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John Robert Anderson 1928–2007

John Anderson was born in Sydney on 5 March 1928 and died in Melbourne on 26 February 2007. He was educated at Sydney Boys' High School, Sydney Technical College, the New South Wales University of Technology (now the University of New South Wales) and the University of Cambridge. He was at Queens University Belfast as a Ramsay Memorial Fellow, 1954–5, was a Lecturer in Chemistry at the New South Wales University of Technology, a Reader in Chemistry at the University of Melbourne and Foundation Professor of Chemistry at Flinders University in South Australia. In 1969 he was appointed Chief of the CSIRO Division of Tribophysics and managed the Division's transition to become the Division of Materials Science. He was a Professor of Chemistry at Monash University, Melbourne, from 1987 until his retirement in 1993. He will be remembered for his contributions to the understanding of gas–solid interactions with particular emphasis on fundamental heterogeneous catalysis on metals, but also embracing other adsorption and oxidation processes.

Mike Jay, The Atmosphere of Heaven: The Unnatural Experiments of Dr Beddoes and His Sons of Genius (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), pp. vii + 296, $30.00/£20.00, ISBN: 978-0-300-12439-2.

Mike Jay, The Atmosphere of Heaven: The Unnatural Experiments of Dr Beddoes and His Sons of Genius (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), pp. vii + 296, $30.00/£20.00, ISBN: 978-0-300-12439-2. - Volume 55 Issue 3

A TOTAL SYNTHESIS DETECTIVE STORY

UNLESS CAST-IRON EVIDENCE FOR the structure of a natural product is the total synthesis of a compound isolated from natural sources can be a molecular gamble, observes Joe B. Sweeney. A reader in chemistry at the University of Reading, in England, Sweeney carries out research on the synthesis of biologically important molecules. risk of major pitfalls awaiting practitioners of the art of total synthesis is almost unavoidable, especially where only very small amounts of a very potent natural material are available, he says. In the case of azaspiracid-1, a shellfish toxin, the gamble initially failed. This is the story of that failure, and what happened next. The story starts in November 1995 with an incident of human food poisoning in the Netherlands following the consumption of blue mussels, Mytilus edulis , that had been harvested in Killary Harbour, Ireland. The symptoms—nausea, vomiting, severe diarrhea, and stomach cramps —were similar to diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP). ...

Doping enhances nanotube conductivity

Single-walled carbon nanotubes doped with potassium or bromine represent a new family of synthetic metals, suggest researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Rice University, Houston. We have shown that the electrical conductivity of single-walled carbon nanotubes can be enhanced by at least a factor of 30 by chemical doping, says John E. Fischer, professor of materials science and engineering at Penn. This new class of synthetic metals offers the promise of combining high strength and environmental stability with high electrical conductivity. The team, which includes Rice University professor and chemistry Nobel Laureate Richard E. Smalley, doped bulk samples of single-walled carbon nanotubes by vapor-phase reactions with potassium, an electron donor, and with bromine, an electron acceptor [ Nature , 388 , 255 (1997)]. The researchers then compared the resistivities of the pristine and doped nanotubes. This is a significant development, David R. M. Walton, reader in chemistry at the Universi...

A conference of crosstalk: the Gordon Research Conference in Bioorganic Chemistry.

The Gordon Research Conference in Bioorganic Chemistry aims to increase the opportunities for interaction and collaboration between organic chemistry and biology. Suggestions on how to achieve these goals from the readers of Chemistry & Biology are welcome.

Effect of Growth Regulators on Amylase Activity of Groundnut during Germination

Starch - StärkeVolume 20, Issue 4 p. 114-116 Article Effect of Growth Regulators on Amylase Activity of Groundnut during Germination D. N. Vyas M. Sc., Ph. D., D. N. Vyas M. Sc., Ph. D. Reader in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Dist. Kaira, Gujarat State (India)Search for more papers by this authorDr. K. C. Patel M. Sc., Dr. K. C. Patel M. Sc. Reader in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Dist. Kaira, Gujarat State (India)Search for more papers by this author D. N. Vyas M. Sc., Ph. D., D. N. Vyas M. Sc., Ph. D. Reader in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Dist. Kaira, Gujarat State (India)Search for more papers by this authorDr. K. C. Patel M. Sc., Dr. K. C. Patel M. Sc. Reader in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Dist. Kaira, Gujarat State (India)Search for more papers by this author First published: 1968 https://doi.org/10.1002/star.19680200405Citations: 1AboutPDF 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 Citing Literature Volume20, Issue41968Pages 114-116 RelatedInformation

The association of Thomas Beddoes, M. D. with James Watt, F. R. S

Thomas Beddoes, the lesser-known partner in this association, was born at Shifnal, Shropshire, on 13 April 1760. He was educated at Edinburgh and Pembroke College, Oxford; after receiving the M. D. of Oxford in 1787 he was appointed Reader in Chemistry. About this time he made the acquaintance of Dr Erasmus Darwin of Derby, notable physician, eccentric poet, member of the Lunar Society, and grandfather of Charles Darwin. Beddoes, a firm supporter of the republican regime in France, incurred the wrath of the Oxford authorities on account of his political opinions. In the autumn of 1792 he either resigned under pressure or was dismissed from his Readership in the University.

University of London Appointments

The title ofypeader in civil engineering in the University ha nbeen conferred on Dr. L. A. Beaufoy in respect o the post held by him at King's College. The title Df reader in chemistry in the University has be i conferred on Dr. D. J. G. Ives, in respect of thjr post held by him at Birkbeck College. The titLr of reader in history and philosophy of science the University has been conferred on Dr. Douglas McKie, in respect of the post held by him at University College. The title of professor of morbid anatomy and histology in the University has been conferred on Dr. R. W. Scarff, in respect of the post held by him at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School.

