Chemist and Historian

Ian Rae FRACI CChem

Why Chemistry?

My defining moment was when my grandmother gave me a chemistry set for my twelfth birthday, thus actualising a latent career that had begun a few years earlier in the pharmacy of my great aunt Hilda.

Then the move from teaching and research into the world of university administration, and the accompanying change from publishing chemical research papers to writing about the history of chemistry and chemical technology.

Thirdly was an invitation from the Victorian Government to chair an inquiry into chemical releases by a local company, Nufarm, which had been the target of a Greenpeace raid. This experience was followed by leading roles in development of broadly chemical policies at state, national and international level, the last category being work under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program.

Sixty years on from that Russex chemistry set, and two decades since I handed in my white dustcoat, I’m still learning new chemistry and pondering the ways that chemistry affects human health and the environment. Why stop?

Mentors

Before my PhD was awarded by the Australian National University I had to ‘defend’ my thesis in an oral examination that was conducted by one of my examiners, Dr John Swan of CSIRO. I passed!

A few years later I applied for a research fellowship at the still fairly-new Monash University, where (then Professor) Swan was head of organic chemistry. I got the job and in the ensuing years John guided my career and put opportunities my way. Who will forget those notes on green Monash notepads in which John sent us his ideas for our research?

Roger Brown, my PhD supervisor and later my colleague at Monash, was another mentor. As my career developed, I worked with many people who shared with me the development of research ideas and ways to use chemical knowledge to manage pollution, wastes and other chemical hazards. This group included a small, select band of graduate students, colleagues from the environment movement and Australian industry, and in recent years an extensive international network.

CHEMIST AND HISTORIAN

Sixty years on from that Russex

chemistry set I’m still learning

new chemistry and pondering the ways

that chemistry affects human health

and the environment

History of Chemistry

My first research projects involved the extraction and identification of natural products. The picture shows me in 1961 with wood from the tropical tree Pterocarpus indicus, from which I extracted a number of known and new chemical substances … and my MSc degree.