Leslie Bretherick (1926–2003) was a

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 ...

and an “internationally recognized authority on laboratory safety”Renfrew, M., 1988 ''Journal of Chemical Education'' 65 (6) A171 especially remembered for writing the book which became ''

Bretherick's Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards Bretherick’s Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards is a well-established source of information on chemical safety, often known by its author’s name, and often cited in the chemical and chemical engineering literature. In recent editions it has ...

'', an indexed guide to published data on dangerous chemical reactions. An obituary said “His contributions have improved the lives of countless millions, and I will aver, have saved the lives of thousands”.Jay Young, 2003, ''Chemical Health and Safety'', 10(4), 46

Life

Bretherick was born in 1926 Publishers and libraries author dates and received a BSc from the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

in 1946Bretherick, L., 1979 ''Journal of Chemical Education'' 56 (2) A57 He worked for

May & Baker May & Baker was a British chemical company founded by John May and William Gerrard Baker in Wandsworth, London in 1839. They initially specialized in the manufacture of chemicals derived from mercury and bismuth. Over the years they diversified ...

from 1945 to 1960, where a personal injury and a near-miss provoked his lifelong interest in the prevention of chemical accidents.Barker, P.E., Bretherick, L., & Kay, F.A.A., ''J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci.'' 1993, 33, 184-192 Problems and Solutions in the Development of Hard and Soft Versions of a Chemical Reaction Hazards Database He then had two years in chemical production at L. Light & Co before moving to BP Research Centre,

Sunbury-on-Thames Sunbury-on-Thames (or commonly Sunbury) is a suburban town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, centred southwest of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, in 1965 Sunbury and other ...

, in 1962 where he stayed till his early retirement in 1982. It was there that he produced his

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

, nearly 1000 pages summarizing published literature on chemical accidents and dangerous reactions, organised by individual compound in 1975.Bretherick, L. (1975) ''Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards'' Butterworths (London) A second edition followed in 1979. As well as corrections and additional reactions, this contained a new section dealing with groups of compounds and some other matters. A third edition followed in 1985, Bretherick having retired in 1982 in order to work full-time on the project.Preface to the Third Edition, 1985 In the preface to the 4th edition (1989) he announced that his eyesight was failing.Preface to the Fourth Edition, 1989 As a result, he did not contribute new material to further editions, which was done by others. The fourth edition onwards were titled ''Bretherick’s Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards''. In 1988, Bretherick received the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

(ACS) Chemical Health and Safety Award for his outstanding contributions in the field of chemical health and safety.ACS
Howard Fawcett Chemical Health and Safety AwardRenfrew, M., 1990 ''Journal of Chemical Education''ŭ, 67(1), A12 He was a

Chartered Chemist Chartered Chemist (CChem) is a chartered status awarded by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in the United Kingdom, the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) in Australia, by the Ministry of Education in Italy, the Institute of Chemistry C ...

and Fellow of 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 chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

(RSC). He also edited a RSC handbook on chemical laboratory hazards,Bretherick L., (ed) (1981) ''Hazards in the Chemical Laboratory 3rd ed'' Royal Society of Chemistry (London) as well as numerous articles on chemical safety. He was selected as one of the RSC’s “175 Faces of Chemistry” noting that his achievements were made despite poor eyesight (and eventual near blindness) and a

stammer Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

(he was an active member of the

British Stammering Association The British Stammering Association (BSA), trading as STAMMA since 2019, is a national membership organisation in the United Kingdom for adults and children who stammer, their friends and families, speech and language therapists and other profes ...

). He was a member of the Macular Disease Society. He died in April 2003, survived by his wife, Margaret.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bretherick, Leslie 1926 births 2003 deaths British chemists Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Alumni of the University of Liverpool