British Chemical Industry Research Articles

Reviews and other notices

The Cartulary of Daventry Priory Edited by M. J. Franklin Northampton: Northamptonshire Record Society Publications, Volume XXXV for 1986–7, 1988 1 + 360 pp., illus. £18 to non‐members (available from Mr L. C. Skelton, Secretary, Northamptonshire Record Society, Delapre Abbey, Northampton NN4 9AW) The sleepers and the shadows: Chelmsford: a town, its people, and its past. 1. The medieval and Tudor story Hilda Grieve Chelmsford: Essex County Council, Essex Record Office Publication No. 100, 1988 xii + 203 pp., illus. £14.95 A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the College of Arms Collections, Volume I Louise Campbell and Francis Steer London: College of Arms, 1988 xxvii + 614 pp. £59 Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Papal Letters, Vol. XVI. Alexander VI, Part One: 1492–1498 Edited by Anne P. Fuller Dublin: Stationery Office for the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1986 cxxx + 869 pp., illus. IR£90 Early Tudor Craven: Subsidies and Assessments 1510–1547 Edited by R. W. Hoyle Leeds: Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series, Volume 145, 1987 for 1985 xxx + 148 pp. £24 to non‐members The Short Parliament (1640) Diary of Sir Thomas Aston Edited by Judith D. Maltby London: Royal Historical Society, Camden Fourth Series Volume 35, 1988 xvi + 189 pp. £15 The Commonplace Book of Sir Edward Bayntun of Bromham Edited by Jane Freeman Devizes: Wiltshire Record Society, Volume XLIII, 1988 for 1987 xxii + 80 pp. £15 to non‐members (available from M. J. Lansdown, 53 Clarendon Road, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 7 BS) Accounts of the Reverend John Crakanthorp of Fowlmere 1682–1710 Edited by Paul Brassley, Anthony Lambert and Philip Saunders Cambridge: Cambridgeshire Records Society, Volume 8, 1988 viii + 296 pp. £15 to non‐members (available from the Society, County Record Office, Shire Hall, Cambridge CB3 0AP#CP Materials for the Local and Regional Study of Schooling, 1700–1900 W. B. Stephens and R. W. Unwin London: British Records Association, Archives and the User No. 7, 1987 57 pp., 7 plates. £4.50 to members, £6.75 to non‐members Archives of the British Chemical Industry, 1750–1914: A Handlist Peter J. T. Morris and Colin A. Russell Stanford in the Vale: British Society for the History of Science Monograph 6, 1988 xiii + 273 pp. £14.50 to non‐members “One of the most useful charities in the City”;: York Dispensary 1788–1988 Katherine A. Webb York: University of York, Borthwick Paper No. 74, 1988 40 pp. £1.80 Census Returns 1841–1881 on Microfilm: a Directory to Local Holdings in Great Britain, Channel Islands; Isle of Man (5th edition) compiled by Jeremy Gibson and published by the Federation of Family History Societies in 1988 is available for £1.75 plus postage from J. S. W. Gibson, Harts Cottage, Church Hanborough, Oxford ox7 2AB, or from the F.F.H.S., c/o Benson Room, Birmingham and Midland Institute, Margaret Street, Birmingham B3 3BS. Minutes of the Board of Directors of the Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway Company Edited by Edwin Course Guildford: Surrey Record Society, Volume XXXIII, 1987 lv + 338 pp., illus. No price given Salisbury ‐ Balfour Correspondence: letters exchanged between the third Marquess of Salisbury and his nephew Arthur James Balfour 1869–1892 Edited by Robin Harcourt Williams Hertfordshire Record Society, Hertfordshire Record Publications, Volume 4, 1988 xxviii + 455 pp., illus. £17.95 to non‐members (available from Mrs Val High, Pantiles, Braughing Friars, Ware, Hertfordshire SG11 2NS) Maps for Local History Brian Paul Hindle London: Batsford, 1988 160 pp., 93 illus. £14.95 Maps and Plans for the Local Historian and Collector David Smith London: Batsford, 1988 240 pp., 6 colourplates, 100 illus. £19.95 Handlist of the Contents of the Gloucestershire Record Office, compiled by Nicholas Kingsley (Gloucestershire County Council, 1988). Accessions PGI Documentation Centre No 1/2–1987, No 1–1988, No 2–1988 (Paris: UNESCO, 1988–9. 90 pp., 52 pp., 43 pp. PGI‐88/WS‐8, PGI‐88/WS‐14, PGI‐89/WS‐1) Methods of evaluation to determine the preservation needs in libraries and archives: a RAMP study with guidelines by George M. Cunha (Paris: General Information Programme and UNISIST for UNESCO, 1988 (PGI‐88/WS/16), iv+75 pp.). Study on integrated pest management for libraries and archives by Thomas A. Parker (Paris: UNESCO, 1988). Conservation of Photographic Materials, a basic reading list, edited by K. B. Hendricks and A. Whitehurst (National Archives of Canada, 1988, English and French text, 32 pp. each, free from National Archives Bookstore, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario KIAON3, Canada). BS 3700: Recommendations for preparing indexes to books, periodicals and other documents (British Standards Institution, 1988. 18 pp. £20) ‘Business Archives and Education’: Proceedings of the Annual Conference 1988 held at the Institution of Electrical Engineers, London, 30 June 1988 London: Business Archives Council, 1988 115 pp. £5 to BAC members, £5.50 to non‐members

