Alexander Scott (chemist)
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Alexander Scott
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS|FRSE|FCS}}
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| office = Director of Scientific Research, British Museum
| term_start = 1919
| term_end = 1938
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 28 December 1853
| birth_place = Selkirk, Scotland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1947|03|10|1853|12|28|df=yes}}
| death_place = Ringwood, Hampshire, England
| nationality =
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Alexander Scott (28 December 1853–10 March 1947) was a Scottish chemist who served as Director of Scientific Research at the British Museum. He was President of the Chemical Society from 1915 to 1917. He determined the atomic weights of several elements: potassium (1879), sodium (1879), manganese (1881), carbon -re-evaluation (1897), tellurium (1902), nitrogen (1905).{{Cite web |url=http://rsbm.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royobits/6/17/251.full.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 May 2018 |archive-date=19 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719145127/http://rsbm.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royobits/6/17/251.full.pdf |url-status=dead }}
Life
He was born in Selkirk in southern Scotland on 28 December 1853 the eldest of eight children of Alexander Scott, Rector of Selkirk Academy.{{Cite journal|jstor = 768921|title = Alexander Scott. 1853-1947|journal = Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society|volume = 6|issue = 17|pages = 251–262|last1 = Robertson|first1 = Robert|year = 1948|doi=10.1098/rsbm.1948.0029|s2cid = 162325786}}
From 1868 he studied science at the University of Edinburgh under Fleeming Jenkin, James Dewar and Alexander Crum Brown. He assisted James Dewar in lectures at the Dick Vet College from 1872 to 1875, and graduated with a BSc in 1876. He then took further degrees at the University of Cambridge gaining a BA in 1879 and an MA in 1882. He ended his studies in 1884 with a doctorate (DSc) back at the University of Edinburgh. He then immediately obtained a post as Science Master at Durham Secondary School.
In 1885 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir James Dewar, Walter Weldon, James Douglas Hamilton Dickson and Alexander Crum Brown. In 1898 he was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|access-date=2018-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}
In 1891 he left Durham to become a Demonstrator in Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. In 1896 he joined the Royal Institution in London as a Researcher. From 1911 to 1919 he undertook private research. In 1919 he became Director of Scientific Research at the British Museum, one of the most prestigious jobs in his field in the world. His initial task involved studying the deterioration of multiple objects stored in "safe" but damp conditions through the war. He founded the Research Laboratory within the Museum, and in 1924 brought in Dr Harold Plenderleith as his assistant.{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/departments/conservation_and_science/history.aspx|title=Departments}}
He retired in 1938 and died in Ringwood, Hampshire on 10 March 1947. On his death, Harold Plenderleith acted as his executor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1636739&partId=1|title=oil painting|website=British Museum|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-05-19}}
Publications
{{Wikisource author|Alexander Scott (1853-1947)|Alexander Scott}}
Artistic Recognition
His portrait by H. A. Olivier is held at the British museum.
Family
He was married to Agnes Mary Russell in 1906. She was the daughter of Dr Dr William James Russell FRS. They had no children.
References
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Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Category:Employees of the British Museum