Dalziel Llewellyn Hammick FRS (8 March 1887 in

West Norwood West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east ...

, London, England – 17 October 1966) was an English research

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

. His major work was in synthetic organic chemistry. Along with Walter Illingworth he promulgated the Hammick-Illingworth rule, which predicts the order of substitution in

benzene Benzene is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar ring with one hydrogen atom attached to each. Because it contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms, ...

derivatives. He also developed the

Hammick reaction The Hammick reaction, named after Dalziel Hammick, is a chemical reaction in which the thermal decarboxylation of α-picolinic acid, picolinic (or related) carboxylic acid, acids in the presence of carbonyl compounds forms 2-pyridine, pyridyl-carbi ...

which generates ortho-substituted

pyridine Pyridine is a basic heterocyclic organic compound with the chemical formula . It is structurally related to benzene, with one methine group replaced by a nitrogen atom. It is a highly flammable, weakly alkaline, water-miscible liquid with a d ...

Early life

The son of L. S. H. Hammick, Dalziel Hammick was educated at

Whitgift School ("He who perseveres, conquers") , established = , closed = , type = Independent school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head Master , head = Christopher Ramsey , c ...

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

(where he was a demy), and at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

. He graduated Bachelor of Arts degree in

Natural Sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

in 1910 and MA in 1921. At Oxford, he was a Cadet in the university's

Officers' Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

, and in July 1911 he was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

for service with the

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...

OTC.

Career

After some ten years as a schoolmaster at Gresham's and

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, in 1920 Hammick was elected to a fellowship of

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

, where he remained until his death in 1966. For most of his time at Oriel, he was also a lecturer in natural sciences at Corpus Christi College. His early research was on inorganic substances. He studied

sulphur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

and its compounds and suggested structures for liquid and plastic sulphur. In 1922 he showed that the polymer

polyoxymethylene Polyoxymethylene (POM), also known as acetal, polyacetal, and polyformaldehyde, is an engineering thermoplastic used in precision parts requiring high stiffness, low friction, and excellent dimensional stability. As with many other synthetic pol ...

results from the sublimation of trioxymethylene. It was not until the 1960s that this polymer was to be used commercially. He also translated scientific books from French into English.

Career summary

*1906 – 1910: Magdalen College, Oxford ( demy) ( BA 1910) *1909 – 1910: University of Munich *1910 – 1918: Assistant Master at

*1918 – 1920: Assistant Master at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

*1920 – 1966: Fellow of

*1921 – 1958: Lecturer in natural sciences,

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

Publications

*''An Introduction to Organic Chemistry'' by Dalziel Llewellyn Hammick (London, Bell, 1921) *''Atoms'', by Jean Perrin, translated by Dalziel Llewellyn Hammick (London, Constable, 1916, reprinted Ox Bow Press 1990) * numerous papers in the ''

Journal of the Chemical Society The ''Journal of the Chemical Society'' was a scientific journal established by the Chemical Society in 1849 as the ''Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society''. The first editor was Edmund Ronalds. The journal underwent several renamings, splits ...

'' and the ''Journal of the American Chemical Society''

Private life

Hammick married and had a son and two daughters. The family moved into The Grey Cottage, Old Road,

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston to the north-west, Cowley to the south, and Barton and Risinghurst to the east. Th ...

, near Oxford, in 1923, which was also the year of the birth of Hammick's younger daughter, Judith. He later adopted his grandson Anthony, Judith's son.Memories of the 1920s and 1930s: Judith Hammick
at headington.org.uk (accessed 21 June 2008)

Awards and honours

His work was honoured by election as a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1952.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammick, Dalziel 1887 births 1966 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford 20th-century British chemists English translators Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford People educated at Gresham's School People educated at Whitgift School Place of death missing People from West Norwood 20th-century British translators Scientists from London