Showing 11 results

The collection is particularly noteworthy for its full documentation of all aspects of Pirie's research, development and promotion of leaf protein for human comsumption. It is divided into the following sections:

Section A, Biographical. It includes obituaries, a copy of the Royal Society Biographical Memoir, a little documentation of undergraduate work, and historical material assembled by Pirie relating to J Brachel, J B S Haldane, F G Hopklins, and H H Mann. Miscellaneous material includes Pirie's philosophical notes on the nature of life the scientific method and other topics.

Section B, Research notebooks. These complete the sequence of numbered notebooks listed in the 'Catalogue of the Papers of Sir Frederick Charles Bawden including the papers of Alfred Alexander, Peter Kleczkowski and Norman Wingate Pirie' and also deposited in the Archives of the Royal Society. The sequence presented here runs from 1929-1996, with the missing notebooks to be found in the Bawden collection. The work documented includes Pirie's earliest research with A A Miles on 'Brucella abortus' and 'Brucella mellitensis', his research with F C Bawden on viruses, and the many facets of his work on leaf protein to the end of his life. There are also two numbered notebooks not included in the sequence which date from the 1940s.

Section C, Leaf Protein work. This is the largest section in the collection and documents the work for which Pirie became widely known. The material comers Pirie's own research work on leaf protein, his interest in leaf protein work worldwide, the promotion of leaf protein and the development of equipment, especially suitable for use in less developed countries, which could be used to extract it. There is documentation of Pirie's struggles within the Agricultural Research Council to find support for his work, his reports on progress and later fund raising for his reasearch. There is material relating to design and construction of leaf protein apparatus of various types. Pirie believed strongly that leaf protein could make a positive contribution to nutrition in poorer countries and trials were undertaken in India, Jamaica and other countries. Latterly he found backing for his work from the 'Find Your Feet' charity and this relationship is documented. Also of interest is Pirie's interest in promoting leaf protein, including sample recipes using the foodstuff.

Section D, Other Research interests. This focuses on Pirie's earlier research, including the work for which he was elected to the Royal Society and was awarded the Copley Medal. It is not extensive and should be consulted alongside the notebooks in Section B. It is presented by topic and includes research on tobacco mosaic and tomato bushy stunt viruses by Pirie and F C Bawden in the 1930's, work on 'Brucella abortus' in the 1930's and 1940's and bracken extraction in the 1950's. There is also material relating to various alternative sources of protein, including seafood, which relates to this interest in nutrition. Miscellaneous material includes documentation of Pirie's lobbying on behalf of 'biochemical engineering' research in the 1950's.

Section E, Drafts and Publications. This presents drafts and related material including publication on food resources and his 1987 book 'Leaf Protein and its by-products in human and animal nutrition', a small number of book reviews and a little editorial correspondence. The bulk of the section, however, comprises a sequence of Pirie's volumes of bound offprints, from 1929 to 1991 (with material for 1992-1996 unbound). This sequence is more than just a full record of Pirie's published work output, as intercalated or pasted to pages of the volumes are typescripts of unpublished work or work not published in full, reports on research, visits abroad etc, correspondence, and letters to the press on a wide variety of topics including nuclear weapons, the Communist Party, space exploration, scientific writing and world nutrition. The offprints themselves may bear later manuscript annotations and typescript notes by Pirtie, giving improved methods, corrections and later bibliographical references.

Section F, Visits and Conferences. These document a few of Pirie's visits 1946-1989. There is material relating to extended visits to the USA in 1946, to Czechoslovakia, the USSR and China in 1952, and later visits in connection with leaf protein work. The lack of coverage is partially compensated for by the quality of some of the documentation of the visits, including Pirie's manuscript and typescript notes and his official reports.

Section G, Correspondence. This is again partial in its coverage. The bulk relates to Pirie's work on leaf protein. There are also individual letters from significant correspondents, from the 1930's on, including A Szent-George, J B S Haldane, G C de Hervey, Sir Peter Medawar, T Svendberg, R L M Synge etc, which Piries appears to have kept for historical reasons. The correspondence is presented in alphabetical order by correspondent.

Biographical Memoirs notes and papers accumulated by Guido Pontecorvo relating to Hermann Joseph Muller gathered by Pontecorvo in the process of writing Muller's obituary for Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society.

Letters, papers and original drawings including the manuscripts of Marcello Malpighi's works published by the Royal Society.

Some correspondence, papers, and publications of Otto Loewi. The manuscript material is of a personal rather than a scientific nature and provides an important biographical source about Loewi's escape from Nazi Austria and his resettlement in the United States of America.

A dictionary (Italian/English) of Italian proverbs rendered into English, by Benjamin Polsted. A-I only.

Biographical Memoirs notes and papers accumulated by Professor Bryan C Clarke in the process of compiling two Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society: Edmund Brisco Ford FRS (1901-1988); and Arthur James Cain FRS (1921-1999).

Correspondence, diaries and other papers of Sir Alfred Charles Glyn Egerton, including some personal papers but largely relating to The Royal Society and particularly to wartime activities and post-war research needs in Britain. The diaries form an almost complete record of Egerton's career during the period 1943-1959. Earlier diaries date back to 1917 and the period 1929-1930, but for the most part they relate to the period 1938-1941.

Commonplace book of medical or pharmaceutical recipes in various hands containing receipts from Boate, Hartlib and Willis. Notebook belonging to Robert Boyle.

The correspondence, papers and scientific notebooks of Sir George Lindor Brown. The majority of notebooks relate to the investigations of Brown and his co-workers (notably Feldberg, Harvey and Maycock) at the National Institute for Medical Research, Hampstead, into neuromuscular transmission. The correspondence and remaining papers cover Brown's administrative work in the decades from the 1950's. His relationships with the Royal Society and the Medical Research Council are well represented. The papers include personal files, correspondence with institutions and individuals, working scientific notes and sets of slides.

Notes compiled by Sir William Paton and F C MacIntosh, and drafts and proofs of the biographical memoir of George Lindor Brown.

The correspondence, papers and diaries of Sir Charles Blagden. Blagden's papers are interesting on several levels, generally for his close contact with European men of learning, and his relationship with Sir Joseph Banks. Blagden's professional researches are represented by medical notes in the boxed sequence. These are grouped with papers on other subject interests, including linguistics, e.g. a draft Tahitian-English dictionary, compiled from conversations with Omai, whom Blagden inoculated after Omai's voyage to England with James Cook. Blagden's interest in antiquities and travel is documented by diary entries, as is his intercourse with fellow scientists, particularly those associated with the founding of the Royal Institution.