Born, 1872; educated at Central Foundation School of London, Finsbury Technical College, Royal College of Science; Assistant Professor in Chemistry, Royal College of Science; Professor in the Faculty of Applied Chemistry, Royal College of Science for Ireland; Professor of Applied Chemistry, Finsbury Technical College; Mason Professor of Chemistry, University of Birmingham; Director, Chemical Research Laboratory, Teddington, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1925-1938; President and Secretary of the Chemical Society; President and Gold medallist, Society of Chemical Industry; elected Fellow of the Royal Society; OBE; Knighted, 1936; died, 1940.
Publications: include: Organic Compounds of Arsenic & Antimony (1918); Inorganic Chemistry. A survey of modern developments with Francis Hereward Burstall (W Heffer & Sons, Cambridge, 1936); British Chemical Industry. Its rise and development with David Doig Pratt (E Arnold & Co, London, 1938); Achievements of British Chemical Industry in the Last Twenty-Five Years (London, 1939).
Born, 1837; educated at Winchester; St John's College Oxford; member of the Royal Commission of 1851; Knighted, 1893; Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, 1894-1903; GCB, 1901; Governor, Imperial College, 1907-1919; died, 1919.
Born, 1858; studied at the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh; Assistant Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Aberdeen, 1880-1881; Science Master, Gordon's College, Aberdeen, 1882-1886; Principal, Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh, 1886-1900; Professor of Applied Physics, 1887-1890; Director, Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, 1900-1903; Principal Assistant Secretary (Technology and Higher Education in Science and Art), Board of Education, 1903-1910; Governor, Imperial College, 1907-1930; Secretary, Board of Education, for the Science Museum and Geological Survey, 1910-1920; Director, Science Museum, 1911-1920; Principal Assistant Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1920-1922; member, Senate of the University of London, 1925-1929; Chairman, Geological Survey Board, 1920-1930; member, Exhibition of 1851, 1909-1930, President, Museums Association, 1927-1928; died, 1930.
Born, 1851; studied physical science, chemistry and engineering at Trinity College, Dublin; partner, Kitson & Co, Leeds; took an active role in the development of the Yorkshire College (later University of Leeds), 1880-1887; partner of J F La Trobe Bateman, 1887-1889; Engineer, Congested Board of Ireland, 1893-1895; Engineer, Consolidated Waterworks Company of Rosario, and Montevideo Waterworks Company; Director, Mersey Railway Company; Treasurer and Deputy Chairman, Delegacy of King's College University of London; Governor, Imperial College, 1915-1923; died, 1923.
Publications: include: On the working of Punkahs in India as at present carried out by coolie labour, and the same operation effected by machinery (London, 1878).
Born, 1909; educated at Technical School, Sheerness; Royal College of Science, Imperial College (BSc); University of Wisconsin (MA), 1931-1933; Senior Student of 1851 Exhibition, Trinity College Cambridge, 1933-1936; PhD (Cambridge), DSc (London), 1935; Stokes Student of Pembroke College, 1936; Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Imperial College, 1936-1945; scientific work for Ministry of Home Security and Admiralty, 1940-1944; Principal Scientific Officer, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, at Los Alamos Laboratory, New Mexico, 1944-1945; Chief Superintendent, Armament Research, Ministry of Supply, 1946-1952; Fellow of the Royal Society, 1946; OBE, 1946; Knighted, 1952; Director, Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston, 1953-1959; Member for Weapons R&D, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, 1954-1959; Treasurer, Royal Society, 1956-1960, Vice-President, 1957-1960; Member for Research, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, 1959-1961, Deputy Chairman, 1961-1964, Chairman, 1964-1967; Rumford Medal, Royal Society, 1966; created Baron Penney of East Hendred, Berkshire, 1967; Rector, Imperial College, 1967-1973; Director: Tube Investments, 1968-1979, Standard Telephones and Cables, 1971-1983; Glazebrook Medal and Prize, 1969; Kelvin Gold Medal, 1971; died, 1991.
Publications: include: The Quantum Theory of Valency (London, 1935); Accident at Windscale No 1 Pile on 10th October, 1957 [Report of the Committee of Inquiry. Chairman, Sir William Penney] (London, 1957); articles in scientific journals on theory of molecular structure.
Born, Nottingham, 1817; educated at private school, Southampton; studied medicine in Paris, 1834-1836, and Edinburgh University, graduated, 1838; physician, Queen's Hospital, Birmingham, 1839; studied metallurgy at local metallurgical works; Fellow of the Royal Society, 1847; invented process for extracting silver; lecturer in metallurgy, later Professor, Government School of Mines and Science Applied to the Arts (later Royal School of Mines), 1851-1879; member, Council of the Royal Society, 1857-1859; lecturer in metallurgy, Woolwich, [1864]-1889; superintendent of ventilation for the Houses of Parliament, 1865; member, Secretary for War's commissions on the application of iron for defensive purposes, 1861, 'Gibraltar' shields, 1867; member, royal commissions on coal, 1871, spontaneous combustion of coal in ships, 1875; Bessemer medal of the Iron and Steel Institute, 1876; President, Iron and Steel Institute, 1885-1886; Millar prize of the Institute of Civil Engineers, 1887; Albert medal of the Society of Arts, 1889; died, 1889.
