Dr Robert Lyell Mitchell FRSE FRSC (3 June 1910 – 7 February 1982) was a 20th-century Scottish chemist and mountaineer. He was an expert on trace elements in soil and their effect on grazing animals, and served as the Director of the

Macaulay Institute The Macaulay Institute, formally the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and sometimes referred to simply as The Macaulay, is a research institute based at Aberdeen in Scotland, which is now part of the James Hutton Institute. Its work covers ...

for Soil Science. He was simply called Bob Mitchell.

Life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

on 3 June 1910 the son of David Hay Lyell Mitchell, an engineer based at

Bangour Hospital Bangour Village Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located west of Dechmont in West Lothian, Scotland. During the First World War it formed part of the much larger Edinburgh War Hospital. History The hospital was modelled on the village system ...

. He was educated at

Bathgate Academy Bathgate Academy is a mixed secondary school in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, also serving the nearby town of Blackburn. History Established by the will of John Newland (a Jamaican-plantation slave owner) in 1799, the school was originally ...

then studied sciene at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

graduating with a BSc in 1931. He undertook postgraduate studies in chemistry first at the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

gaining a PhD in 1934, and then the

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ). ...

in Zurich in Switzerland, where he developed a passion for alpine climbing. In 1937 he became Head of Spectrochemistry at the Macaulay Institute and in 1968 was promoted to be its Director. In 1955 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Donald McArthur, Sir David Cuthbertson, Andrew Phillipson, Thomas Phemister,

James Robert Matthews James Robert Matthews FRSE FLS CBE LLD (1889–1978) was a 20th-century Scottish botanist. He was president of the British Ecological Society in 1934 and president of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh 1939 to 1942. Life He was born in the vil ...

and Murray Macgregor. He retired in 1975 and died in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

on 7 February 1982. He was unmarried and had no children.

Publications

*''The Spectrographic Analysis of Soils, Plants and Related Materials'' (1956)

References

1910 births 1982 deaths People educated at Bathgate Academy Scottish chemists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{Scotland-scientist-stub