WP:VERIFY, which explicitly require quotations to be sourced. --Malyctenar (talk) 21:37, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Coupling.jpg
Image:Coupling.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 21:18, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Discussion of post-series story
The post-series story section appears to be in dispute. See the comment from an annonymous user on User talk:The JPS.

The JPS, can I ask you to please clarify why you believe that this is copyvio? --Deadly∀ssassin 03:14, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Sure. I have experience of getting articles to GA or Featured status, so I have a good knowledge of what the community thinks is acceptable. I removed the text for two reasons, as clearly explained in my edit summaries, 1) reliability, and 2) copyvio.
 * Outpost Gallifrey forums are not considered reliable. This issue has been discussed in several GA and FA debates.
 * I have quoted Moffat in an OPG for another article. The reference was rejected at GA level.
 * The forums require registration, which is frowned upon at WP:RS
 * It is unacceptable to lift a substantial chunk of text. This is a copyright violation. A non-free rationale would cover us for a portion of the original work, but it appears that Moffat's treatment has been lifted in its entirety. If we somehow manage to get away with the ref, then it needs to be condensed.
 * The article needs improving a lot. I intend to get this to GA status. For this, your help in supplying reliable sources would be appreciated. A lot of stuff will need to be removed or rephrased though.  The JPS talk to me  11:17, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Second opinion obtained.  The JPS talk to me  18:07, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but your explanation simply doesn't float with me. It smacks of bureaucratic dogma, hiding behind policy and status. I couldn't care less if it wouldn't pass a peer review if you and EyeSerene are these supposed "peers." Information should be shared. This ending to the show, written by Moffat himself should be shared. Your strict adherence to meaningless and arbitrary policies is beyond foolish and beyond inflexible, in my opinion. In my eyes, all you have achieved here is to disfigure this article.

However, I realize I cannot change this, as I don't have the time or the inclination to make it my task in life to make sure Wikipedia meets some stuffy set of parameters. You can. So, I guess we at the Doctor Who Forums will be the only ones to get the complete story. Sad. I'll make sure Mr. Moffat knows. Maybe he can get it out there some other way. Clearly we can't expect Wikipedia to actually be complete. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.139.29.59 (talk) 03:45, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Nice rhetoric. As for as 'suppressing information' is concerned, we're talking about a hypothetical ending to a sitcom, not secret activities of a government... Also, if you would like information to be shared... this article is more likely to be included on the CD and DVD versions of Wikipedia at GA status. It would almost certainly be 'suppressed' at its current 'start' status. Incidentally, Mr Moffat is a little too busy at the moment to care about this issue. The JPS talk to me  11:12, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

 * With regards to using a website that requires registration as a citation, External_links says "A site that requires registration or a subscription should not be linked unless the web site itself is the topic of the article or is being used as an inline reference." The link was being used as an inline reference and registration to those forums is free. However, when I accessed the link a few weeks ago I discovered that the forums were not accepting new members (I don't know if this is still the case). This makes the link unverifiable as there is no way to access it; there is no mirror of the website, nor is the "post-series story" accessible in hard copy at a library. Bradley0110 (talk) 20:12, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

 * It's my opinion that the addition of portions of the text do improve the text.  Policies are there to aid in the creation of solid articles, in this case I don't believe that they are improving the article, and this case would be one which falls under WP:IGNORE.   I agree that copying from the text wholesale is not the best use of the information and will attempt to trim it down when I get back from work. --Deadly∀ssassin 21:44, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

 * If it's freely available, make it freely available. Get Moffat's permission and post it somewhere, then footnote it out. Otherwise I'm stuck trying to find it buried in Dr Who fandom, which I hoped to be well and truly free of many years ago. Don't think I won't do it, though!Zonemind (talk) 23:18, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

 * Took me a bit longer than I expected as real life intervened.  None of the original text is reused, so no copyvio. --Deadly∀ssassin 01:50, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Don't understand criticism
(please excuse my bad English)

Since I am a fan of the series, I may not be entirely objective to what can be read in this article. But I don't understand why all of the characters are described in such diminishing words, together with the whole series. The relation to Seinfeld is just mentioned and yet the parallell is obvious; if you are not able to relate to these everyday single life frustration, you are not able to understand the humour.

