Derek Bryce-Smith (1926–2011) was a chemist and professor of Organic Chemistry at the
University of Reading
The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...
from 1956 until his retirement in 1991. His work included
organometallic chemistry
Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and s ...
,
radical chemistry,
photochemistry
Photochemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the chemical effects of light. Generally, this term is used to describe a chemical reaction caused by absorption of ultraviolet ( wavelength from 100 to 400 nm), visible light (400� ...
,
environmental science
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geog ...
,
nutritional science
Nutritional science (also nutrition science, sometimes short ''nutrition'', dated trophology) is the science that studies the physiological process of nutrition (primarily human nutrition), interpreting the nutrients and other substances in food ...
and
behavioural science
Behavioral sciences explore the cognitive processes within organisms and the behavioral interactions between organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behavior through naturalistic o ...
. He was among the first to describe the dangers of
tetraethyl lead
Tetraethyllead (commonly styled tetraethyl lead), abbreviated TEL, is an organolead compound with the formula Pb( C2H5)4. It is a fuel additive, first being mixed with gasoline beginning in the 1920s as a patented octane rating booster that al ...
, which was used for several decades as an
anti-knock additive in petrol. Initially, his concerns were dismissed both by his fellow academics and by industrial interests. However, by the time of his death, only six countries had not outlawed leaded petrol, and the
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Inst ...
gave him a silver medal in 1984 for his work in this area. He subsequently became convinced that the use of NPK
fertilisers in agriculture resulted in a lack of the essential
trace element
__NOTOC__
A trace element, also called minor element, is a chemical element whose concentration (or other measure of amount) is very low (a "trace amount"). They are classified into two groups: essential and non-essential. Essential trace elements ...
,
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
in modern (particularly vegetarian) diets; his pioneering views were again widely dismissed, becoming mainstream years later. An account of both campaigns is given in a book he co-authored with
Liz Hodgkinson.
[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryce-Smith, Derek
1926 births
2011 deaths
Academics of the University of Reading
English chemists