Publications: include: An experimental inquiry concerning the presence of alcohol in the ventricles of the brain after poisoning by that liquid (Hamilton, Adams & Co, London, 1839); The Metallurgical Treatment and assaying of gold ores (1853); Metallurgy. The art of extracting metals from their ores, and adapting them to various purposes of manufacture 5 vol (London, 1861-1880); The Manufacture of Russian Sheet-Iron (London, 1871); Address to the Iron and Steel Institute May 12, 1886 (Ballantyne, Hanson & Co, Edinburgh, [1886]).
Born, Kincardineshire, Scotland,1873; educated at Fordoun Public School; Aberdeen Grammar School; Aberdeen University; Göttingen University, Germany, 1896-1897; Assistant to C T Heycock and F H Neville of Cambridge; worked at the Central Technical College research laboratory, 1897-1898; part-time lecturer, 1899, Demonstrator and Lecturer in Physical Chemistry, 1900, Royal College of Science; Assistant Professor of Chemistry, 1909-1913, Professor of Physical Chemistry, 1913-1938, Imperial College; OBE, 1918; Fellow of the Royal Society, 1921; Secretary, 1913-1924, and President, 1941, of the Chemical Society; Chairman, Bureau of Chemical Abstracts, 1923-1932; Member of the Senate, University of London, 1932-1938; President, Section B (Chemistry), British Association, 1936; Professor Emeritus of Physical Chemistry; Deputy Rector, Imperial College, 1939; President, Society of Chemical Industry, 1939-1941; died, 1941.
Publications: include: Physical Chemistry; its bearing on biology and medicine (Edward Arnold, London, 1910); The Romance of Modern Chemistry. A description in non-technical language of the diverse and wonderful ways in which chemical forces are at work, and of their manifold application in modern life (Seeley & Co, London, 1910); Achievements of Chemical Science (1913); The Chemical Society, 1841-1941. A historical review with Tom Sidney Moore (London, 1947).
Born Yeovil, Somerset, 1891; educated Yeovil School; studied civil engineering at Bristol University, graduated, 1911; articled assistant to consultant engineer; assistant engineer with the Pontypridd and Rhondda Valley Joint Water Board, 1913-1914; technical adviser to the Director of the Air Department of the Admiralty on aircraft safety, 1915-1919; partner in a firm of aeronautical engineers, 1919-1922; Professor of Engineering, University College, Cardiff, 1922-1928; Professor of Civil Engineering, Bristol University, 1928-1933, associated with the experimental testing of aircraft structures especially the R 100 and R 101 airships; Professor of Civil Engineering, and head of department, Imperial College, 1933-1956; research interests included the structure of dams; Chairman of the Thames Pollution Committee,1951-1961; elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 1954; President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1958-1959; died, 1969.
Publications: Aeroplane Structures, etc with John Laurence Pritchard (Longmans & Co, London, 1919); The Stress Analysis of Bow Girders with Frank Leslie Barrow (London, 1926); Primary Stresses in Timber Roofs, with special reference to curved bracing members with William Henry Glanville (London, 1926); Strain Energy Methods of Stress Analysis, etc (Longmans & Co, London, 1928); The Analysis of Engineering Structures with John Fleetwood Baker, Baron Baker (E Arnold & Co, London, 1936); The Experimental Study of Structures (Edward Arnold & Co, London, 1947); A Study of the Voussoir Arch with Letitia Chitty (London, 1951); Studies in Elastic Structures (Edward Arnold & Co, London, 1952); Pollution of the Tidal Thames. Report of the Departmental Committee on the effects of heated and other effluents and discharges on the condition of the tidal reaches of the River Thames[Chairman, A J S Pippard] (London, 1961).