Comparing it with Friends is unfair. The only thing it has in common with Friends is that there are 6 main characters. The characters of Friends are way too prude. There are no obvious parallels between the characters, and there is the age difference.

What I miss - and what I considder as central in the series are the different philosophies if the men in the series, and to some extent the women, too. The basis of the series is the dialogue, the endless discussions of how men could understand women och vice versa. The lengthy and untraditional, but often rather intelligent observations of many aspects of life has been narrowed down to (in the case of Jeff) "constant sexual frustration, ridiculous stories and fantasies about women and sex". Those kind of comments could hardly be considered as objective.

The central place in the series is the pub - I would estimate 30-40% of the time of the series is spent in this pub (including entire episodes), and it is not even mentioned in the article. It is here where the different aspects of life are being discussed, and where most of the action begins or ends and sometimes even takes place. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.216.172.131 (talk) 00:34, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

American version word for word copy statement
"Unlike most American adaptations, this show was intended to be a word-for-word duplicate of the British version,"

i don't think this is a true statement, many american shows have been based around or completely copied from brittish tv, and very very often, at least the first episode or pilot has been a word for word copy, i think the office was, and i can recall hearing of others that are the same but i can't give them as examples, perhaps should be looked at--81.23.56.12 (talk) 22:28, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

 * Not to mention that the US version is not a word-for-word duplicate of the UK version anyway. —Ming Hua (talk) 22:33, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Coupling (British TV series)


text:
Jurong Island

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Jurong Island is an island located to the southwest of the main island of Singapore. It was formed from the amalgamation of seven offshore islands, the islands of Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Merlimau, Pulau Pesek, Pulau Pesek Kechil (also called Terumbu Pesek), Pulau Sakra (which was a previous merger of Pulau Sakra and Pulau Bakau), Pulau Seraya, Pulau Meskol, Pulau Mesemut Laut, Pulau Mesemut Darat and Anak Pulau. This was done through Singapore's land reclamation efforts. Land reclamation on Jurong Island was completed on 25 September 2009, 20 years earlier than scheduled. Pulau Buaya was joined to Jurong Island via reclamation in 2010. Jurong Island forms a land area of about 32 km² from an initial area of less than 10 km², and is the largest of Singapore's outlying islands.

History

The island was previously a stop on a maritime trade route. Jurong Island used to be a maze of island hideouts frequented by raiding pirates. Later in the early 19th century, entrepreneurs trading gambier altered the area for large scale settlement. In 1848 a British surveyor, John Turnbull Thomson, mentioned there were numerous Chinese and Malay villages in Jurong.

The outlying islands of Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Merlimau and Pulau Seraya used to house fishing communities comprising small villages up to the 1960s. The villagers lived in Malay-style wooden stilt houses on the palm-fringed islands. Between the late-1960s and early-1970s, three big oil companies planned to house their facilities on Pulau Ayer Chawan for Esso, Pulau Merlimau for Singapore Refinery Company and Pulau Pesek for Mobil Oil.

The Government of Singapore then took the opportunity to grow the petrochemical industry to improve economic growth. It proved a success when the petroleum industry took off in the 1970s.

By the 1980s, after a decade of rapid industrialisation, industrial land was growing scarce on Singapore mainland. The idea of joining the southern islands off Jurong to form one colossal island to create more industrial land was therefore conceived.

In 1991, JTC Corporation (formerly Jurong Town Corporation) was appointed the agent of the Jurong Island project. JTC planned and coordinated with various government agencies in providing the necessary infrastructure and services to the island.

Physical land reclamation began in 1995, and Jurong Island was officially opened on 14 October 2000 by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. From the 9.91 km2 land area of the original seven islets, as of completion of the land reclamation on 25 September 2009, Jurong Island currently has a total land area of 30 km2. Penta-Ocean Construction was the major contractor and reclamation was completed 20 years ahead of schedule.

