IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0103 MS ADD 229
Held at: University College London
Title: Ramsay Letters
Date(s): 1899-1914
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 22 letters
Name of creator(s): Ramsay | Sir | William | 1852-1916 | Knight | chemist
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
William Ramsay studied at Glasgow University from 1866 to 1869. In 1870 he went to Heidelberg intending to study under R W von Bunsen, but early in 1871 moved to Rudolf Fittig's laboratory in Tübingen, where he was awarded a PhD for research on Toluic and nitro-toluic acids. In 1872 Ramsay returned to Glasgow as an Assistant in Young's laboratory of technical chemistry. In 1880 he became Professor of Chemistry at University College Bristol and in the following year he was made Principal of the Unversity. He married Margaret Buchanan in 1881. In 1887 Ramsay succeeded Alexander William Williamson in the Chair of General Chemistry, University College London, which he held until his retirement in 1912. Ramsay discovered argon in 1894, helium in 1895 and krypton, neon and xenon (with Morris W Travers) in 1898. In 1900 he visited India to report on the proposed Indian University of Research. He worked with Dr Frederick Soddy on radium in 1903 and with Robert Whytlaw-Gray on radon in 1909-1912.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Photocopies of letters to Emil Fischer.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: German
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Open.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Normal copyright restrictions apply.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Collection level description.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Purchased from the Bancroft Library in January 1973.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Xeroxes of letters in the Fischer Papers in the Bancroft Library.
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
University College London Special Collections also holds papers of and relating to Sir William Ramsay, 1806-1961 (Ref: RAMSAY); 21 items of correspondence with Sir Oliver Lodge, 1885-1912 (Ref: MS ADD 89); letters concerning University College London business, 1887-1903, 1916 (Ref: COLLEGE CORRESPONDENCE); two letters to Lt F W Smith, 1915 (Ref: MS ADD 135); a letter to Silvanus Phillips Thompson, 1901, and one to Miss Williams, 1906 (Ref: MS MISC 4R); a letter to [Sir Henry?] Thompson asking for the loan of a quartz prism, 1899 (Ref: MS MISC 3R); a typescript song by Sir William [1928] (Ref: MS MISC 4C); a Swedish postage stamp, 1964, commemorating Ramsay and Pavlov as Nobel prizewinners in 1904 (Ref: COLLEGE EPHEMERA).
Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives, holds eleven letters to Lord Kelvin, 1885-1893 (Ref: Add 7342, 7656); letters to Sir George Stokes, 1880-1899 (Ref: Add 7342, 7656); 14 items of correspondence with Lord Rutherford, 1905-1909. Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories holds 100 items of correspondence with Lord Rayleigh, 1887-1907. The Science Museum Library, London, holds correspondence with Oswald John Silberrad, 1895-1916 (Ref: MSS A.151; A.173; B.118-628; B.1099-2428 passim). Leeds University, Brotherton Library, holds 16 letters to Arthur Smithells, 1890-1914. Strathclyde University Archives hold reports on the waters of Bath, 1912 (Ref: OM223). Cornell University Libraries, Ithaca, New York, USA, hold 15 items of correspondence relating to the Journal of Physical Chemistry, 1906.
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Source: National Register of Archives.
Date(s) of descriptions: 1999, revised Aug 2001