Edward Mervyn Patterson

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FRGS FGS FSAScot (14 March 1920 – 11 April 1997) was an Irish-born research chemist and geologist. He was president of the

Geological Society of Glasgow The Geological Society of Glasgow is a scientific society devoted to the study of geology in Scotland. The society contributed to the understanding of Scotland's glacial history, and the relationship between the Earth's rotation and climate ch ...

from 1964 to 1967.

Early life and education

He was born in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

on 14 March 1920, the son of John Wilson Patterson, a civil servant, and his wife, Dorothy Mary Ekin. He was educated at

Bangor Grammar School Bangor Grammar School (The Grammar or B.G.S.), is a Northern Irish voluntary grammar school for boys in Bangor, County Down. It was founded in 1856 by the Conservative politician Robert Ward and is one of eight Northern Irish schools represen ...

. He then studied chemistry at

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

, earning a BSc in 1941.

Career

After earning his bachelor's degree, Patterson began work as a research chemist, specialising in explosives. In 1947, he began lecturing in geology at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. In 1954, he became the plant manager at Nobel's Explosive Company at

Ardeer, North Ayrshire Ardeer was a small town now officially incorporated into Stevenston on the Ardeer peninsula, in the parish of Stevenston, North Ayrshire, originally an island and later its extensive sand dune system became the site of Nobel Explosives, a dom ...

in west Scotland, remaining there until retiring in 1982. In 1957 he was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were Frederick Walker,

Samuel James Shand Prof Samuel James Shand (1882–1957) was a British mineralogist and petrologist, specialising in silicate analysis and igneous petrology. Life He was born in Edinburgh on 29 October 1882 the son of James Shand (1851–1929), originally from ...

Sergei Tomkeieff Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honour of Saint Sergius, or in Kyivan Rus', of Sergius of the Holy Caves ...

Archibald Gordon MacGregor Archibald Gordon MacGregor MC FRSE FGS (1894-19 December 1986) was a 20th century geologist of Scots descent. He was Assistant Director of the British Geological Survey. Friends knew him as Archie MacGregor. Early life and education He was b ...

and

James Ernest Richey James Ernest Richey (24 April 1886 – 19 June 1968) was an Irish-born geologist. Life He was born on 24 April 1886 in Desertcreat in County Tyrone in Ireland, the son of Rev John Richey, rector of the local church. His later education was at ...

Personal life

Patterson was married to Violet Adams. He died on 11 April 1997.

References

1920 births 1997 deaths People educated at Bangor Grammar School 20th-century chemists from Northern Ireland Academics of the University of St Andrews Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of Queen's University Belfast 20th-century British geologists Geologists from Northern Ireland Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Fellows_of_the_Geological_Society_of_London Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_Scotland {{UK-scientist-stub