Biographical entry Walsh, Alan (1916 - 1998)

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 1946-57 and Assistant Chief of the Division from 1958-76.
Taken in part from http://www.science.org.au/academy/memoirs/walsh2.htm

Details

Events

c. 1935 - c. 1937

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc) completed at the University of Manchester, UK

1938

Career position - Postgraduate studies in the Physics Department of the 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 at the Metal and Produce Recovery Depot, Ministry of Aircraft Production in Durham, UK (secondment)

1944

Education - Master of Science (MSc Tech) completed at the University of Manchester

1945 - 1946

Career position - Chief Spectroscopist at the 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 -

Award - Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

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

1960

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc) received from the University of Manchester

1966

Award - Britannica Australia Science Award received

1966 - 1969

Career position - Council member of the Australian Academy of Science

1967

Award - Einstein Memorial Lecturer presented to the Australian Institute of Physics

1967 - 1968

Career position - President of the Australian Institute of Physics

1969 -

Award - Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)

1969 -

Career position - Foreign member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Stockholm

1969

Award - Royal Society of Victoria Research Medal received

1969

Career position - Honorary member of the Society of Analytical Chemistry, London

1970

Education - Doctor of Science honoris causa (Hon DSc) received from Monash University in Victoria

1972 -

Career position - Honorary Fellow of the Chemical Society of London

1975 -

Career position - Honorary member of the Royal Society of New Zealand

1975

Award - James Cook Medal received from the Royal Society of New South Wales

1976

Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt cr)

1976

Award - Torbern Bergman Medal received from the Swedish Chemical Society

1977 -

Career position - Honorary Fellow at Monash University

1977 -

Career position - Consultant to Perkin-Elmer Corporation in the USA

1980

Award - Matthew Flinders Medal received from the Australian Academy of Science

1982 -

Award - Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)

1982

Award - Robert Boyle Medal received from the Royal Society of Chemistry

1986

Education - Doctor of Science honoris causa (Hon DSc) received from the University of Manchester

Related entries

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science Exhibitions

• Exhibition Papers, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/exhib_papers.htm. Details

Books

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

Journal Articles

• Hannaford, Peter, 'Alan Walsh 1916-1998', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 13, no. 2, 2000, pp. 179-206. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR0001320179.htm. Details
• Walsh, A. and Willis, J. B., 'Albert Lloyd George Rees 1916-1989', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 9, no. 1, 1992, pp. 31-47. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9920910031.htm. Details

Online Resources

• 'Alan Walsh and the First Atomic Absorption Spectometer', http://www.chemistry.nmsu.edu/Instrumentation/AAS_Walsh.html. Details
• 'Walsh, Alan (1916-1998)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1473299. Details
• Ward, C., 'Sir Alan Walsh', in CSIROpedia, 2011, http://csiropedia.csiro.au/display/CSIROpedia/Walsh%2C+Sir+Alan. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_w.html. Details
• Bolton, H. C., 'Optical Instruments in Australia in the 1939-45 War: successes and lost opportunities', Australian Physicist, 1990, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/bolton2.htm. Details