Born Meerut, India, 1818; educated at St Andrew's Scotland; studied chemistry under Thomas Graham at the Andersonian University of Glasgow, University College, London, Liebig's laboratory at Giessen, Germany; awarded PhD at Giessen, 1841; chemical manager of a calico printing works, 1841; honorary Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Insitution, Manchester, 1843; served on Royal Commission on Health of Towns, 1843; research with Bunsen on the chemistry of blast-furnace gases, 1844; Chemist to the Geological Survey, 1845; reported to Sir Robert Peel on the potato crop in Ireland, 1845; Fellow of the Royal Society, 1848; Special Commissioner for the Great Exhibition, 1850; lecturer on Chemistry at the Government School of Mines, 1851; CB, 1851; Joint Secretary of the Science and Art Department of the Board of Trade, 1853; Inspector General of Government Museums and Schools of Science, 1856; President of the Chemical Society, 1857-1859; Professor of Chemistry at Edinburgh University, 1858-1869; Commissioner for the Exhibition of 1851, 1869; Liberal MP for the Universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews, 1869; Postmaster General in Gladstone's first ministry, 1873-1874; Chairman of Ways and Means, 1880-1883; Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, 1880-1883; awarded KCB, 1883; Honorary Secretary of the 1851 Commission, 1883-1889; MP for South Leeds, 1885; President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1885; Vice-President of the Council, 1886; Charity Commissioner, 1886; created Baron Playfair of St Andrews, 1892; Lord in Waiting to Queen Victoria, 1892; awarded GCB, 1894; member of the Aged Poor Commission, 1894; died Kensington, London, 1898.
Publications: include Collieries. Report on the gases and explosions in collieries with Sir Henry Thomas De la Beche and Warington Smyth [Shannon, Irish University Press, 1969]; Report on the State of Large Towns in Lancashire (W Clowes & Sons, London, 1845); Bunsen and Playfair's Report to the British Association at Cambridge in 1845, on the gases evolved from iron furnaces with reference to the theory of the smelting of iron, etc edited by B H Brough (London, 1903); On the Chemical Properties of Gold (1853); On Primary and Technical Education. Two lectures, etc (Edinburgh, 1870); On the Organisation of a Teaching Profession [1877]; Subjects of Social Welfare (Cassell & Co, London, 1889); The Evolution of University Extension as a part of Popular Education (1894).
Born, 1846; educated at Eton; admitted solicitor, 1870; Assistant Clerk, 1871-1882, and Clerk, 1882-1918, Goldsmith's Company; Knighted, 1891; Governor, Imperial College, representing the City and Guild's of London Institute, 1908-1919; died, 1928.
Publication: Memorials of the Goldsmiths' Company. Being gleanings from their records between the years 1335 and 1815 2 vol (Printed for private circulation, [London, 1896]).
Born Southport, Lancashire, 1922; educated at King George V School Southport; studied Mechanical Sciences Tripos at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, 1941 (graduated BA 1944, MA 1948); joined Radar Research and Development Establishment during war, 1943 - 1946; Assistant Lecturer in Physics, Manchester University, 1946 - 1948; Lecturer in Physics, Manchester University, 1948 - 1949; research under Blackett on Earth's magnetic field, awarded Ph.D 1949; Assistant Director of Research, Department of Geodesy and Geophysics, Cambridge University, 1950, working on palaeomagnetism; Chair of Physics, Kings College, University of Durham (later University of Newcastle upon Tyne), 1956 - 1988; Sydney Chapman Professor of Physics, university of Alaska, 1989; Senior Research Fellow, Imperial College London, 1989. Runcorn was murdered in a hotel room in San Diego, California, December 1995.
Born Aston, Birmingham, 1876; educated at Smethwick Central School, 1888-1891, Birmingham Technical School (now Aston University), 1894-1895; Royal College of Science (Imperial College), scholarship, 1897-1900; Assistant Demonstrator, 1900-1901; moved to the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, 1901-1920, involved with naval research, [1914-1918]; Superintendent of the Electricity Department, 1917; elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 1918; first Director of Scientific Research, at the Admiralty, 1920; awarded Hughes Medal, 1925; Physical Secretary of the Royal Society, 1929-1938; knighted (GCB), 1931; Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1929-1939; Director, Instrument Production, Ministry of Supply, 1939-1942; Director of Telecommunications, Ministry of Aircraft Production, 1940-1942; Chairman, Technical Defence Committee; MI5, 1940-1946; Chairman, Scientific Advisory Council, 1941-1947; Chairman of the Road Research Board, 1946-1954; adviser on research and development with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (later British Petroleum), 1939-1955; adviser, Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), 1944-1957; died, 1969.
Publications: Reports of the Committee on Electrical Standards ... A record of the history of "Absolute Units" and of Lord Kelvin's work in connexion with These Editor (Cambridge, 1913); Physics in Navigation (1927); Chemistry and the Community (London, 1932); Industrial Research and the Nation's Balance Sheet (London, [1932]); Measurement of the Effectiveness of the Productive Unit with Richard, Baron Beeching (British Institute of Management: London, [1949]); The Critical Importance of Higher Technological Education in relation to Productivity (British Association for the Advancement of Science, London, [1951]).
