# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/william-nicol
# Generated: 2026-08-13T07:35:10.483Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/william-nicol"
name: "William Nicol"
slug: "william-nicol"
description: "William Nicol FRSE FCS was a Scottish geologist and physicist who invented the Nicol prism, the first device for obtaining plane-polarized light, in 1828."
tagline: "Scottish geologist and physicist (1770-1851)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Henry_Moyes._Mezzotint_by_W._Ward%2C_1806%2C_after_J._R._Smith._Wellcome_V0006565.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1770-04-18"
deathDate: "1851-09-02"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           42.58
  momentum:             0
  historical:           13.54020933333333
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicol"
    title: "William Nicol"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%85_%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%88%D9%84"
    title: "ويليام نيكول"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicol"
    title: "William Nicol"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicol"
    title: "William Nicol"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicol_(geologist)"
    title: "William Nicol (geologist)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicol"
    title: "William Nicol"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicol"
    title: "William Nicol"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicol_(g%C3%A9ologue)"
    title: "William Nicol (géologue)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicol"
    title: "William Nicol"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A3%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BB%E3%83%8B%E3%82%B3%E3%83%AB"
    title: "ウィリアム・ニコル"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9C%8C%EB%A6%AC%EC%97%84_%EB%8B%88%EC%BD%9C"
    title: "윌리엄 니콜"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicol"
    title: "William Nicol"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicol"
    title: "William Nicol"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicol"
    title: "William Nicol"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%2C_%D0%A3%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F%D0%BC"
    title: "Николь, Уильям"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicol_(geologist)"
    title: "William Nicol (geologist)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1330440"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump