Henry, William

William Henry, (born Dec. 12, 1775, Manchester—died Sept. 2, 1836, Pendlebury, Lancashire, Eng.), English physician and chemist who in 1803 proposed what is now called Henry’s law, which states that the amount of a gas absorbed by a liquid is in proportion to the pressure of the gas above the liquid, provided that no chemical action occurs.

Henry took his doctor of medicine degree at Edinburgh (1807). When ill health forced him to retire from medical practice, he turned to chemistry. He was awarded the Copley Medal in 1808 and the following year became a fellow of the Royal Society. His Elements of Experimental Chemistry went through 11 editions. He took his own life.