Status of U.K. Chemical R&D Highlighted in Reports

Three reports, all issued in the past few weeks, provide a current view of the status of scientific—and particularly chemical—research in Britain. One report, issued by the U.K. Chemical Industries Association (CIA), focuses on the industrial aspects of chemical research and development. The other two, published by the Advisory Board for the (U.K.) Research Councils, examine the funding and quality of British science in relation to other leading industrialized countries. CIA's report, titled Priority Areas for Chemicals R&D, was more than a year in the making and is the outgrowth of consultations with more than 50 of its member companies, academic researchers, and people in customer industries. It addresses such questions as where the British chemical industry should direct its R&D resources, and how it should assess priority areas on which to concentrate. Until now, individual companies had to grapple with these issues on their own by trial and error. The study identifies six emerging areas that are li...

FORMALDEHYDE IN THE BRITISH CHEMICAL INDUSTRY: An Occupational Cohort Study

This paper reports the mortality experience of a cohort of 7680 men who had first been employed before 1965 in one of six factories in the British chemical or plastics industry where formaldehyde had been manufactured or used. All the jobs undertaken by each man were classified, on the basis of subjective information, into four categories in terms of exposure to formaldehyde. More than 98% of the workforce were traced to the end of 1981. No deaths from nasal cancer were reported (1·07 expected), and no excess mortality was found for cancers at any of the sites previously reported to be possibly associated with formaldehyde. In one factory a significantly high mortality from lung cancer was found (standardised mortality ratio 124; 95% confidence limits 104, 148) when the mortality rates of England and Wales were used as a standard, but not when an adjustment was made based on the local area mortality. Within the factory the increased mortality was limited to men who had been exposed to "high" levels of formaldehyde. There were no trends of increasing mortality with duration of work or interval since first exposure. This result may be a chance finding or reflect the influence of smoking or some other factor. Although a carcinogenic action of formaldehyde seems less likely as an explanation it cannot be excluded. The statistical power of the study to detect various risks of nasal cancer is described.

Industrial Chemistry to Chemical Engineering

When World War I began, the U.S. possessed a chemical industry well on its way to becoming the largest in the world. The war assured the premier position to the U.S. It is thus not surprising that the U.S. also was the first country to see chemical engineering— a subject by its nature closely allied to the chemical industry— emerge as a disciplined, organized activity. In the nineteenth century, the British chemical industry, especially the heavy industry producing sulfuric acid, caustic soda, and allied substances, had been predominant. And it was in the heartland of that heavy industry, in Manchester, that George E. Davies produced the first Handbook of Chemical Engineering in 1901. The handbook gave currency to the term chemical engineering. However, the British were slow to follow up on Davies' initiative. In the new world it was easier to innovate, especially in educational matters. Already in the 1850s, the University of Pennsylvania was ...

