Blue plaque honour for William Ramsay
30 Mar 2011
English Heritage recently unveiled
a blue plaque in honour of notable
chemist and SCI past President Sir
William Ramsay (1852-1916). The
plaque was unveiled on 9 February
at Ramsay's home at 12 Arundel
Gardens, Notting Hill, London,
in a well-attended event held in
association with the London
Regional Group. Arundel Gardens was
Ramsay's home for 15 years, and it
was while living there that he made his
historic discovery of five of the noble
gases. The unveiling was followed by
a cycle ride along Ramsay's famous
route from Arundel Gardens to the
Gower Street chemistry laboratories
of University College London - a feat
which Ramsay reportedly managed in
just 18 minutes.
The programme of events continued
at UCL's department of chemistry, with
talks on the life of Ramsay and his
contemporaries from Professor Alwyn
Davies, Dr Neil Todd and
Professor William Block, who
each shared their unique
insights into the real story
of this scientific pioneer. In
addition, the department
played host to a fascinating
exhibition of artefacts,
including various items
of laboratory equipment
used by Ramsay in his
experimental work.
Ramsay's pioneering
experiments led to him
justifiably being described
as 'the greatest chemical discoverer of
his time'. His discovery of five of the six
inert or noble gases - argon, helium,
krypton, neon and xenon - brought
him international recognition. He was
knighted in 1902, and in 1904 became
the first Briton to be awarded the Nobel
Prize for Chemistry.
Dr Andrea Sella, inorganic chemist
at UCL chemistry department, and
proposer of the plaque, said: 'Ramsay
was a groundbreaking chemist and
built up an outstanding research
department at UCL. Nicknamed
'the Chief', he was an inspirational
teacher and revered by his students.
He maintained that his greatest
contribution to science was not the
chemistry, but the chemists that he
had produced.'
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