Corporate Body

CSIRO Division of Physical Chemistry (1959 - 1966)

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

From: 1 July 1959
Australia
To: 22 August 1966
Functions: Industrial or scientific research

Summary

Following the CSIR/O Division of Industrial Chemistry was reorganised in 1958, the CSIRO Division of Physical Chemistry was created. Major concerns of the Division were flotation and surface chemistry. On 22 August 1966 the Divisions of Physical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry were replaced by a single division, the CSIRO Division of Applied Chemistry.

Details

From "CSIRO research for Australia" (1962) pdf page 59:
"The Division of Physical Chemistry was originally concerned mainly with flotation and surface chemistry. The group's work was enlarged and diversified in the early 1950's to tackle several problems basic to Australia's needs. An attempt was made to find a means of restricting the evaporation of water from dams and reservoirs. Success was achieved in the "Mansfield" process, in which a very thin, cheap chemical film can be spread upon the surface of a reservoir, and markedly reduce the degree of evaporation. Basic investigations into the properties of materials under very high pressures have produced results of great scientific interest. It was shown, for example, that non-metallic substances like sulphur and iodine can assume the properties of metals at very high pressures. Among the Division's other activities are the study of industrial separation processes based on adsorption (applicable to the purification of such widely different substances as penicillin and uranium), the control of bushfires, and the formation of ice crystals in clouds. "

Chronology

1 July 1959: Operational event - Granted CSIRO division status
22 August 1966: Operational event - Amalgamated with the CSIRO Division of Organic Chemistry to form the CSIRO Division of Applied Chemistry

Timeline

isPartOf

Related Corporate Bodies

Related People

Hamann, Sefton Davidson (1921 - 2009)
Chief 10 October 1960 - 21 August 1966
Sutherland, Keith Leonard (1916 - 1980)
Chief 1 July 1959 - 2 November 1959

Published resources

Books

CSIRO, CSIRO research for Australia: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (Canberra: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organisation, 1962), 64 pp, https://www.eoas.info/bib-pdf/ASBS15940.pdf. pdf page 55. Details
Schedvin, C.B; Trace, K., Historical Directory of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, 1926-1976 (Canberra: CSIRO, 1978), 101 pp. https://csiropedia.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/csiro_historical_directory_1926_1976.pdf. Details

Journal Articles

Spurling, Thomas H.; and Solomon, David H., 'Sefton Davidson Hamann 1921-2009', Historical Records of Australian Science, 20 (2) (2009), 255-271 , https://doi.org/10.1071/HR09019. Details

Resources

Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1476724. Details

Ailie Smith

Created: 4 August 2000, Last modified: 2 May 2025

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