Petrochemical industries
Today, Jurong Island is home to many companies such as Arkema, Arlanxeo, Afton Chemical, Air Liquide, Asahi Kasei, BASF, Celanese, Evonik, ExxonMobil, Infineum, DuPont, Mitsui Chemicals, Chevron Oronite, Linde, Mitsubishi Chemicals, SLNG, Shell, Singapore Petroleum Company Singapore Refining Company, Stepan Company, Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore, The Polyolefin Company, Chevron Phillips, Mitsui Elastomer, Baker Hughes and Sumitomo Chemical. Clusters of gigantic cylindrical tanks amid a maze of pipelines now dot the island; investment totalled S$31 billion in 2010. Resident companies produce a vast range of items, from petroleum products to polycarbonate resins used in CDs, DVDs and LCD TV panels, and super-absorbent polymers that go into diapers and sanitary napkins. ExxonMobil, which has invested S$4 billion in a refinery and cracker plant, makes industrial and automotive lubricants including a product used in Formula One racing cars. DuPont has invested S$1 billion, and manufactures Zytel nylon resin, a versatile engineering plastic used in automobile components, appliances, wire insulation, sporting gear and home furnishings. Afton Chemical is constructing a new manufacturing facility, expected to become operational in January 2016, to produce petroleum additives for the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets. Output for the chemicals cluster—which cover oil and gas, petrochemicals and speciality chemicals—totalled S$66.5 billion in 2005, an increase of 31 per cent from 2004. This accounted for almost 32 per cent of production in Singapore's manufacturing sector. Powered by the cluster, Singapore is currently one of the world's top three oil refining centres despite not having a single drop of crude deposits. Jurong Island's refineries process 1300000 oilbbl of crude oil per day, turning it into petrol, kerosene and jet fuel sold locally and abroad. Cracker plants break down the molecules of other oil-and gas-related substances such as naphtha into additives that give unique characteristics to certain products, from printer inks to plastic mouldings, semiconductors and aircraft materials. Apart from imported crude, natural gas from Indonesia's West Natuna field arrives at Jurong Island via a 640 km undersea pipeline. Some of it is refined to provide a source of cleaner and cheaper fuel, while the rest is sent to crackers that make other petrochemical products. The country's first refilling station for compressed natural gas (CNG) opened on Jurong Island in 2002. As most of the 2500+ cars running on CNG in Singapore are not allowed to enter the island because the drivers do not have the necessary security pass, four more CNG stations opened on the main island leading up to September 2009.

Security
Jurong Island was gazetted as a Protected Place in October 2001 following the September 11 attacks in the United States. Access control is contracted to a private security company, while the Singapore Army helps to protect the island. The Police Coast Guard also conducts regular patrols around the island to ensure no unauthorised vessels are allowed access within a restricted area of waters surrounding it.

Access to the island is limited to staff and visitors, and they are issued with security passes. Other security restrictions include that any photographic equipment brought to the island must be declared. Without permission from Island Security it is forbidden to take photographs or videos on Jurong Island. Anyone getting caught taking pictures or videos is handed over to the police, and subsequently will have their Jurong Island pass confiscated and their permission to enter Jurong Island revoked.

Jurong Island and the southwestern waters were to be used for Exercise Northstar 8 from 21 November to 25 November 2011. However, Exercise Northstar 8 was only carried out on 25 November 2011 after 4pm at Jurong Island, up to 7.30pm.

Infrastructure
Jurong Island has two fire stations, and an amenity centre known as Oasis@Sakra that houses a food court, a medical clinic and a free-of-charge multi-storey carpark. The island also houses the Pulau Seraya Power Station, Singapore's first offshore power station, which was built in phases on the former Pulau Seraya since 1986. A 200 MW / 285 MWh lithium iron phosphate grid battery started in early 2023.

The island has a network of pipelines that allows for seamless integration among companies. For example, Japan's Teijin can make polycarbonates from chlorine piped in directly from CIFE and bisphenol A from Mitsui Chemicals elsewhere on the island. Red pipes carry water for firefighting, and green pipes carry sea water for cooling. Huge silver pipes carry steam, and small silver pipes bring product lines.

There are two major cargo jetties on Jurong Island, namely Sakra Jetty and Banyan Jetty. Sakra Jetty is managed and controlled by ExxonMobil.

Jurong Island is linked to the main island by a 2.3 km causeway known as the Jurong Island Highway, opened in March 1999, build by Hyundai Construction. Several public bus services run between Jurong Island and the mainland, operated by Woodlands Transport.

Jurong Rock Caverns
Construction work on Jurong Rock Caverns (JRC), Singapore's first underground rock caverns for storage of crude oil, condensates, naphtha and gas-oil, started on 8 February 2007. JTC Corporation has been appointed by the Singapore government to undertake the construction of JRC.

