Andrew Norman Meldrum (1876,
Alloa
Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; , possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to ...
– 1934,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
) was a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
scientist known for his work in
organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...
and for his studies of the
history of chemistry
The history of chemistry represents a time span from ancient history to the present. By 1000 BC, civilizations used technologies that would eventually form the basis of the various branches of chemistry. Examples include the discovery of fire, ex ...
. It has been claimed that
Meldrum's acid
Meldrum's acid or 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane-4,6-dione is an organic compound with formula . Its molecule has a heterocyclic core with four carbon and two oxygen atoms; the formula can also be written as .
It is a crystalline colorless solid that ...
"is the only chemical to be named after a Scotsman."
He was educated at
Robert Gordon's College
Robert Gordon's College is a co-educational private school for day pupils in Aberdeen, Scotland. The school caters for pupils from Nursery through to S6.
History Background
Robert Gordon, an Aberdeen merchant, made his fortune in 18th cent ...
in Aberdeen, the
Royal College of Science
The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from t ...
in London, and the
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...
. He taught at the universities of Aberdeen,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
,
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
and
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, and entered the
Indian Education Service
The Indian Education Service or Indian Educational Service (IES) formed part of the British Raj between 1896 and 1924, when overseas recruitment ceased. It was an administrative organisation running educational establishments in British India, larg ...
in 1912.
His appointments in India included the Chair of Chemistry at the
Madhavlal Ranchodal Science Institute in Ahmedabad, and finally, from 1925 until his retirement in 1931, principal of the
Royal Institute of Science
The Institute of Science (formerly known as the Royal Institute of Science (RIS)) is an institution of postgraduate education and research located in Mumbai, India. It is managed by the Government of Maharashtra and is clustered from 2019 batc ...
(University of Bombay).
Selected writings
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References
Further reading
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External links
Obituary notice Journal of the Chemistry Society, 1934, 1468–1482,
1876 births
1934 deaths
People from Alloa
People educated at Robert Gordon's College
Alumni of Imperial College London
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
Academics of the University of Aberdeen
Academics of the University of Liverpool
Academics of the University of Sheffield
Academics of the University of Manchester
Academic staff of the University of Mumbai
British organic chemists
Scottish chemists
20th-century Scottish historians
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