Born Bedford Park, West London, 1919; educated at King's School, Worcester; read geology at Imperial College, 1937-1941; Second World War service included a posting to the Orkneys working on radar; returned to Imperial College for his PhD; worked with Janet Vida Watson (they married in 1949), on the Lewisian Gneiss and other geological problems, co-authoring a number of important papers; Lecturer, 1948; Reader, 1956; Professor of Geology, 1958; Head of Department, 1964-1974, whilst it became one of the largest in Europe, largely responsible for the establishment of the Centre for Environmental Technology (first Chairman and a Senior Research Fellow), and the Centre for Remote Sensing; Dean of the Royal School of Mines (part of Imperial College), 1965-1968, 1974-1977; elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 1966; President of the Geologists' Association 1966-1968; Vice-President of the Royal Society, 1975-1977; Trustee of the British Museum (Natural History), 1976-1981; member of the Natural Environment Research Council 1977-1979; Pro-Rector of Imperial College, 1979-1983; died, 1992.
Publications: The Geologist's Approach to Mountain Building London, 1959); Further Observations on the Margin of the Laxfordian Complex of the Lewisian near Loch Laxford, Sutherland, etc with Janet Watson (Edinburgh, 1962)
Born, 1869; educated at Winchester, New College Oxford; entered Education Department, 1893; Assistant Secretary, Board of Education, 1904; Secretary, Departmental Committee on the future organisation of the Royal College of Science, Royal School of Mines, 1904-1906; Governor, Imperial College, 1907-1917; Secretary, Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), 1915-1921; Knighted, 1919; joint editor of the Law of Public Education in England and Wales; member, Council for State Management Districts under the Licensing Act 1921; JP, County of London and Chairman St Margaret's Division, 1925-1950; died, 1952
Publications: The Law of Public Education in England and Wales. A practical guide to its administration with George Morgan Edwardes Jones (Rivingtons, London, 1903).
Born, York, 1851; educated at Bootham School, York; Flounders' Institute, Pontefract; Royal College of Chemistry, 1875-1876; Science master, York; Professor of Experimental Physics, University College, Bristol, 1876-1885; Principal and Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering, Finsbury Technical College, 1885-1916; President of the Physical Society; President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers; particularly noted for his work in electrical engineering; died, 1916.
Publications: include: Dynamo-Electric Machinery: a manual for students of electrotechnics Second edition (E & F N Spon, London, 1884); Light Visible and Invisible. A series of lectures delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, at Christmas, 1896, with additional lectures (Macmillan & Co, London, 1897); Michael Faraday. His life and work (Cassell & Co, London, 1898); Optical Tables and Data for the use of opticians (E & F N Spon, London, 1900); Contributions to Photographic Optics by Otto Lummer, translated and augmented by S P Thompson (Macmillan & Co, London, 1900); The Life of William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs (Macmillan & Co, London, 1910); Calculus made Easy (Macmillan & Co, London, 1910).
Born, 1885; educated at Westminster School; Magdalen College Oxford; Lecturer in Natural Science, Oriel College Oxford, 1911-1921; joined Royal Garrison Artillery, 1914, Royal Field Artillery, 1915; Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Controller, Experiments and Research, Royal Air Force, 1918-1919; Fellow of the Royal Society, 1926; Permanent Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1927-1929; Rector, Imperial College, 1929-1942; Chairman, Aeronautical Research Committee, 1933-1943; Development Commissioner, 1934-1945; Trustee, British Museum, 1937-1959; Knighted, 1937; Member, Council of Minister of Aircraft Production; Member, Air Council, 1941-1943; President of Magdalen College, Oxford, 1942-1946; Royal Society of Arts Albert Gold medal, 1944; Chairman, Advisory Council on Scientific Policy and Defence Research Policy Committee, 1946-1952; President, British Association, 1948; died, 1959.
Publications: include: Theoretical Chemistry from the standpoint of Avogadro's rule & Thermodynamics Walther Nernst, revised in accordance with the sixth German edition by H T Tizard (Macmillan & Co, London, 1911); The Passing World. Science and social progress (Bureau of Current Affairs, London, 1948); A Scientist in and out of the Civil Service (Birkbeck College, London, [1955]).
Born Antwerp, Belgium, 1907; educated at St Paul's School, 1920-1926, Christ Church, Oxford, 1926-1930; Senior Scholar of Christ Church, 1931-1933; Senior Researcher, Department of Thermodynamics, Oxford, 1933-1935; Dewar Fellow of the Royal Institution, London, 1936-1940; Principal Experimental Officer, Ministry of Supply, 1940-1945; Professor of Chemistry at Queen's University, Belfast, 1945-1954; elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 1951; Professor of Thermodynamics, Imperial College, 1954-1975; awarded CBE, 1961; Head of Chemical Engineering Department, Imperial College, 1961-1975; Senior Research Fellow, Imperial College, 1975-1988; research interests included chemical thermodynamics, combustion, explosions and detonations, ionic melts, graphite and intercalation compounds; died, 1988.
Publications: An Introduction to Modern Thermodynamical Principles (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1937); Time and Thermodynamics (Oxford University Press, London, 1947); Man and Energy ... Illustrated (Hutchinson's Scientific & Technical Publications, London, 1954); Thermodynamics in the World of To-day, etc [London, 1955]; Graphite and its Crystal Compounds with Frederick Alastair Lewis (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1960); Melting and crystal structure (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1965).