Located beneath the seabed of Banyan Basin, off Jurong Island, JRC was completed in phases beginning in 2013, and was officially opened on 2 September 2014. As a result of this first phase of work, the caverns reportedly have a storage capacity of 1.47 million cubic metres. Phase 2, which has the potential to add another 1.32 million cubic metres, is being explored.

Plans
To raise its competitive edge, Singapore is moving to produce higher-value-added speciality products, including chemicals that would go into animal vaccines, animal feeds, consumer care items such as cosmetics and industrial enzymes to support the biomedical sector. As part of this effort to move up the value chain, the Institute of Chemical and Engineering Science (an A*STAR research institute) has been set up on Jurong Island.

There have also been plans to build a second causeway to link the Western end of Jurong Island Highway with Gul Road in Jurong Industrial Estate on mainland Singapore, but these have been shelved. The investment earmarked for the second causeway has been re-allocated to the building of HDB flats at Western Water Catchment later in the decade.

title: Jurong Island


text:
Franz Karl Achard

Franz Karl Achard (28 April 1753 – 20 April 1821) was a German (Prussian) chemist, geoscientist, physicist, and biologist. His principal discovery was the production of sugar from sugar beets.

Life and work
Achard was born in Berlin, the son of preacher Max Guillaume Achard, a descendant of Huguenot refugees, and his wife Marguerite Elisabeth (Rouppert). He studied physics and chemistry in Berlin. He became interested in sugar refining through his stepfather. At the age of 20, Achard entered the "Circle of Friends of Natural Sciences" and met Andreas Sigismund Marggraf, then director of the physical classes at the Royal Academy of Sciences. Achard studied many subjects, including meteorology, evaporation chillness, electricity, telegraphy, gravity, lightning arresters, and published in German and French.

Achard was a favourite of King Frederick II of Prussia, and directly reported to the King on his research twice a week. About a study on the influence of electricity on mental capabilities, Frederick II was reported to have said: If he is able to provide reason for the half-wits in my Prussian states using electricity, then he is worth more than his own weight in gold.

In 1776 Achard was elected to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin. In 1778, Achard was elected as member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Following the death of Marggraf in 1782, Archard went on to become the director of the physical classes of the academy. In 1782 he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

For his discoveries in the acclimatisation of tobacco to Germany, the king granted him a lifetime pension of 500 taler. Achard was also esteemed by Frederick William II of Prussia.

Sugar
Achard revived the discovery by Marggraf in 1747 that sugar beets contained sugar, and devised a process to produce sugar from sugar beets. Beginning in 1789, he planted various sugar-bearing plants on his manor in Kaulsdorf near Berlin. He soon preferred sugar beets because of their efficiency. In the following year he studied different varieties of beets and the influence of fertilisers. The research was interrupted when Kaulsdorf manor burnt down and had to be sold. Achard later continued on the manor Französisch Buchholz. This would in turn lead to a reduced need for slaves in sugar-production, and the subsequent abolishment of slavery in much of the world.

In 1801, with the support of King Friedrich Wilhelm III, he opened the first sugar beet refinery at Gut Kunern near Steinau Silesia, Prussia. In 1802, the refinery processed 400 tons of beets with a degree of efficiency of 4%. Other refineries were soon built by his students Johann Gottlob Nathusius and Moritz, Freiherr von Koppy. In 1807 Achard's plant was burned down during the Napoleonic Wars and in 1810 it was rebuilt on a small scale. Embargoes by Napoleon kept cane sugar imports away from Germany and thus the growing and refining of sugar beets became highly important for the Prussian government. Refineries also appeared in Bohemia, Augsburg and in 1811 in France. France itself built many refineries and was only in later years surpassed by Prussia.

English sugar merchants offered Achard 200,000 taler to declare his experiments a failure but he refused. With Achard's discovery, sugar was no longer a luxury product, but local production became a necessity, due to the embargoes. Achard taught classes to have a large number of sugar beet growers and the specially developed sugar beets became available for everyone. Achard described the sugar beet as, "one of the most bountiful gifts which the devine munificence had awarded to man on earth."

In 1794, Achard built an optical telegraph between Spandau and Bellevue. This device had been invented just one year before by Claude Chappe.

