Alfred Walter Stewart (5 September 1880 – 1 July 1947) was a British

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

and part-time

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

who wrote seventeen

detective novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

and a pioneering

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

work between 1923 and 1947 under the pseudonym of JJ Connington. He created several fictional detectives, including Superintendent Ross and Chief Constable Sir Clinton Driffield.

Biography

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1880, Stewart was the youngest of three sons of the Reverend Dr. Stewart, Clerk to the University Senate and Professor of Divinity. After attending Glasgow High School he entered

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, graduating 1902, taking chemistry as his major. His outstanding performance earned him the Mackay-Smith scholarship. After spending a year in

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approxima ...

engaging in research under Theodor Zincke, he was elected to an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship and then in 1903 entered

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. Here he began independent research. His work, which formed part of his

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

, gained him a

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * 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 * Dalton State Col ...

degree from Glasgow University in 1907 and he was soon elected to a Carnegie Research Fellowship (1905–1908). He decided to pursue an academic career and in 1908 wrote ''Recent Advances in Organic Chemistry'' which proved to be a popular textbook whose success encouraged him to write a companion volume on Inorganic and Physical Chemistry in 1909. In 1909 Stewart was appointed to a lectureship in organic chemistry at

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

and in 1914 was appointed Lecturer in Physical Chemistry and Radioactivity at the University of Glasgow. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he worked for the Admiralty. In 1918 he drew attention to the result of a beta particle change in a radioactive element and suggested the term ''isobar'' as complementary to ''

isotope Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numb ...

''. He retired from his academic work in 1944 following recurrent heart problems. Stewart is now chiefly remembered for his first novel, ''Nordenholt's Million'' (1923), an early ecocatastrophe disaster novel in which

denitrifying bacteria Denitrifying bacteria are a diverse group of bacteria that encompass many different phyla. This group of bacteria, together with denitrifying fungi and archaea, is capable of performing denitrification as part of the nitrogen cycle. Denitrification ...

inimical to plant growth run amok and destroy world agriculture. The eponymous plutocrat Nordenholt constructs a refuge for the chosen few in Scotland, fortifying the

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

valley. The novel is similar in spirit to such disaster stories as

Philip Wylie Philip Gordon Wylie (May 12, 1902 – October 25, 1971) was an American writer of works ranging from pulp science fiction, mysteries, social diatribes and satire to ecology and the threat of nuclear holocaust. Early life and career Born in Beve ...

and

Edwin Balmer Edwin Balmer (July 26, 1883 – March 21, 1959) was an American science fiction and mystery writer. Biography Balmer was born in Chicago to Helen Clark (Pratt) and Thomas Balmer. In 1909, he married Katharine MacHarg, sister of the writer Wil ...

's ''

When Worlds Collide ''When Worlds Collide'' is a 1933 science fiction novel co-written by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie; they also co-authored the sequel ''After Worlds Collide'' (1934). It was first published as a six-part monthly serial (September 1932 through Fe ...

'' (1933) and anticipates the theme of

John Christopher Sam Youd (16 April 1922 – 3 February 2012), was a British writer, best known for science fiction written under the name of John Christopher, including the novels ''The Death of Grass'', ''The Possessors'', and the young-adult novel series ...

's ''

The Death of Grass ''The Death of Grass'' (US title ''No Blade of Grass'') is a 1956 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel written by the English author Sam Youd under the pen name John Christopher. The plot concerns a virus that kills off grass species, includi ...

'' (1956).

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...

paid tribute to Stewart's ''The Two Tickets Puzzle'' in her '' The Five Red Herrings''. She gave him full credit and built on one of his ideas for part of the solution of her mystery.

John Dickson Carr John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and is ...

was also an admirer of Stewart'sCarr, John Dickson ''The Greatest Game in the World'', 1946 and Carr's first novel in 1930 mentioned two of Stewart's earlier novels with admiration.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Nordenholt's Million'', London, Bombay, Sydney: Constable & Co. Ltd., 1923; repr. New York: Dover Publications, 2016 * ''Almighty Gold'', 1924 * ''Death at Swaythling Court'', 1926 * ''The Dangerfield Talisman'', 1926 * ''Murder in the Maze'', 1927 * ''Tragedy at Ravensthorpe'', 1927 * ''Mystery at Lynden Sands'', 1928 * ''The Case with Nine Solutions'', 1928 * ''Nemesis at Raynham Parva'', 1929 ( ''Grim Vengeance'') * ''The Eye in the Museum'', 1929 * ''The Two Tickets Puzzle'', 1930 (a.k.a. ''The Two Ticket Puzzle'') * ''The Boathouse Riddle'', 1931 * ''The Sweepstake Murders'', 1931 * ''The Castleford Conundrum'', 1932 * ''Tom Tiddler's Island'', 1933 (a.k.a. ''Gold Brick Island'') * ''The Ha-ha Case'',1934 (a.k.a. ''The Brandon Case'') * ''In Whose Dim Shadow'', 1935 (a.k.a. ''The Tau Cross Mystery'') * ''A Minor Operation'', 1937 * ''Truth Comes Limping'', 1938 * ''For Murder Will Speak'', 1938 (a.k.a. ''Murder Will Speak'') * ''The Counsellor'', 1939 * ''The Four Defences'', 1940 * ''The Twenty-one Clues'', 1941 * ''No Past Is Dead'', 1942 * ''Jack-in-the-Box'', 1944 * ''Common Sense Is All You Need'', 1947

Short stories

* ''After Death the Doctor''. (London) Daily News, 25 to 29 January 1934

Nonfiction

* ''Stereochemistry'', 1907 * ''Recent Advances in Organic Chemistry'', 1908 * ''Inorganic and Physical Chemistry'', 1909 * ''Some Physico-chemical Themes'', 1922 * ''Alias J. J. Connington'', 1947 (repr. 2015)

References

External links

*
Obituary of Alfred Walter Stewart (PDF)Norbert Nail: Genialer Chemiker und Meister des Detektivromans. Mit mathematischer Logik auf Mörderjagd - Das biografische Rätsel rund um die Philipps-Universität, in: Marburger UniJournal Nr. 56 (2018), p. 40
Nr. 57 (2018/19), p. 32 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Alfred Walter 1880 births 1947 deaths Writers from Glasgow Scottish novelists Scottish chemists Scottish crime fiction writers Alumni of the University of Glasgow Academics of Queen's University Belfast Academics of the University of Glasgow Scottish science fiction writers 20th-century Scottish novelists Scottish male novelists Members of the Detection Club 20th-century British male writers