Born Coggeshall, Essex, 1838; educated at City of London School; lay student at New College, St John's Wood, London; employed by Sir William Fairbairn, [1856-1861]; Manager of Engineering works, 1861-1868; Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1867; instructor at the Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at Kensington, 1868-72; Professor of Hydraulic Engineering at the Royal Indian Engineering College, Cooper's Hill, 1872-1884; Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1878; Professor of Engineering, Central Technical College of the Guilds of London (later City and Guilds College), 1884-1904, Dean, 1884-1896, 1902-1904; elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 1886; Honorary Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, 1886; Honorary Member of the Franklin Institute and of the American Philosophical Society, 1890; President of section G of the British Association, 1891; member of the Council of the Royal Society, 1894-1896; Honorary Membership of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1898; member of the General Board of the National Physical Laboratory, 1900; member of the Senate of the University of London, 1900-1905, 1911-1923; member of the Governing Body of Imperial College of Science and Technology, 1910-1926; President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1911; member of the Delegacy of the City and Guilds College, 1911-1926; President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1915-1916; awarded the first Kelvin Medal, 1921; Honorary Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 1922; died, 1933.
Publications: include: Wrought Iron Bridges and Roofs .. With examples of the calculation of stress in girders, etc (London, 1869); On the Movement of the water in a tidal river, with reference to the position of sewer outfalls E & F N Spon, London, 1883); Exercises in Wood-Working for handicraft classes in elementary and technical schools (Longmans & Co, London, 1887); The Testing of Materials of Construction: a text-book for the engineering laboratory and a collection of the results of experiment (Longmans & Co, London, 1888); On the Development and Transmission of Power from central stations, being the Howard Lectures 1893 (Longmans & Co, London, 1894); A Treatise on Hydraulics (Adam & Charles Black, London, 1907).
Student and member of staff at the Royal College of Science, (Imperial College), 1925-1931; Lecturer, University of Cairo; Head of Chemistry Department, University of Natal, Pietermarietzburgh, retired, 1964; Dean, Faculty of Science, 1965-1967; research fields were organic chemistry, pyrolisidine alkaleids, insects' pheromones.
David Watson was a student at the Royal School of Mines from 1864 to 1867. His son, David Meredith Seares Watson (1886-1973), was a leading palaeontologist, and his grandaughter the geologist, Janet Vida Watson (1923-1985).
Born, London,1849; President, Architectural Association, 1884; President, Royal Institute of British Architects, 1902-1904; Knighted, 1904; Royal Gold medallist, Architecture, English, 1905, American, 1907; President, Royal Academy, 1919; works included Buckingham Palace, Admiralty Arch, Victoria and Albert Museum, Royal College of Science and Imperial College; died, 1930.
Publications: include: London of the Future editor (London, 1921).
Born, Darmstadt, 1905; member of Wernher, Beit and Company; created 1st Baronet, 1905; Governor, Imperial College, 1907-1912; died, 1912.
Born, Devonport, 1845; educated at the Royal School of Naval Architecture and Royal Naval College, 1870-1881; directed war-ship building of Armstrong & Co, Newcastle, 1883-1885; Director, Naval Construction and Assistant Controller, Royal Navy, 1885-1902; Consulting Naval Architect, Cunard SS Mauretania, 1904-1907; President, Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Institution of Marine Engineers; Chairman of the Council, Royal Society of Arts, 1909-1910; Master, Shipwrights Company of London; Governor, Imperial College, 1907-1913; died, 1913.
Publications: include: A Manual of Naval Architecture. For the use of Officers of the Royal Navy, Ship-builders (J Murray, London, 1877); Lecture on the turning powers of ships from the Journal of the Royal United Service Institution (1882); Modern War-ships.
Born, 1866; educated at Kensington High School; Royal Holloway College, 1887-1891; Royal College of Science, 1898-1902 (DSc); Science Mistress, Wimbledon High School, 1891-1900; Science Lecturer, St Gabriel's Training College, 1900-1902; Assistant in Chemical Department, 1904, Demonstrator, 1907, Lecturer, 1913, Assistant Professor, 1920-1934, Royal College of Science (Imperial College); OBE, 1920, awarded for her work on the properties of lachrymatory and vesicant gases; died, 1956.
Publications: A Student's Manual of Organic Chemical Analysis, Qualitative and Quantitative with Sir Jocelyn Field Thorpe (Longmans & Co, London, 1925); Thorpe's Dictionary of Applied Chemistry Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe. Fourth edition by Jocelyn Field Thorpe and M A Whiteley (vol 7-11 editor M A Whiteley) 12 Vol (Longmans & Co, London, 1937-56); contributions to the Proceedings of the Royal Society and Transactions of the Chemical Society.
