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Folk Fae Fife The Fife Science Festival |
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The University of St Andrews is at the forefront of chemical research, and several of its former graduates and lecturers have become noted for their contributions in the field of chemistry. For a link to the current research interests of staff, please click here. Certainly, Burntisland has been a significant area in Fife for advanced scientific research and is the current location of research into nano-fibres by Dr. David Hepworth and Dr. Eric Whale who have developed “Curran” made of nano-fibres from carrots. This is a significant development because it is a renewable substance. Traditionally, nano-fibres have been made from carbon-based substances. |
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Sir James Dewar, ca. 1910 in his laboratory. |
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E-mail: folkfaefife@st-andrews.ac.uk |
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Later in life the Lord Playfair distinguished himself in politics, but was Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Manchester Institution and was chemist to the Geological Survey. He also was an MP for the Universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh from 1868-1885 and promoted the Playfair cipher. |
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Martin was the Executive Secretary of The Royal Society from 1947 to 1976. |
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· 1914-1976, born in Fife |
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After studying the classics, mathematics and natural philosophy at St Andrews, he studied medicine at Edinburgh, earning his degree there in 1799. Even so, Thomson focused upon chemistry. His writings led to the promotion of Dalton’s atomic theory. In 1820 he identified a new zeolite mineral, named thomsonite in his honour. |
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· 12 Apr 1773 – 2 July 1852, University of St Andrews alumnus |
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· Living, Burntisland |
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With Dr Hepworth, Whale has developed nano-fibres from carrots, which have a unique set of characteristics—strength, flexibility and lightness. They currently have used the curran material for fishing rods but project that the material may have numerous applications, including battleships. |
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Robertson was HM Government’s chemist from 1921 to 1936. He was awarded the Royal Society's Davy Medal for his work “on explosives, analytical methods, the internal structure of diamond, and infra-red absorption spectra". |
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· 1869-1949, born in Cupar |
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· 1818—1898, St Andrews |