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    Chemists Lead Such Interesting LIves
    Chemists Lead Such Interesting LIves
    Chemists Lead Such Interesting LIves
    Ebook100 pages1 hour

    Chemists Lead Such Interesting LIves

    By Paul Buckley

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    When I came to Massey University in 1968 there wasn’t much here. Yes the Agricultural college was but as to real science such as Chemistry, there was very little. Len Blackwell, Ken Jolley and I became part of the new group of chemists at a time when the Department was really starting to expand. A new Science building was being built and quite suddenly a combined Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, sprang into existence, a department that spread out over three, floors of the new Science Towers. Because initially the Department was small and growth was fast, making changes was easy and individuals could really make a difference.
    This book charts the growth, and documents the culture that grew out of this diverse group of individuals. Chemists are often thought of as being overly intense and serious but reading this book will give you a quite different perspective.
    Chemists have lots of accidents, and this was at a time when safety had not become the obsession that it did in the 21st Century. You will read about a chemist running down the corridor with his back on fire and a time when a bottle of concentrated sulfuric acid was is emptied over someone’s feet and washed off without an investigation being instigated. It was a time when people still played practical jokes on each other. There were fires, lots of them, as well as three big ones which were memorable to all those who lived through them. But floods were even more common. The effects of the floods were made worse because the floors were porous, an over sight by the builders that was not corrected even when they were warned about the effect of having holes drilled between floors in a Chemistry Building.
    Yes sport played a part and invariably the games revealed much about personality of the person involved. Even research topics created their own excitement and interest. For example there was the Alcohol Research Laboratory where willing participants drank alcohol, not always with predictable results. The appointment of a new staff member could be an interesting experience. One person who accepted a position at Massey, arrived with his wife before lunch and then resigned before afternoon tea. The first news of his resignation came when it was learned that their cat was no longer being sent to New Zealand. Computers were at first not welcomed by the senior Academics who thought word processing should be done by the secretaries. In the early days, there was even time to take an afternoon off to go hunting for Toheroa on Himatangi Beach, but no longer

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPaul Buckley
    Release dateAug 12, 2016
    ISBN9781370736829
    Chemists Lead Such Interesting LIves
    Author

    Paul Buckley

    Paul Buckley has written more than twenty books some of which are available in ebook formats. Paul passed away in 2017. He lived most of his life in Palmerston North, New Zealand, a small city with a long name, a city that is well worth visiting. This is the place where the City Fathers constantly shift their river around to stop it flooding. Things he liked: rainbows, walking in warm rain, the sounds of strong wind, shared laughter, traveling on trains, surprising photos, hot nights, generous acts and thoughtfulness. Note to travelers, Palmerston North is in the North Island and not to be confused with Palmerston, a tiny town in the South Island of New Zealand.

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      Book preview

      Chemists Lead Such Interesting LIves - Paul Buckley

      Chemists Have Such Interesting Lives

      Paul Buckley

      2012

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

      ISBN 9781370736829

      Copyright 2016

      Chemists Have Such Interesting Lives

      Introduction

      The decision to write Chemists Live Such Interesting Lives was made after answering a request from Andrew Brodie for some material to send to the Alumni magazine about the history of the department. After writing some notes on the two big fires in the department, I began to think about all the incidents that make up the life of a group of people working together in an institute. If these are not reported somewhere, then quite quickly they become lost and forgotten. This seems especially true at a time when the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is beginning to undergo substantial changes in staff, as academics retire in increasing numbers (written in 1993).

      Early in this very busy winter term, I began recording memories I have of life in the department, especially of the earlier days. Requests went out to staff to share their memories of the history of the department, but everyone has been so busy that few have had time to make a contribution.

      What follows cannot be said to represent a totally balanced view of the history of the department. In fact whole sections of the department are not even mentioned. Almost nothing is said about the energetic, enthusiastic and indispensable technicians or the wonderful variety of effective secretaries the department has had down through the years. There is total silence on the workshops and their splendid staff, and not a word about the glass blowers or the cleaners or the janitors. Among the long list of talented graduate students on whom the research reputation of the department has been built, only one or two mainly associated with Buckley and Blackwell are quoted. The selections were based on the anecdotes available to the author during the limited time available for writing, or in some cases on polemics which he could not resisted.

      Not every story or fact has been checked against the source, but I hope that they will bring back memories of very happy years, and provide a glimpse of earlier times. I would appreciate receiving further contributions, so that a fuller version can be produced in the future, to be kept as a permanent record within the department.