Dr. R. J. W. LeFèvre

DR. R. J. W. LEFÈVRE has been appointed to the chair of chemistry in the University of Sydney, which will become vacant shortly through the retirement of Prof. C. E. Fawsitt. Dr. LeFèvre is at present head of the Chemistry Department of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, and hopes to take up his new post during the latter part of this year. Educated at East London (now Queen Mary) College, Dr. LeFèvre was appointed a lecturer at University College, London, in 1928, becoming later reader in chemistry of the University of London. During the whole of the War he has been with the Air Ministry and Ministry of Aircraft Production. In 1941 he went as chemical adviser to the Commander -in-Chief Far East, with headquarters in Singapore. He fortunately escaped, not without difficulty, and on arriving in Australia took up a similar appointment with the Royal Australian Air Force. He returned to England in December 1943 and later was appointed to Farnborough. In his research work at University College, Dr. LeFèvre applied physical methods to organic chemistry problems. His most important. work has been in the use of dielectric constant measurements to solve numerous difficult geometrical structural problems such as the identification of cis- and trans-forms. The method was also used for following reaction velocities. His wife, Catherine LeFèvre, was associated with some of this work, and she also carried out independent studies on the related phenomenon, the Kerr effect. During the War, Dr. LeFèvre 's work ranged over the whole field of chemistry-physical, analytical, organic, etc. -and his work made a notable contribution to the war effort. His appointment to Sydney will play an important part in the continuation of the close links which have for long existed between the universities of Great Britain and Australia.

Prof. Irvine Masson, M.B.E

As announced elsewhere in this issue (p. 1112) Prof. Irvine Masson has been elected to the office of vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield, which is about to become vacant owing to the retirement of Dr. A. W. Pickard-Cambridge. Prof. Masson was born in 1887, the son of the late Sir David Orme Masson, vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne, and grandson of Prof. David Masson, the well-known professor of English at Edinburgh. He has been professor of chemistry and head of the Department of Pure Science in the University of Durham since 1924. He was educated at Melbourne Grammar School, the University of Melbourne, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of London, and is a doctor of science of the University of Melbourne. He was lecturer and reader in chemistry at University College, London, before and after the Great War, while in 1915–19 he was at the Research Department, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. From 1921 until 1924 Prof. Masson was secretary of the Chemical Society, and he was a member of the Senate of the University of Durham in 1930–36. He is a member of the Council of the Institute of Chemistry and of the Council of the Universities' Bureau. He gave the Alexander Pedler Lecture of the British Science Guild in 1931, when he spoke on “Problems in the National Teaching of Science”. His published work includes “Three Centuries of Chemistry” (1925), papers on physical, inorganic and organic chemistry in the journals of the Royal Society, Chemical Society, etc., and occasional bibliographical studies in the Transactions of the Bibliographical Society.

Augustus Geosrge Vernon-Harcourt, 1834–1919

ON Christmas Eve occurs the centenary of the birth of Augustus George Vernon-Harcourt, president of the Chemical Society in 1895-97, professor of chemistry in Christ Church College, Oxford, and one of the Metropolitan Gas Referees. The son of Admiral F. E. Vernon-Harcourt and grandson of Edward Harcourt, Archbishop of York, he was a nephew of William Vernon Harcourt (1789-1871), one of the founders of the British Association and brother of Leveson Francis Vernon-Harcourt (1839 1907), who from 1882 until 1905 was professor of civil engineering at University College, London. A. G. Vernon-Harcourt was educated at Cheam and Harrow and entered Balliol College with a scholarship in natural science, and after studying under Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie (1817-80) became his assistant. In 1859 he was made Lee's reader in chemistry and began contributing papers to the Chemical News and the Chemical Society. His earliest researches related to oxidation, and from these he passed to others on the rate of chemical change which in conjunction with those of Berthelot in France and those of Guldberg in Norway were to establish on a quantitative basis Berthollet's law of mass action. In much of his work he collaborated with William Esson (1838-1916), the Savilian professor of geometry. In the engineering world he was known for his investigations on coal and coal-gas. When he became a Metropolitan Gas Referee, the old sperm candle of the law of 1860 was the legal standard of illumination, but this was eventually replaced by the 10-candle pentane lamp of Vernon-Harcourt. An interesting episode in his later years was the banquet given in 1910 by the Chemical Society to five of its oldest members who had served as president. The five were Sir Henry Roscoe, Dr. Hugo Miiller, Sir William Crookes, Prof. William Odling and Prof. Vernon-Harcourt. Of the five, Vernon-Harcourt, who died on April 23, 1919, was the last survivor but one, Odling outliving him a few years.

University and Educational Intelligence

DURHAM.—Dr. A. K. Macbeth, reader in chemistry (Durham Division) since 1924, has been appointed to the Angas chair of chemistry in the University of Adelaide. In connexion with the changes following on Dr. Macbeth's departure, Dr. W. A. Waters has joined the staff of the chemical laboratories as a lecturer in chemistry.

University and Educational Intelligence

DURHAM.—Dr. A. K. MacBeth, lecturer in chemistry at the University of St. Andrews, has been appointed reader in chemistry in the Durham Colleges. Mr. H. J. E. Dobson, of University College, London, has been appointed lecturer in chemistry.

University and Educational Intelligence

WE learn from the Chemiker Zeitung of the following appointments: Dr. W. Schumann, director of the Institute of Technical Physics at Jena University, to be professor of theoretical electrotechnics at the Munich Technical College; Dr. Julius Schmidt, of the Stuttgart Technical College, to be reader in chemistry at the Engineering College, Esslingen; and Dr. K. Fajans, to be assistant professor of physical chemistry at the University of Munich.