Walsh, Alan - Bright Sparcs Biographical entry

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Walsh, Alan (1916 - 1998)

FAA, FRS, FTSE

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Published Sources

Chemical physicist

Born: 19 December 1916 England. Died: 3 August 1998 Australia.

(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

Career Highlights

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

Online Sources

Published Sources

'Alan Walsh and the First Atomic Absorption Spectometer', http://www.chemistry.nmsu.edu/Instrumentation/AAS_Walsh.html. [ 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/scripts/tia-dynindex.php3?EID=P000860. [ 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 ]

Structure based on ISAAR(CPF) - click here for an explanation of the fields.

Prepared by: McCarthy, G.J.
Created: 20 October 1993
Modified: 18 January 2006

Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007
Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
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Prepared by: Acknowledgements
Updated: 26 February 2007
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P000860b.htm

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