Born in Springside, Yorkshire on 14 July 1921. Educated in the local council primary school, 1932 won a County Scholarship went to Todmorden Secondary School; 1939 awarded Royal Scholarship for study at Imperial College London, graduated 1941; PhD under supervision of H.V.A. Briscoe, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, thesis title Some Physicochemical Observations on Hydrolysis in the Homogeneous Vapour Phase'; 1942 joined F.A. Paneth on nuclear energy project; 19 43 - 1946 worked in Canada; 1946 joined Glenn T. Seaborg's research group University of California at Berkeley, first non-American to be cleared by the US Atomic Energy Commission for work at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory; worked on nuclear taxonomy making new neutron deficient isotopes using the cyclotrons of the Radiation Laboratory. 1950 joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology investigating transition metal complexes such as carbonyls and olefin complexes; 1951 Assistant Professorship at Harvard; 1955 returned to England, worked with organic chemist R.B. Woodward, recognised unprecedented molecularsandwich structure' of the organometallic compound now known as ferrocene (bis-(cyclopentadienyl) iron, Cp2Fe); 1955 Wilkinson appointed chair of Inorganic Chemistry at Imperial College London, (only established chair in the United Kingdom at that time) worked on complexes of transition metals, the complex chemistry of ruthenium, rhodium and rhenium, in compounds of unsaturated hydrocarbons and with metal to hydrogen bonds, leading to work on homogeneous catalytic reactions such as hydrogenation and hydroformylation of olefins; published Advanced Inorganic Chemistry with F.A. Cotton, 1962; 1982 edited the nine-volume Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry; elected FRS in 1965 (Royal Medal 1981, Davy Medal 1996); 1973 awarded Nobel Prize for Chemistry (with E.O. Fischer) `for their pioneering work, performed independently, on the chemistry of the organometallic, so called sandwich compounds'; knighted for contributions to chemistry in 1976; died on 26 September 1996.
Born, Cairo, 1875; educated at St Paul's School; studied civil and mechanical engineering, Central Technical College, 1893-1896; joined the firm of Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker, 1897-[1914]; worked on the Aswan dam, Egypt; partner in the practice of Booth, Wilson and Pettit, [1918]-1932, mainly in the field of bridge construction and structural steelwork; independent practice, 1932; honorary consulting engineer, Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings; President, Section G (Engineering), British Association, 1935; died, 1955.
Born, 1874; studied at the Royal College of Science; Scientific Assistant and Acting Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon; Controller, Government Experiment Station, Ceylon, 1900-1906; Editor, India Rubber Journal, London, 1907-1917; director and chairman, various tropical agricultural companies and trusts, 1907-1930; representative of the Royal Commission of 1851 on the Governing Body, Imperial College, 1918-1937; Chairman, Executive Committee, 1922 -1931 and Finance Committee, 1931-1938, of the Governing Body, Imperial College; Knighted, 1930; died, 1940.
Publications: include: Hevea Brasiliensis or Para Rubber: its botany, cultivation, chemistry and diseases (A M & J Ferguson, Colombo, 1905); The Cultivation of Rubber as an Investment (Rubber Plantation Development & Estates Agency, London, 1906); Rubber Cultivation in the British Empire. A lecture delivered before the Society of Arts, etc (Maclaren & Sons, London, 1907); Theobroma Cacao or Cocoa, its botany, cultivation, chemistry and diseases (A M & J Ferguson, Colombo, 1907); My Tour in Eastern Rubber Lands ... A series of articles contributed to the "India-Rubber Journal" (Maclaren & Sons, London, 1908).
The Royal College of Chemistry was established in 1845 in Hanover Square, London, with the first Professor August von Hofmann, and 26 students, the result of a private enterprise to found a college to aid industry. The College transferred to Oxford Street in 1848. In 1853 the College was incorporated with the Government School of Mines and of Science Applied to the Arts, effectively becoming its department of chemistry. Chemistry was one of the departments to be transferred to South Kensington in 1872.
The Royal College of Science was formed in 1881 by merging some courses of the Royal School of Mines with the teaching of other science subjects at South Kensington. In 1907 the Royal School of Mines and the Royal College of Science were incorporated in the Royal Charter of Imperial College of Science and Technology.
Charing Cross Hospital was established in 1823 in Villiers Street, London, as a charitable institution known as the West London Infirmary. The institution had its orgins in a meeting initiated by Dr Benjamin Golding in 1818. The infirmary provided accommodation for twelve beds, and became known as Charing Cross Hospital in 1827.
From the outset it was intended that the hospital would provide medical training for students, and a plan of medical education was drawn up in 1822. A new hospital building was opened in Agar Street in 1834 with accommodation for twenty-two students.
A separate medical school building was opened in Chandos Place in 1881, and enlarged in 1894 with additional laboratories. In 1911, the pre-clinical training was transferred to the University laboratories at King's College.
