Abstract
Careers that look firmly set along one course can sometimes change dramatically. For Richard Norman an Oxford degree in chemistry led, in 1956, to research and lecturing posts at that university and thence, in 1965, to the chair of chemistry at York. As he describes it, the call to Whitehall came out of the blue. He was approached by a senior MOD official and asked whether he would allow his name to be put forward for the post of Chief Scientific Adviser, in succession to Professor Sir Ronald Mason, another chemist. After meeting the Ministry's permanent secretary, and consulting other people familiar with Whitehall, Norman decided that he liked the sound of the job and took up office in 1983. There followed, he says, 'five fascinating years', under two Secretaries of State (Michael Heseltine and George Younger), with the regulation knighthood being picked up along the way.
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