Due to Archard's financial difficulties as a result of several fires in 1807, his refineries were declared bankrupt in 1815. He died, destitute, in 1821 in Wohlau. His life's work was carried on mainly by French industrialists such as at the refineries of Matthias Christian Rabbethge. In mid 19th century America, Achard's grandson Anton William Waldemar Achard successfully promoted beet sugar production in Michigan according to a later descendant, Emil Lockwood, son of Mabel Pauline Achard.

Publications

 * Lectures on Experimental Philosophy 4 vol., 1792
 * Abhandlung über die Bereitung des Zuckers aus der in vielen Provinzen allerhöchst - Dero Staaten, als Viehfutter häufig angebauten Runkelrübe, nebst den dazu gehörigen Belägen und Proben des Runkelrübenzuckers [Treatise on the preparation of sugar from the sugar beet, which is often cultivated as fodder in many provinces of your highness's states, together with the related documentation and samples of beet sugar], Berlin, 1799
 * Anleitung zur Bereitung des Rohzuckers aus Rüben [Guide to the preparation of raw sugar from beets], Berlin, 1800
 * Kurze Geschichte der Beweise der Ausführbarkeit im Großen der Zuckerfabrication aus Runkelrüben [Brief history of the proof of the feasibility of the large scale production of sugar from sugar beets], Berlin, 1800
 * Anleitung zum Anbau der Runkelrüben [Guide to the cultivation of sugar beets], Breslau, 1803
 * Über den Einfluß der Runkelrübenzuckerfabrication auf die Ökonomie [On the influence on the economy of the production of sugar from sugar beets], Glogau, 1805
 * Die europäische Zuckerfabrication aus Runkelrüben [European sugar production from sugar beets], Leipzig, 1812

title: Franz Karl Achard


text:
Queen Mathilde of Belgium

Mathilde (born Jonkvrouw Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz ; 20 January 1973) is Queen of the Belgians as the wife of King Philippe. She is the first native-born Belgian queen. She has founded and assisted charities to decrease poverty in the country.

Early life and family
Jonkvrouw Mathilde Marie Christine Ghislaine d'Udekem d'Acoz was born on 20 January 1973 at Edith Cavell Hospital in Uccle, Brussels, Belgium. Her parents are Count Patrick d'Udekem d'Acoz (1936–2008), a politician, and his wife, Countess Anna Maria Komorowska (b. 1946). Mathilde has three sisters: Marie-Alix (1974–1997), Elisabeth (b. 1977, a speech therapist) and Hélène (b. 1979, a lawyer), and one brother Charles-Henri (b. 1985, a lawyer). Her godfather is her uncle, Count Raoul d'Udekem d'Acoz.

Mathilde grew up in the Château de Losange in Villers-la-Bonne-Eau. At the age of 17, she lived together with her three sisters in an apartment at Reyerslaan Avenue, Schaarbeek. Upon Mathilde's marriage to Prince Philippe of Belgium, Duke of Brabant in 1999, King Albert II of Belgium elevated the d'Udekem d'Acoz family from the baronial to the comital rank, hereditary in the male lineage. Upon the accession of her husband, Philippe, to the throne of Belgium, she became the first queen consort of native Belgian nationality as the Belgian second wife of King Leopold III, Lilian, Princess of Réthy, was not given the title of queen.

Education and career
Mathilde attended primary school in Bastogne and then attended secondary school at the Institut de la Vierge Fidèle in Brussels. At the age of 18, Mathilde did a volunteer work in the slums of Cairo for six weeks. From 1991 until 1994, Mathilde attended the Institut Libre Marie Haps in Brussels, where she studied speech therapy and graduated magna cum laude. She worked as a speech therapist in her own practice in Brussels from 1995 to 1999. She also worked in several Brussels schools. She earned a master's degree in psychology at the Université catholique de Louvain in 2002 with honours (cum laude). Mathilde became the first member of the Belgian royal family with a Belgian university degree. She also took a ten-day leadership course at Harvard University in 2011.

Mathilde speaks French, Dutch, English and Italian. She is also able to speak basic Spanish. Her mother, who has lived most of her life outside Poland, did not teach her Polish, thinking that it would not be necessary. Therefore, she knows only a few words of Polish.

