Internship Report on Ptcl
1991 was quite a historic year. It marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Michael Faraday (who has a strong claim to be regarded as the first Physical Chemist), the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Chemical Society of London (now the Royal Society of Chemistry) and the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Oxford Physical Chemistry Laboratory. As the first Head of the Laboratory, Professor Sir Cyril Hinshelwood, commented on the occasion of the Centenary Celebration of the Chemical Society.
"The observance of anniversaries and centenaries is dictated by a deep-seated instinct. How far this in its turn is inspired by a feeling for the magic of numbers and awe at the vast cyclical processes of Nature, I do not know, but, however that may be, these recurrent occasions for retrospect and prospect are assuredly felt to be significant and moving."
We approached the job of writing about the first fifty years of the PCL in different, but we hope complementary ways. In Part I, RFB has pieced together some of the facts, from published reports and from accounts from colleagues - and for these, most warm thanks. In II, CJD, very closely involved with the affairs of the laboratory for some forty-two years, gives a personal account of what the place was like, with some emphasis on the early days.
We have updated some of the introduction chapters of Part I to show more recent changes in the dates, finances, and administration sections, and in Part III we present the history of the laboratory from
"The observance of anniversaries and centenaries is dictated by a deep-seated instinct. How far this in its turn is inspired by a feeling for the magic of numbers and awe at the vast cyclical processes of Nature, I do not know, but, however that may be, these recurrent occasions for retrospect and prospect are assuredly felt to be significant and moving."
We approached the job of writing about the first fifty years of the PCL in different, but we hope complementary ways. In Part I, RFB has pieced together some of the facts, from published reports and from accounts from colleagues - and for these, most warm thanks. In II, CJD, very closely involved with the affairs of the laboratory for some forty-two years, gives a personal account of what the place was like, with some emphasis on the early days.
We have updated some of the introduction chapters of Part I to show more recent changes in the dates, finances, and administration sections, and in Part III we present the history of the laboratory from