Description

Arthur Birch, esteemed Australian organic chemist, was Professor of Organic Chemistry at Manchester, England, before returning to his home country to help establish the Research School of Chemistry at the Australian National University, Canberra. He is most renowned for inventing and developing the "Birch Reduction" of aromatic ring systems which has been a mainstay in synthetic organic chemistry. His autobiography is rich in detailing his early schooling in the 1930s in Australia and his studies under Sir Robert Robinson at Oxford and Lord Alexander Tood at Cambridge. Well over 50 photographs enhance this intimate and revealing autobiography, which includes a 50-page collection of philosophies on science, funding, personalities of various famous chemists and personalities of chemistry in different countries, family life, and the nature of research collaborations.

Reviews

"[The author] is certainly one of the most distinguished organic chemists to be produced from Australia and is world famous for pioneering and applying the metal-ammonia reagent in the so-called Birch Reduction. . . .The chemistry is fairly complicated but is attractively presented." --Historical Group Newsletter, The Royal Society of Chemistry

Product Details

304 pages; ISBN13: 978-0-8412-1840-6ISBN10: 0-8412-1840-4