SCI Members' News

A lifetime of dedication

Prof John Stock, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Connecticut, US, and Life Member of SCI, died at the age of 94 on 6 February 2005 after a brief illness. He will be remembered as an exceptional chemist, a celebrated chemical historian, educator, and a dear friend to all that knew him.

An SCI Member for 64 years, John was born in Margate, UK, in 1911 and received a BSc in chemistry, physics and mathematics in 1939 and a BSc Honours chemistry degree in 1941 from London University. In 1944 he earned the MSc in electrochemistry and in 1949 his PhD in Analytical Chemistry, both from London University. John also received his DSc in analytical and electrochemistry in 1965 from London University. Following extensive periods in industry and with the British Ministry of Supply, John became Vice Principal of Norwood Technical College, London. He received the Robert Blair Award for overseas study in 1954, spent in research at the University of Minnesota with IM Kolthoff.

John came to the University of Connecticut in 1956 where he led an active programme in electrochemical research as well as the teaching of analytical chemistry, resulting in hundreds of publications. An extensive sideline to his teaching was the development of apparatus and techniques, published in the Journal of Chemical Education and elsewhere. In 1977 he received the University of Connecticut Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Teaching.

After many outstanding years of research and teaching analytical chemistry and its history, he retired in 1979. He remained an active scholar in the history of chemistry, both in Connecticut and at the London Science Museum, of which he was an honorary research fellow. His 2004 publication, Pilgrim’s progress — the London Science Museum, surveys the development of the museum since his first visit in 1919. John had several interests including the study and preservation of historic chemical apparatus and the international aspects of the history of chemistry. He had a passion to ‘chronicle the accomplishments of some of the people involved in developing the discipline of chemistry, in the hope that today’s students won’t think that these techniques and instrumentation sprang fully developed from nowhere’.

Stock’s many books include: Small-scale inorganic qualitative analysis by JT Stock and P Heath (1954), Development of the chemical balance (Science Museum) (1969), Amperometric titrations (1975), The development of instruments to measure electric current (Science Museum) by JT Stock and D Vaughan (1986), The history and preservation of chemical Instrumentation (1986) and Electrochemistry, past and present (1989) by John Stock and Mary Virginia Orna. His most recent book is Ostwald’s American students: apparatus, techniques and careers (2003).

After his retirement, in 1979, John published over 70 articles and made 40 oral presentations at national meetings of the American Chemical Society, all on the history of chemistry. Many of these presentations were the result of his ongoing study of the activities at the University of Leipzig, where Prof Wilhelm Ostwald was professor. Through his long, distinguished career, he published more than 300 scientific papers and several books and monographs on various scientific topics.

Professor Emeritus John Stock was a chemist with a lifelong interest in the history of science. In 1992 he received the Dexter Award for outstanding achievement in the history of chemistry by Division of the History of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society. In 2001, he received the Division of the History of Chemistry Certificate of Appreciation. Most recently, John received the Chemical Heritage Foundation’s first Donor Appreciation Award.

By Prof James Stewart,
University of Connecticut, USA