      While commenting on individual people who have left or are soon to leave the department, I have endeavored to be fair and honest, but without being predictable and dull in the sense that a retirement tribute can sometimes become. It has been suggested by some that I might have to leave town when this history is more widely read. I hope not.

      My hope is that you will enjoy reading the notes as much as I have enjoyed assembling them.

      Stories Myths and from the Department’s Pre-History

      The time in the department before the start of 1968 has the quality of a pre-history, knowledge of which has been handed down by word of mouth. The stories have been told and retold until the essential truths were distilled into a kind of mythology which represents a deeper truth. The figures involved are larger than life and loom from a misty past like dinosaurs in an ancient Jurassic Park.

      One name is mentioned about all others. He was creative genius who turned his restless energy into intricate practical jokes to torment others, especially the irrepressible Robert Brooks. Ross Grimmett wrote whole Massey Revues, and studied heterocycles in his spare time. His name still brings a strange smile to the faces of all who knew him. Stories are told of the day he placed a full cup of tea in the top drawer of Robert’s desk and nailed it shut, watching with delight as the furiously impatient Robert sought to tear the stuck drawer open by sheer physical strength. The news that the anti-royalist Robert had been taken by his wife Mary to see the British Queen in Wellington drove Ross to a frenzy of activity. In succeeding days Robert could not open a book or a drawer, or leave his desk for a moment without a picture of the Queen or some other member of the Royal family appearing to torment him.

      After Dick Batt’s appointment to the Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the return of Clem Hawke to being one of the lower ranks, Clem was not overly delighted to find a signed framed copy of his successor on his desk shortly afterwards. Ross could only sympathise with the dilemma this created for the very pukka and politically correct Clem Hawke with respect to its disposal.

      Ted Richards arranged to take a Sabbatical leave to begin on a Monday and then booked his flights out of the country on the preceding Friday without informing the University authorities in the form of the all-powerful VC, Alan Stewart. Ted was always a slightly nervous person where matters of protocol were concerned and anxiously confided in others, asking their advice about the advisability of his action. A fatal thing to do. The news soon reached Ross and an invitation duly arrived on Ted’s desk inviting him to a farewell afternoon tea with the Vice Chancellor on that very Friday afternoon at a time when he should have already have departed on his flight.

      One day Robert Brooks went up into the hidden mezzanine in the Old Massey Building to search for who knows what. However no sooner had he entered than he heard the distinctive sound of a hammer as Ross Grimmett nailed the door shut behind him. Realising immediately what was happening Robert rushed across towards the other exit, only to hear as he approached the second door that same hammering sound. He was trapped. But no, he spotted a small grill with light on the other side. Wrestling the grill aside he poked his head through only to find himself looking at the startled faces of the organic chemistry class, immersed in a lecture by Dick Hodges. Robert withdrew his head hurriedly as the class erupted into laughter at the bizarre sight of a head high above the blackboard. Dick Hodges swung round from the blackboard to see what had happened and the puzzled look on his face only reduced the class further into uncontrollable mirth.

      Sometimes even the unstoppable Ross Grimmett went over the top and had to back off. Robert Brooks, an enthusiastic collector of alpine plants was foolish enough to confide to Ross that he had written requesting seed from a clergyman in New Guinea who had recently discovered a new alpine plant. The opportunity was just too much for Ross. He composed a letter in the imagined style of an English vicar in the mission fields and a sample of dock seeds enclosed. Robert collected stamps and recognised postmarks, so the envelope had to be a masterly deception, correct down to the smallest detail. In the event Robert fell for it hook line and sinker. His enthusiasm was boundless as he told everyone about his great coup. Ross could glow with pleasure at a job well done. But when Robert began to send samples of the dock seeds to centres for studying alpine plants around the world things got out of hand. A sheepish Ross had to take Robert aside and confide to him the deception.

      Yes, Robert also played the occasional practical joke. Miss Campbell was the very good hearted librarian from down the corridor with the very loud voice. On one occasion after receiving a phone call from Miss Campbell, Robert carefully put the phone on his desk, went down the corridor and carried on the conversation standing in the door behind Miss Campbell, who was still unknowingly shouting into the telephone.

      Colin Boswell was lecturing while doing his Ph.D., but was notorious for forgetting his lecture times and arriving late. Doing this once too often, he arrived to an empty class room, with the words a lecturer who arrives late is in a class of his own written in large letters on the blackboard.

      Many years later, Robert and his co-workers were given a citation classic award for their paper on shellfish. Unfortunately Robert thought that the results they reported must be a terrible mistake. Sack loads of shellfish were requested from Bluff for the study on the uptake of minerals by these filter feeders. The study was expertly carried out with the shellfish being dissected and

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