1.5 Postgraduate Studies
Robert’s career so far may not have been quite as glittering as his elder
brother’s, but he was now a graduate—including the ‘cutting edge science’ of
physical chemistry—and as such he would probably have been encouraged to
go to Germany to study further. But instead he chose to remain at UCL for
another year to sit the examination for the Associateship of the Institute of
Chemistry
34 of Great Britain and Ireland—and in organic chemistry. The
‘Institute was’, he said in later years, ‘the professional body, and I wanted to
become a professional chemist’.
23 At this point we have to ask why he initially
declined the ‘conventional’ route and chose this—more unusual—alternative?
The answer in part probably lies in his experience with Woodland Toms.
Eventually, Robert would travel to Germany, but it was clearly important to
him that he would do so first and foremost as an established professional.
Also, Robert never really embraced academia, preferring to remain in industry
indulging his love of practical science. The professional route therefore was
probably much more attractive to him and it seemed ‘the right and proper
thing to aim at their qualifications’.
23
Robert passed the examination for the Associate ship in 1906 and he
subsequently published two more papers with his supervisor Samuel
(‘Sammy’) Smiles who went on to become remembered for the eponymous
rearrangements of substituted aromatics. The title of these papers indicates
this provenance viz., ‘LXXIV.—Aromatic sulphonium bases’, J. Chem. Soc.,
Trans., 89, 696–708, (1906), and ‘LXX.—The sulphination of phenolic ethers
and the influence of substituents’, J. Chem. Soc., Trans., 93, 745–762, (1908).
In the same year (February 1906) Robert was elected Fellow of the Chemical
Society of London, an institution which he patronised throughout his life and
where he maintained his contacts with both F. W. Toms and Bernard Dyer
(Plate 1.12).
Robert left UCL in July 1906 and by then his credentials were noteworthy.
He was a prize-winning graduate who had studied under a Nobel laureate, he
was an Associate of the Institute of Chemistry and a Fellow of the Chemical
Society, he was also published in physical, organic and radio-chemistry.
Germany beckoned, although at the time Robert had thought of spending
half a year in France beforehand.
23 Ramsay’s connections with the European
scientific community were extensive and he used these to place his men
judiciously. Two chemists in particular stood out for him, Richard Abegg at
Breslau, and Fritz Haber at Karlsruhe—both practitioners of the new physical
chemistry that Robert had studied under Donnan. According to Morris
1 Robert Le Rossignol
25
Robert’s career so far may not have been quite as glittering as his elder
brother’s, but he was now a graduate—including the ‘cutting edge science’ of
physical chemistry—and as such he would probably have been encouraged to
go to Germany to study further. But instead he chose to remain at UCL for
another year to sit the examination for the Associateship of the Institute of
Chemistry
34 of Great Britain and Ireland—and in organic chemistry. The
‘Institute was’, he said in later years, ‘the professional body, and I wanted to
become a professional chemist’.
23 At this point we have to ask why he initially
declined the ‘conventional’ route and chose this—more unusual—alternative?
The answer in part probably lies in his experience with Woodland Toms.
Eventually, Robert would travel to Germany, but it was clearly important to
him that he would do so first and foremost as an established professional.
Also, Robert never really embraced academia, preferring to remain in industry
indulging his love of practical science. The professional route therefore was
probably much more attractive to him and it seemed ‘the right and proper
thing to aim at their qualifications’.
23
Robert passed the examination for the Associate ship in 1906 and he
subsequently published two more papers with his supervisor Samuel
(‘Sammy’) Smiles who went on to become remembered for the eponymous
rearrangements of substituted aromatics. The title of these papers indicates
this provenance viz., ‘LXXIV.—Aromatic sulphonium bases’, J. Chem. Soc.,
Trans., 89, 696–708, (1906), and ‘LXX.—The sulphination of phenolic ethers
and the influence of substituents’, J. Chem. Soc., Trans., 93, 745–762, (1908).
In the same year (February 1906) Robert was elected Fellow of the Chemical
Society of London, an institution which he patronised throughout his life and
where he maintained his contacts with both F. W. Toms and Bernard Dyer
(Plate 1.12).
Robert left UCL in July 1906 and by then his credentials were noteworthy.
He was a prize-winning graduate who had studied under a Nobel laureate, he
was an Associate of the Institute of Chemistry and a Fellow of the Chemical
Society, he was also published in physical, organic and radio-chemistry.
Germany beckoned, although at the time Robert had thought of spending
half a year in France beforehand.
23 Ramsay’s connections with the European
scientific community were extensive and he used these to place his men
judiciously. Two chemists in particular stood out for him, Richard Abegg at
Breslau, and Fritz Haber at Karlsruhe—both practitioners of the new physical
chemistry that Robert had studied under Donnan. According to Morris
1 Robert Le Rossignol
25