‘Research for survival’

As this is one of a series of papers under the general title of ‘Making a success of research in industry’, I should define what success means in my own context. Success can have different meanings to different people, and industrial success cannot be measured by publications, nor by public acclaim. There can be only one criterion of success in my terms, namely that the research should pay for itself and leave a handsome margin over costs; in short that it should be profitable research. This alone is not enough, but it is the prime consideration. The results of the research, when developed into products, should be socially beneficial, and bring to the people and country as a whole desirable consequences, which might be more leisure, improvements in the balance of payments, the ability to pay salaries and wages which at least keep up with the rise in the cost of living, the ability to provide interesting and rewarding employment to scientists and engineers, and the possibility of expanding the British chemical industry in such a way that it can keep up with the giants in the American chemical industry. Du Pont assemble all these criteria neatly in one phrase ‘better things for better living—through chemistry'. I would go along with that phrase—but substitute ‘science ’for ‘chemistry’, since our industry is becoming more and more a scientific rather than just a chemical one. But none of these secondary objectives is attainable without the primary one of making it pay for itself in such a way that no board of directors can doubt that the company’s whole prosperity depends on its research and development activity. So much for definitions.

A Historical Approach to the Dyestuffs Industry

Organised for a world economy, rich in natural resources, and with a traditionally liberal and moral outlook, nineteenth century Britain was singularly well qualified to be the birthplace of the synthetic‐dye industry. Yet, in the case of the organic chemical industry, the social and economic conditions that were often so favourable to the innovation and growth of industrial and commercial enterprises were not those best suited to combat the paternalism and planned economies of the aspiring new Germany. Thinking in terms of large‐scale production of relatively cheap materials, British industrialists built up highly profitable industries based on the production and export of coal‐tar and its distillation products. Without imagination, intellectual foresight, and stimulus from other industries, the British chemical industry stood aside whilst other nations developed their own dye‐making enterprises. A European war and a renewal of belief in a modicum of State intervention were turning points marking a new determination on the part of Great Britain to be no longer subservient to foreign domination in the field of organic chemicals.

The British Chemical Industry

The year 1958 has seen some recession in the chemical industry due in part to the earlier recession in the United States, and to some extent to financial restrictions in Britain itself. However, toward the end of the year the industry began to recover both in production and exports and had broadly regained and improved its position as compared with 12 months earlier. This is well borne out by the index of production (1954 = 100). It was 115 in 1957, down to 113 early in 1958, but up to 122 by October. In spite of difficulties, capital investment in new plant and equipment has continued at a high level both because of major projects started in 1957 and the confidence of the industry in its future level of trade. Total capital investments in 1957 amounted to $360 million. The investment level last year was probably substantially the same. In considering the major projects which ...

Tumours of the urinary bladder in workmen engaged in the manufacture and use of certain dyestuff intermediates in the British chemical industry. II. Further consideration of the role of aniline and of the manufacture of auramine and magenta (fuchsine) as possible causative agents.

In a previous communication (Part I) on occupa tional bladder tumours (Case, Hosker, McDonald, and Pearson, 1954), the primary object was to consider the statistical evidence which had been collected about the manufacture and use of the dyestuff intermediates aniline, benzidine, a naphthylamine, and ?-naphthylamine, and their relation to occupational tumours of the urinary bladder. It was concluded that aniline manufacture and use were probably not a cause of the disease, but that certain aniline workers who were employed in the manufacture of magenta (fuchsine) might be in some danger of developing occupational bladder tumours. At the same time it was suggested that the manufacture of auramine might also be a source of danger, and arrangements were made for a more detailed investigation of the occurrence of bladder tumours in workmen exposed to the manufacture of magenta, in which process aniline is necessarily used, and the manufacture of auramine, where aniline is not used. This investigation, being part of the A.B.C.M. Papilloma Research Scheme (Association of British Chemical Manufacturers, 1953), was of necessity confined to the same firms as had hitherto been investigated and the data relate only to the manu facture of magenta and auramine. These substances differ from the other substances so far studied

Tumours of the urinary bladder in workmen engaged in the manufacture and use of certain dyestuff intermediates in the British chemical industry. I. The role of aniline, benzidine, alpha-naphthylamine, and beta-naphthylamine.