Marriage and children
Jonkvrouw Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz met Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant while playing tennis in 1996. In September 1999, the Belgian Royal Court announced the engagement of Prince Philippe to Mathilde. Mathilde was presented to the press and public at the Castle of Laeken on 13 September 1999. The announcement of Mathilde's engagement to the Belgian heir-apparent Prince Philippe came as a surprise to the country. Mathilde married Philippe on 4 December 1999 in Brussels, civilly at the Brussels Town Hall and religiously at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula. Mathilde's bridal gown was designed by Édouard Vermeulen. She was made Duchess of Brabant and a Princess of Belgium on 8 November 1999 (published on 13 November 1999 and effective from 4 December 1999). The couple reportedly spent their honeymoon in the Maldives and India.

The couple have four children:
 * Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, born 25 October 2001 at Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht, Brussels
 * Prince Gabriel, born 20 August 2003 at Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht, Brussels
 * Prince Emmanuel, born 4 October 2005 at Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht, Brussels
 * Princess Eléonore, born 16 April 2008 at Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht, Brussels

Princess Elisabeth, the couple's eldest child, is the first in line to the throne and ahead of her younger brothers and sister, who are second, third, and fourth in line to succeed, owing to a change in Belgian succession laws in 1991, allowing for the eldest child to succeed, regardless of sex.

Queen Mathilde is a godmother to Princess Alexia of the Netherlands and Princess Isabella of Denmark. Queen Mathilde is also a godmother to girls named Hyle-Mathilde Blakaj, Zaineb Tebbi and Madinah Mohammed Ibrahim, the seventh daughters of families from Charleroi and Ghent. Belgian tradition stated that the seventh daughter from an uninterrupted line of girls has the privilege of asking the Queen to be her godmother.

Activities
Queen Mathilde is concerned with a range of social issues including education, child poverty, intergenerational poverty, the position of women in society and literacy.

Since 2009, Queen Mathilde has been the honorary president of Unicef Belgium. She serves as the World Health Organization's Special Representative for Immunization. She also the honorary president of the Breast International Group, a non-profit organisation for academic breast cancer research groups from around the world.

She set up the Princess Mathilde Fund (now the Queen Mathilde Fund) in 2001, which promotes the care of vulnerable people and awards an annual prize for good works in a particular sector. The sector changes each year: examples include early years education, women's health, and protecting young people from violence.

Queen Mathilde deploys the Queen's Charities to offer help to citizens who are struggling to cope with financial hardship in their daily lives and often turn to her as a last resort. The Queen is the honorary president of Child Focus, a foundation for missing and sexually exploited children.

Queen Mathilde is also a patron of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, an international competition founded in 1937 as an initiative of Queen Elisabeth and Belgian composer and violist Eugène Ysaÿe.

In 2018, Queen Mathilde became the honorary president of the Federal Council for Sustainable Development. According to the royal tradition, Queen Mathilde became an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium.

Queen Mathilde is a member of the Schwab Foundation Board for Social Entrepreneurship. She was a United Nations Emissary for the International Year of Microcredit 2005, which focused in particular on financial inclusion and financial literacy. The Queen also attends the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.

Queen Mathilde was named a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Advocate in 2016, promoting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (an agenda for global sustainable development).

The Queen also presided at the ceremony awarding the King Baudouin International Development Prize. She also received an Honorary Doctorate from Hasselt University on 30 May 2023.

National

 * 🇧🇪 Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold

Foreign

 * 🇩🇰 Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant, 2017.
 * 🇫🇷 France: Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honour, 2018.
 * 🇫🇮 Finland: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
 * 🇩🇪 Germany: Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 🇬🇷 Greece: Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer 2 May 2022
 * Holy See:
 * Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
 * Dame of the Collar of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre 17 November 2015
 * 🇯🇵 Japan: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown
 * 🇯🇴 Jordan: Grand Cordon with Brilliants of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance
 * 🇱🇹 Lithuania: Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great 24 October 2022
 * 🇱🇺 Luxembourg:
 * Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau, 2019.
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands:
 * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, 2016.
 * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau
 * Recipient of the King Willem-Alexander Inauguration Medal
 * 🇳🇴 Norway: Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Olav
 * 🇵🇱 Poland:
 * Knight of the Order of the White Eagle
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal:
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Christ, 2006.
 * Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry, 2018.
 * 🇪🇸 Spain: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic 12 May 2000
 * 🇸🇪 Sweden:
 * Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star
 * Recipient of the 70th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf

title: Queen Mathilde of Belgium