James Mactear

James MacTear FCS, FIC (3 April 1845 – 3 June 1903) was a Scottish chemical engineer who became a partner and the technical manager of the St Rollox Chemical Works in Glasgow. Mactear was known for inventing a rotating furnace that was used for the continuous manufacturing of sodium sulfate. He influenced the technical development of the chamber process for making sulphuric acid. In 1871, MacTear, created a chemical process to recover sulphur from the alkali waste piles behind the factory at St Rollox. In 1879, MacTear was the first to discover the process to make artificial diamonds. In 1884, MacTear left Glasgow for London becoming a specialist in the metals and metallurgy of mercury and gold.