During the Second World War the Medical School was evacuated to Chaulden House, Boxmoor, and returned to Charing Cross in 1947.
A new hospital was opened in 1973 on Fulham Palace Road, on the site of the old Fulham Hospital, with accommodation for the Medical School. A new medical school building, the Reynolds Building, was opened in 1976.
The Charing Cross Hospital Medical School merged with the Westminster Medical School in 1984, and became known as the Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School. The School became part of Imperial College School of Medicine on its formation in 1997.
Charing Cross Hospital was established in 1823 in Villiers Street, London, as a charitable institution known as the West London Infirmary. The institution had its orgins in a meeting initiated by Dr Benjamin Golding in 1818. The infirmary provided accommodation for twelve beds, and became known as Charing Cross Hospital in 1827.
A new building was opened in Agar Street in 1834 with accommodation for twenty-two students, and was extended several times.
After the second world war it was decided that the hospital should move out of cental London, and in 1957 a link was proposed with Fulham and West London Hospitals. The new Charing Cross Hospital was opened in 1973 on Fulham Palace Road, on the site of the old Fulham Hospital.
John Howship (1781-1841) was assistant surgeon, 1834-1836, and then surgeon, 1836-1841, to Charing Cross Hospital. His casebooks contain notes and letters concerning patient cases, and some illustrations.
The Royal School of Mines was established in 1851, as the Government School of Mines and Science Applied to the Arts. The School developed from the Museum of Economic Geology, a collection of minerals, maps and mining equipment made by Sir Henry De la Beche, and opened in 1841. The Museum also provided some student places for the study of mineralogy and metallurgy. Sir Henry was the director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and when the collections outgrew the premises the Museum and the Survey were placed on an official footing, with Government assistance. The Museum of Practical Geology and the Government School of Mines Applied to the Arts opened in a purpose designed building in Jermyn Street in 1851. The officers of the Geological Survey became the lecturers and professors of the School of Mines. The name was changed in 1863 to the Royal School of Mines, and was moved to South Kensington in 1872.
The Royal College of Chemistry was affiliated to the Government School of Mines Applied to the Arts in 1853, effectively becoming its department of Chemistry.
The Royal College of Science was formed in 1881 by merging some courses of the Royal School of Mines with the teaching of other science subjects at South Kensington. It was originally named the Normal School of Science (the title was based on the Ecole Normale in Paris), but in 1890 was renamed the Royal College of Science. In 1907 the Royal School of Mines and Royal College of Science were incorporated in the Royal Charter of the Imperial College of Science and Technology.
The Council of Professors was succeeded by the Imperial College Board of Studies, which was established in October 1911.
In 1998 the Royal School of Mines Departments of Geology and Earth Resources Engineering became part of the T H Huxley School of Environment, Earth Sciences and Engineering, along with the Centre for Environmental Technology and the Environment Office.
The Royal College of Science was formed in 1881 in South Kensington by merging some courses of the Royal School of Mines with courses in Mathematics, Astronomy, Botany and Agriculture. It was originally named the Normal School of Science (the title was based on the Ecole Normale in Paris), with one of the aims of the School being to provide systematic training to school science teachers. Students of the Royal College of Science were able to qualify in the subjects of Physics, Chemistry, Mechanics, Biology and Agriculture. In 1890 was the School was renamed the Royal College of Science. In 1907 the Royal College of Science and Royal School of Mines were incorporated in the Royal Charter of the Imperial College of Science and Technology.
The City and Guilds of London Institute (C&GLI) for the Advancement of Technical Education has its origins in a meeting in 1876, when the livery companies agreed to create a Central Institution in London to improve the training of craftsmen. As it proved difficult to find a site for the planned Central Institution, Finsbury Technical College was established in 1878 in Cowper Street. The Central Institution opened in 1884, in a purpose designed building in South Kensington. It became known as the City and Guilds College after its full incorporation into Imperial College in 1910. An important objective of the C&GLI was to conduct a system of qualifying examinations in technical subjects. This was done in 1879, when the system established by the Society of Arts in 1873 was taken over by the C&GLI. The C&GLI was incorporated in 1880 and received a Royal Charter in 1900.
The livery companies set up the City and Guilds of London Institute for the Advancement of Technical Education (C&GLI) in 1878 through their involvement with training craftsmen. One of their aims was to create a Central Institution in London to improve the training of craftsmen. As they were initially unable to find a site for the Institution, Finsbury Technical College was established in 1878. The College closed in 1926.
