Abstract
To commemorate the services of Sir James Walker, professor of chemistry at the University of Edinburgh from 1908 until 1928, to chemistry in general and to the Chemistry Department of the University of Edinburgh in particular, it is proposed to establish a fund for a Walker Memorial Lecture to be delivered annually by an eminent chemist invited to Edinburgh by the Edinburgh University Chemical Society for that purpose. Sir James Walker, who died in May of this year, was the leading exponent of physical chemistry in Great Britain for nearly fifty years. During the Great War he did valuable work in the manufacture of high explosives, and the new chemical laboratories which he designed and fitted up at Edinburgh are among the foremost, both in equipment and in research activity, in Great Britain. The Chemical Society of the University of Edinburgh enjoys the distinction of being the oldest chemical society in the world, since it has recently been established that it existed as far back as 1.85 under the sponsorship of Joseph Black. It is felt that a yearly meeting at which the student members of this body may have the opportunity of making direct contact with the researches of distinguished investigators in chemistry from other universities will provide a most stimulating permanent memorial of the labours of Sir James Walker for the advancement of the science in Edinburgh and elsewhere. Former students of Sir James Walker and any others who may wish to assist in the project are invited to send contributions to Mr. J. E. Rocca, honorary secretary of the Edinburgh University Chemical Society, King's Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh.
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Sir James Walker and the University of Edinburgh. Nature 136, 827 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136827b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136827b0