GLASGOW 850: Glasgow’s chemical pioneers - innovations that changed the world

Scotland is renowned for its history of innovation. Glasgow, as Scotland’s largest city and multi-university heritage, has often been at the forefront of this innovation, boasting numerous inventions generated by individuals who were either born, educated, or who worked in the city.  

This article focuses on inventions with strong ties to Glasgow, and related to the general field of chemistry, with chemistry being given a very lose interpretation to include some inventions that I find particularly interesting, and therefore decided in include here, admittedly entirely arbitrarily.  

Joseph Black (16 April 1728 – 6 December 1799) was born in Bordeaux, France, from a Scottish mother and a Northern Irish father. Whether or not an early exposure to quality wine acted as a catalyst for an innovative mind remains unproven. Black studied at the University of Glasgow, and was a Professor of Anatomy and Chemistry at the University of Glasgow for 10 years from 1756. During that time, he was credited for the discoveries of magnesium, latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide. A very impressive CV!

Thomas Graham (20 December 1805 – 11 September 1869) was a Scottish chemist. He was born in Glasgow, studied chemistry and taught at Anderson's College (now the University of Strathclyde) and at the University of Glasgow, before moving to take up a professorship at the University of London. He is known for his pioneering work in dialysis and the diffusion of gases. He is also regarded as one of the founders of colloid chemistry. One of the University of Strathclyde’s chemistry buildings (the Thomas Graham building) is named after him and nurtures some of Glasgow’s chemists of tomorrow.

James Young (13 July 1811 – 13 May 1883) was born in Shuttle Street in the Drygate area of Glasgow. Young was also a Scottish chemist who attended evening classes in Chemistry at the nearby Anderson's College from the age of 19. At Anderson's College he met the above-mentioned Thomas Graham, who had just been appointed as a lecturer in chemistry. In 1831 Young was appointed as Graham's assistant and occasionally took some of his lectures. James Young is best known for his method of distilling paraffin from coal and oil shales. He is often referred to as “Paraffin Young”. The production of these oils and solid paraffin wax from coal formed the subject of his patent dated 17 October 1850.

Joseph Lister (5 April 1827 – 10 February 1912) was not from Glasgow, but pioneered antiseptic surgery whilst at Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Glasgow between 1860 and 1869. During that time, Lister introduced carbolic acid (modern-day phenol) as a steriliser for surgical instruments, patients' skins, sutures, surgeons' hands, and wards, promoting the principle of antiseptics. The famous brand of antiseptic mouthwash Listerine® is named after him.  

Robert Angus Smith (15 February 1817 – 12 May 1884), was born in Pollokshaws, Glasgow, and was educated at the University of Glasgow. Smith was a chemist who investigated numerous environmental issues. He is best known for his research on air pollution in 1852, in the course of which he discovered what came to be known as acid rain. He is sometimes referred to as the 'Father of Acid Rain'.

William Ramsay (2 October 1852 – 23 July 1916) was born on Clifton Street in Glasgow. William Ramsay formed pyridine in 1876 from acetylene and hydrogen cyanide in an iron-tube furnace in what was the first synthesis of a heteroaromatic compound. However, it was his discoveries of a new class of gaseous elements that would bring him fame. Ramsay discovered the new gas “Argon” along with his collaborator, John William Strutt. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air". After the two men identified argon, Ramsay investigated other atmospheric gases. His work in isolating argon, helium, neon, krypton, and xenon led to the development of a new section of the periodic table, the noble gases. 

Ian Hector Frazer was born on 6 January 1953 in Glasgow. He is the founding CEO and Director of Research of the Translational Research Institute in Australia. Frazer and his collaborator Jian Zhou developed and patented the basic technology behind the HPV vaccine against cervical cancer.  

June Dalziel Almeida (5 October 1930 – 1 December 2007), born June Hart, was born and lived in a tenement building in Glasgow. She was a virologist, and a pioneer in virus imaging and identification. Her skills in electron microscopy earned her an international reputation. In particular, Almeida succeeded in identifying viruses that were previously unknown, including a group of viruses that was later named coronavirus, due to their resemblance to the sun’s corona. Her immune electron microscopy (IEM) innovations and insights contributed to research related to the diagnosis of hepatitis B, HIV, and rubella, among other viral diseases. Her electron micrographs continue to be included in virology review textbooks, decades after she produced them.