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Isabel 'Joy' Bear (4 January 1927 – 8 April 2021) was an Australian chemist who worked at
CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...
for over forty years. She was the first woman to be awarded the
Royal Australian Chemical Institute The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) is both the qualifying body in Australia for professional chemists and a learned society promoting the science and practice of chemistry in all its branches. The RACI hosts conferences, seminars and ...
Leighton Medal. She was inducted into the
Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the cele ...
in 2005. Bear identified several metastable
zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name ''zirconium'' is taken from the name of the mineral zircon, the most important source of zirconium. The word is related to Persian '' zargun'' (zircon; ''zar-gun'', ...
sulphate hydrates, and with Dick Thomas was the first to scientifically describe "
petrichor Petrichor () is the earthy olfaction, scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. The word is constructed , the ichor, ethereal fluid that is the blood of the gods in Greek mythology. Origins Long before this phenomenon received its name in 19 ...
", the smell of rain on dry soil.


Early life and education

Bear was born in
Camperdown, Victoria Camperdown () is a town in southwestern Victoria, Australia, west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2016 census, Camperdown had a population of 3,369. History The Djargurd Wurrung people were the traditional Aboriginal people of the Ca ...
. Her parents were Isabel Hilda Bear and Rolfe William Bear. Her father had served in the
Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...
, and bought a dairy farm in
Derrinallum Derrinallum is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Hamilton Highway, in the Corangamite Shire. The town is the centre for the surrounding farming community and lies at the foot of Mount Elephant. Mount Elephant is a 380 m-high conical b ...
after returning from
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. She attended the Derrinallum and South Caulfield State Schools and Hampton High School, where she was the school prefect. Toward the end of her school career, Bear had become interested in scientific research. In 1944, at only seventeen years old, Bear joined a chemistry laboratory in the first iteration of
CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...
, where she worked as a laboratory assistant. During the evening she attended the
Melbourne Technical College RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, scienc ...
(now
RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...
), where she earned diplomas in applied chemistry and applied science. During the six years it took Bear to complete her diplomas the criteria for joining CSIRO as a researcher had changed, and Bear was no longer eligible to join.


Research and career

In the 1950s Bear moved to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, where she worked at the
Harwell Science and Innovation Campus The Harwell Science and Innovation Campus is a 700-acre science and technology campus in Oxfordshire, England. Over 6,000 people work there in over 240 public and private sector organisations, working across sectors including Space, Clean Ener ...
. She moved to the
University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
, where she worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the department of
metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
. Whilst working in Birmingham Bear became interested in
solid-state chemistry Solid-state chemistry, also sometimes referred as materials chemistry, is the study of the synthesis, structure, and properties of solid phase materials, particularly, but not necessarily exclusively of, non-molecular solids. It therefore has a str ...
. Bear joined the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (
CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...
) in 1953, where she would go on to work for over forty years. She specialised in mineral chemistry, studying the chemical properties of
zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name ''zirconium'' is taken from the name of the mineral zircon, the most important source of zirconium. The word is related to Persian '' zargun'' (zircon; ''zar-gun'', ...
,
hafnium Hafnium is a chemical element with the symbol Hf and atomic number 72. A lustrous, silvery gray, tetravalent transition metal, hafnium chemically resembles zirconium and is found in many zirconium minerals. Its existence was predicted by Dmitri M ...
and
sulphides Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to chemical compounds lar ...
. With Principal Research Scientist Ken McTaggart, Bear studied phototropic effects in white oxides, including
titanium oxide Titanium oxide may refer to: * Titanium dioxide (titanium(IV) oxide), TiO2 * Titanium(II) oxide (titanium monoxide), TiO, a non-stoichiometric oxide * Titanium(III) oxide (dititanium trioxide), Ti2O3 * Ti3O * Ti2O * δ-TiOx (x= 0.68–0.75) * Tin ...
. She worked with the Western Mining Co., Ltd., with whom she extracted
lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...
from
Western Australian Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
spodumene Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, Li Al( Si O3)2, and is a source of lithium. It occurs as colorless to yellowish, purplish, or lilac kunzite (see below), yellowish-green or emerald-green hiddenite, pri ...
. In the 1960s Bear identified several new metastable zirconium sulphate hydrates (a
heptahydrate In chemistry, a hydrate is a substance that contains water or its constituent elements. The chemical state of the water varies widely between different classes of hydrates, some of which were so labeled before their chemical structure was understo ...
and
pentahydrate In chemistry, a hydrate is a substance that contains water or its constituent elements. The chemical state of the water varies widely between different classes of hydrates, some of which were so labeled before their chemical structure was underst ...
) and worked to uncover their crystal structures. In 1964 Bear and her colleague Dick Thomas became the first to scientifically describe the smell of rain, for which Thomas coined the term
petrichor Petrichor () is the earthy olfaction, scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. The word is constructed , the ichor, ethereal fluid that is the blood of the gods in Greek mythology. Origins Long before this phenomenon received its name in 19 ...
. Thomas and Bear, like many researchers before them, noticed that dry clays and soils evolve a characteristic odour when they were breathed upon. She performed a series of experiments; steam distilling rocks that had been exposed to dry conditions. During these investigations Bear noticed that the smell was due to a yellowish oil, which they named "petrichor" – blood of the stone. In 2015 researchers at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
released a high speed video that visualised the aerosols released during rainfall. In 1967 Bear was promoted to the research staff in the Division of Mineral Chemistry at CSIRO, and was the first and only woman to hold such a position. Bear was eventually awarded a doctoral degree in
Applied Science Applied science is the use of the scientific method and knowledge obtained via conclusions from the method to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted ...
from the Victoria Institute of Colleges in 1978. That year she was promoted to Senior Principal Scientist. She developed powder anodes from
galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...
for using in
electrowinning Electrowinning, also called electroextraction, is the electrodeposition of metals from their ores that have been put in solution via a process commonly referred to as leaching. Electrorefining uses a similar process to remove impurities from a ...
of lead and developed new processes to treat
lead sulphate Lead(II) sulfate (PbSO4) is a white solid, which appears white in microcrystalline form. It is also known as ''fast white'', ''milk white'', ''sulfuric acid lead salt'' or ''anglesite''. It is often seen in the plates/electrodes of car batteries, ...
residues. In 1988 Bear became the first woman to be awarded the
Royal Australian Chemical Institute The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) is both the qualifying body in Australia for professional chemists and a learned society promoting the science and practice of chemistry in all its branches. The RACI hosts conferences, seminars and ...
Leighton Memorial Medal. She worked to document the history of the CSIRO Division of
Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
and Australia's heritage in mineral chemistry in ''The History of the CSIRO Division of Mineral Chemistry''.


Awards and honours

* 1974 Elected Fellow of the
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) provides services to professionals engaged in all facets of the global minerals sector and is based in Carlton, Victoria, Australia. History The Institute had its genesis in 1893 with ...
* 1986 Elected Fellow of the
Royal Australian Chemical Institute The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) is both the qualifying body in Australia for professional chemists and a learned society promoting the science and practice of chemistry in all its branches. The RACI hosts conferences, seminars and ...
* 1986
Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
* 1988 Royal Australian Chemical Institute Leighton Memorial Medal * 2005
Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the cele ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bear, Isabel Joy 1927 births Australian women chemists People from Victoria (Australia) 20th-century Australian women scientists CSIRO people Members of the Order of Australia 2021 deaths Australian expatriates in England Alumni of the University of Birmingham