The City and Guilds College was originally known as the Central Institution of the City and Guilds Institute. A meeting of the livery companies in 1876 led to the foundation of the City and Guilds Institute (C&GLI) for the Advancement of Technical Education, which aimed to improve the training of craftsmen. One of the objectives of the C&GLI was to create a Central Institution in London. As they were initially unable to find a site for the Institution, Finsbury Technical College was established in 1878 in Cowper Street. The other main objective of the C&GLI was to conduct a system of qualifying examinations in technical subjects. This was done in 1879, when the system established by the Society of Arts in 1873 was taken over by the C&GLI. The Central Institution opened in 1884, in a purpose designed building in South Kensington. It became known as the City and Guilds College after its full incorporation into Imperial College in 1910.
The Imperial College of Science and Technology was established in 1907 by Royal Charter. The College was created from the incorporation of the Royal College of Science and the Royal School of Mines in 1907, and the City and Guilds College in 1910. St Mary's Hospital Medical School united with Imperial College in 1988, and was renamed Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. The College received a new Charter in 1997 on the establishment of Imperial College School of Medicine. On 1 August 2000 Wye College merged with Imperial College. A new charter was created, incorporating the renamed Imperial College at Wye.
The Governing Body was established on the creation of the Imperial College in 1907 by the incorporation of the Royal College of Science and the Royal School of Mines in 1907, and the City and Guilds College in 1910. The Governing Body of 40 members, excluding the Rector, was to exercise the powers of the College as provided in the Charter and later Statutes. After the College received its new Charter in 1998, the Governing Body was replaced by a Court and Council, with the latter becoming the governing and executive body of the College.
After Imperial College received its new charter in 1998, the Governing Body was replaced by a Court and Council, and the Board of Studies by the Senate. The committees of the Board of Studies became committees of the Senate.
After Imperial College received its new charter in 1998, the Governing Body was replaced by a Court and Council. Committees of the Governing Body and Board of Studies became Committees of the Council and of the Senate respectively.The Rector's Committees continue to act in an advisory capacity to the Rector in certain non-academic fields, with several having joint staff-student membership.
Curricula and examinations at Imperial College are set by the Senate, previously the Board of Studies (until 1998), and administered by the Registry.
The Beit Fellowship was established in 1913 by Otto Beit, a Governor of Imperial College. The Fellowship was established in memory of his brother Alfred, a South African businessman and partner in the firm of Wernher, Beit and Company.
The key administrative functions of the College are carried out by the Registry, Secretariat, Estates, Finance and Personnel. The Academic Registrar, through the Board of Studies (later the Senate), administers academic matters, student admissions, the approval of courses and syllabuses and student records.The College Secretary services the Court and Council (formerly the Governing Body) and their associated committees.
A medical scheme was established by the Imperial College Hostel in 1945. A College Medical Officer was appointed in 1949, and a College Health Room (later Centre) established. By 1970 the Centre was providing a wide range of medical services.
The College Centenary celebrations of 1945 commemorated the founding of the Royal College of Chemistry in 1845, which was incorporated with the Royal School of Mines in 1853 and thus subsequently became part of Imperial College. An Appeal fund was launched with the celebrations to increase funding for planned College expansion. Charter Day celebrations mark the establishment of Imperial College in 1907 by Royal Charter.
Photographic services are divided between a central photographic and television studio and departmental photographic provision.Live-net was a University of London project established in 1986 to establish fibre-optic links between several Schools of the University.
Associated Studies were introduced to teach non-scientific studies in the arts and humanities in first degree courses, and offer classes and lectures to college members. 'Touchstone' was a project to develop and encourage wider interests and activities within College life, such as weekend discussion parties.
The College Library was known as the Lyon Playfair Library after Lord Playfair of St Andrews (1818-1898), a Chemistry lecturer at the Royal School of Mines and statesman. The Haldane recreational library, was named after Richard Burdon Haldane, MP, (1856-1928) who was involved in the formation of Imperial College. On developing a close working relationship with the Science Museum Library, the national library for the History of Science, the libraries collectively became known as the Central Library, whilst maintaining their individual identities. The Imperial College Library Committee was later know as the Union Library Committee.
A Records Committee was established in 1934 to organise the collection of college archives. A muniment room was established in 1937, and the first archivist appointed in 1957.
The Council, and previously the Governing Body, is reponsible for ensuring that financial accounts are kept and that an annual statement of the College's finances is prepared and published. External Auditors are appointed by the Council to undertake an audit of the College financial accounts. The College Secretary, as Clerk, is responsible for Internal Audit.
IMPEL was established in 1987 as a joint venture to market technological ideas and products from the college's research programmes. It also acted as a staff consultancy service for external agencies. This aspect was taken over in 1991 by Imperial College Consultants Ltd, along with the management of the commercial use of college facilities. Imperial Biotechnology was established in 1982 to develop products for the speciality enzyme market.
The Registry is primarily concerned with the administration of academic matters, principally the supervision of student admissions, scholarships, regulations, registrations, tuition fees, the approval of courses and syllabuses, examinations, prizes, student records and statistics, the organisation of special lectures and academic ceremonies and the setting of term dates.