Harry Munroe Napier Hetherington Irving (19 November 1905 in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

– 20 June 1993 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

), often cited as H. M. N. H. Irving, was a British

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

Education

As a student as The Queen's College, Oxford, Irving received a BA in 1928 and a DPhil in 1930, the same year he received his Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music. In 1954, he was awarded a

DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

Career

Irving was a lecturer and demonstrator in chemistry at Oxford University from 1930 to 1961. He was also the Vice Principal of St Edmund Hall. During the 1940s he began research into coordination chemistry. In 1953, Irving and his doctoral student Robert Williams described a periodic trend now known as the Irving–Williams Series. Irving was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Inorganic and Structural Chemistry at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

between 1961 and 1971University of Leeds, Calendar, 1961-62, page 162
/ref> and Professor of Analytical Science at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

between 1979 and 1985.

Private life

Irving was a Freemason under the United Grand Lodge of England. Initiated in the Churchill Lodge No 478 (Oxford), he later joined the Apollo University Lodge No 357 (Oxford), to which he was proposed by fellow Oxford scientist Bertram Maurice Hobby. Irving served at different times as Worshipful Master of both lodges.

Books authored

*H. M. N. H. Irving, H. Freiser and T. S. West, ''Compendium of analytical nomenclature : definitive rules'', Pergamon Press 1977 *H. M. N. H. Irving, ''The Techniques of Analytical Chemistry: Short Historical Survey'', Science Museum 1974 *H. M. N. H. Irving, ''Dithizone'', Royal Society of Chemistry, 1977

External links

Irving-Williams Series - Transition Metal Chemistry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, Harry Munroe Napier Hetherington 1905 births 1993 deaths English chemists Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellows of the Royal Society of South Africa Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Fellows of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Academics of the University of Leeds Academic staff of the University of Cape Town British expatriates in South Africa Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England