Tumours of the urinary bladder in workmen engaged in the manufacture and use of certain dyestuff intermediates in the British chemical industry. I. The role of aniline, benzidine, alpha-naphthylamine, and beta-naphthylamine.

Progress in Polymerization Theory of Interest in Synthetic Rubber Production

Abstract During the last few years considerable advances have been made in the theory of polymerization processes, and these have a direct bearing on the manufacture of synthetic rubbers and plastics and the properties of the various products of this type that are now handled by the rubber industry. The most important industrial process involves emulsion polymerization. This is used in the production of types, such as GR-S, Perbunan, and Neoprene, and also in the production of polyvinyl chloride. World production of these emulsion polymeric materials is in the region of hundreds of thousands of tons per annum, and the process is probably one of the more important chemical manufactures developed in the last decade. No large manufacture of synthetic rubber has been developed in Great Britain, mainly because of war-time exigencies and economic considerations, and the only significant contribution made by British chemical industry to alleviate the war-time scarcity of natural rubber was to develop a large-scale production of polyvinyl chloride to satisfy the requirements of the cable trade. There has, however, been some research activity on synthetic rubber in this country since 1935 in the laboratories of the Dyestuffs Division of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. Activity in the main was concentrated on the diene emulsion interpolymer types and a large number of second components were examined for interpolymerization with both butadiene and chloroprene. Comparatively few interpolymerize to give rubbers with reasonably good vulcanizate properties. These have been disclosed in the patent literature. Parallel work was being carried out in the laboratories of I. G. Farbenindustrie and later in America, and the results of much of this have now appeared in the technical literature and in the accounts that are now available on German war-time activities. The general conclusions were similar.

Science and Reconstruction

THE lecture by Sir John Anderson published in Nature of December 22, p. 733, does but scant justice to British chemical industry prior to the First World War. The statement that “the only industrial openings one heard of were occasional vacancies in breweries” is not in accordance with the facts, and takes no cognizance of the existence of a great inorganic chemical industry represented by such firms as Brünner, Mond and Co. and the United Alkali Co., and numerous manufacturers of acids and phosphatic fertilizers and a considerable organic industry represented by the works of Read Holliday, Leven-stein, British Alizarine, Clauss and Co., and many others, not to speak of the explosives manufacturers of Nobels in Scotland and Kynochs in Ireland.

Lunge and Keane's Technical Methods of Chemical Analysis

IN the years immediately succeeding the War of 1914–18, British chemical industry underwent a renaissance the chief features of which included the intensification of research both by individual firms and by the newly constituted research associations, the rationalization of industry, and the formation of merged companies. In many cases products and processes of manufacture were standardized. Methods of testing were reviewed and modernized and new analytical technique developed to keep pace with the ever–increasing range of new products. Lunge and Keane's Technical Methods of Chemical Analysis Second edition, edited by Dr. Charles A. Keane Dr. P. C. L. Thorne. Vol. 4. Pp. xv + 963. (London and Edinburgh: Gurney and Jackson, 1940.) 84s. net.

British Chemical Industry

A SURVEY of the achievements of British chemical industry in the last twenty-five years was given by Sir Gilbert T. Morgan in three Cantor Lectures to the Royal Society of Arts which have just been published. The field covered included inorganic chemicals, gases, nitrogen products, pigments, electrochemistry, metals, the utilization of coal, explosives, dyes, fermentation, plastics and drugs, and the lectures give a valuable survey of modern processes and the progress made in the period considered.

