Person

Walsh, Alan (1916 - 1998)

Kt FAA FTSE FRS

Born
19 December 1916
England
Died
3 August 1998
Australia
Occupation
Chemical physicist

Summary

Sir Alan Walsh was the originator and developer of the atomic absorption method of chemical analysis, which has been described as 'the most significant advance in chemical analysis' in the twentieth century. Walsh claimed this breakthrough came about when he "managed to stop being stupid long enough to see something that should have been obvious all along". The first spectrometer based on his design was produced in Australia during the mid-1960s by Techtron Pty. Ltd. Atomic absorption provided a quick, easy, accurate and highly sensitive method of determining the concentrations of more than sixty-five of the elements, rendering traditional wet-chemical methods obsolete. The method has found important application world-wide in areas as diverse as medicine, agriculture, mineral exploration, metallurgy, food analysis, biochemistry, the wine industry and environmental control. Alan Walsh was leader of the Spectroscopy Section of the CSIRO Division of Chemical Physics from 1946-1957 and Assistant Chief of the Division from 1958-1976.
Taken in part from http://www.science.org.au/academy/memoirs/walsh2.htm

Details

Chronology

c. 1935 - c. 1937
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Manchester, UK
1938
Career position - Postgraduate studies in the Physics Department, Manchester College of Technology
1939 - 1944
Career position - Investigator in the Physics Section of the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association
1944
Career position - Deputy Chief Chemist, Metal and Produce Recovery Depot, Ministry of Aircraft Production in Durham, UK (secondment)
1944
Education - Master of Science (MScTech), University of Manchester
1945 - 1946
Career position - Chief Spectroscopist, British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association
1947 - 1958
Career position - Leader of Spectroscopy Section of the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) Division of Industrial Chemistry in Fisherman's Bend, Victoria
1958 - 1976
Career position - Chief Research Scientist and Assistant Chief (1962c) of the CSIR / CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) Division of Chemical Physics
1958 - 1998
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
1960
Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Manchester
1966
Award - Britannica Australia Science Award
1966 - 1969
Career position - Council member, Australian Academy of Science
1967
Award - Einstein Memorial Lecturer presented to the Australian Institute of Physics
1967 - 1968
Career position - President, Australian Institute of Physics
1968
Award - Royal Society of Victoria Medal for Excellence in Scientific Research
1969 -
Career position - Foreign member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Stockholm
1969
Career position - Honorary member, Society of Analytical Chemistry, London
1969 - 1998
Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)
1970
Award - Doctor of Science honoris causa (HonDSc), Monash University in Victoria
1972 -
Career position - Honorary Fellow, Chemical Society of London
1975 -
Career position - Honorary member, Royal Society of New Zealand
1975
Award - James Cook Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales
1976
Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt) - Services to science
1976
Award - Torbern Bergman Medal, Swedish Chemical Society
1977 -
Career position - Consultant to Perkin-Elmer Corporation in the USA
1977 -
Career position - Honorary Fellow at Monash University
1980
Award - Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture, Australian Academy of Science
1982
Award - K. L. Sutherland Memorial Medal, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences
1982
Award - Robert Boyle Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry
1982 - 1987
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences (FTS)
1986
Award - Doctor of Science honoris causa (HonDSc), University of Manchester
1987 - 1998
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) [Awarded by AATS 1982]

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

Books

  • McKay, Andrew, Surprise and Enterprise: Fifty Years of Science for Australia (Melbourne: CSIRO, 1976), 48 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Hannaford, Peter, 'Walsh, Alan' in New Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Koertge, Noretta, ed., vol. 7 (Detroit : Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008), pp. 228-233 . Details

Journal Articles

  • Amos, Max; Hannaford, Peter; Slavin, Walter; Willis, John, '[Alan Walsh Commemorative Issue]', Spectrochimica Acta B, 54 (14) (1999), 1933-2182. Details
  • Hannaford, Peter, 'Alan Walsh 1916-1998', Historical Records of Australian Science, 13 (2) (2000), 179-206. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR0001320179. Details
  • Hannaford, Peter, 'Alan Walsh and the atomic absorption story: celebrating 60 years', Australian Physics, 50 (6) (2013), 188-94. Details
  • Walsh, A.; and Willis, J. B., 'Albert Lloyd George Rees 1916-1989', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (1) (1992), 31-47. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9920910031. Details
  • Walsh, Alan, 'The application of atomic absorption spectra to chemical analysis', Spectrochimica acta, 7 (1955), 108-17. Details
  • Walsh, Alan, 'Atomic absorption spectroscopy - stagnant or pregnant?', Analytical chemistry, 46 (8) (1974), 698A-708A. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • Willis, John, 'Sir Alan Walsh: physicist and inventor', Age (Melbourne) (1998), 22. Details

Resources

Resource Sections

See also

McCarthy, G.J.

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