British Chemical Industry

British Chemical Industry

British Chemical Industry: Its Rise and Development (Morgan, Sir Gilbert T.; Pratt, David Doig)

British Chemical Industry: Its Rise and Development (Morgan, Sir Gilbert T.; Pratt, David Doig)

British Chemical Industry and European Affairs

EUROPEAN affairs in relation to the chemical industry, and particularly to the British chemical industry, recently formed the subject of an address by Dr. H. Levinstein to the Institution of Chemical Engineers. If and when war comes it would, he said, be sudden and overwhelming, whilst industries unprepared for war could not be switched on to the requirements of war without great delay and immense cost. In 1914, war was not expected by the British chemical industry. Dr. Levinstein outlined some of the urgent requirements which the industry then had to face, and referred to some of the great de-ficiences, delays, and difficulties with which it had to contend. That it eventually surmounted these difficulties and removed these deficiencies is attested by military history, but, said Dr. Levinstein, “I have said enough to show the terrible delay, prolonging suffering and death, inevitable to going to war with our chemical industries as they were in 1914”. On the other hand, “the German Government had the nucleus of a strongly centralised and organised industry for the chemical side of the production of munitions of war”. The formation of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., and the establishment of the Institution of Chemical Engineers are two developments of importance in the present organization of British chemical industry. “We may be thankful,” he said, “for it is of great national importance, that the chemical industry is to-day more closely knit....

The rise and development of British chemical industry

Journal of the Society of Chemical IndustryVolume 54, Issue 48 p. 1042-1042 Article The rise and development of British chemical industry First published: 29 November 1935 https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.5000544803AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume54, Issue4829 November 1935Pages 1042-1042 RelatedInformation

Chemistry in Industry

BRITISH chemical industry has in recent years been the subject of political discussion, of Governmental action, and of no little anxiety among those who realise the effect which duties, quotas, restrictions, and the like may have for better or for worse on a great national enterprise which has scarcely reached adolescence. In a world of such complex economics, the necessity of an organisation whereby exchange of views and corporate action are facilitated becomes at once apparent, and it is therefore not surprising that the Association of British Chemical Manu facturers finds its activities and its responsibilities increasing year by year. In moving the adoption of the Council's report at the annual general meeting of the Association, held on October 11, the chairman, Mr. F. H. Carr, referred at some length to its activities, its extending influence, and its increasing member ship. There has been an unusually heavy loss by death of leaders in the industry; reference was specially made to the late Sir Max Muspratt, a founder and a wise counsellor who played a great part in the development of British chemical industry and contributed in no small degree to the strength and reputation of the Association. By the service of Sir Max Muspratt and many men of like character and attainments, and by the devotion of the staff, the Association to-day finds itself able to protect the interests of British chemical manufacturers to a degree undreamed of when it was first formed. Its membership roll now includes no fewer than one hundred and eleven firms, and other applications are pending.

A History of the British Chemical Industry (Miall, Stephen)

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVBook and Media Revie...Book and Media ReviewNEXTA History of the British Chemical Industry (Miall, Stephen)Alexander Silverman Cite this: J. Chem. Educ. 1932, 9, 4, 787Publication Date (Print):April 1, 1932Publication History Received3 August 2009Published online1 April 1932Published inissue 1 April 1932https://doi.org/10.1021/ed009p787RIGHTS & PERMISSIONSArticle Views145Altmetric-Citations-LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InReddit PDF (978 KB) Get e-Alerts Get e-Alerts

A history of the British chemical industry. By Stephen Miall. Pp. 273. London: Ernest Bean, Ltd. 1931. 10s. 6d

Journal of the Society of Chemical IndustryVolume 50, Issue 44 p. 875-875 Review A history of the British chemical industry. By Stephen Miall. Pp. 273. London: Ernest Bean, Ltd. 1931. 10s. 6d First published: 30 October 1931 https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.5000504406AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume50, Issue4430 October 1931Pages 875-875 RelatedInformation