Sir George Thomas Beilby (17 November 1850 – 1 August 1924) was a British

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 ...

Early life and education

He was born in Edinburgh, the son of a doctor and educated at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University.

Career

In 1869, he joined the Oakbank Oil Company to work in the oil shale industry where he and colleague William Young were able to increase the yield of oil,

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...

, and other useful materials from the shale by retorting and

fractional distillation Fractional distillation is the separation of a mixture into its component parts, or fractions. Chemical compounds are separated by heating them to a temperature at which one or more fractions of the mixture will vaporize. It uses distillation to ...

improvements. Their Young and Beilby patent retort was patented in 1882. In 1892, Beilby patented a production method for

hydrogen cyanide Hydrogen cyanide, sometimes called prussic acid, is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structure . It is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an ...

. This new method used ammonia and coal as starting materials and was able to meet the rising demands on sodium cyanide for the gold leaching by the

MacArthur-Forrest process Gold cyanidation (also known as the cyanide process or the MacArthur-Forrest process) is a Hydrometallurgy, hydrometallurgical technique for extracting gold from low-grade ore by converting the gold to a water-soluble coordination complex. It is t ...

. He became director of the profitable Cassel Cyanide Company and then became a director of the Castner-Kellner Company at Runcorn, for whom he developed their new Wallsend factory.

Organisational affiliations and honours

He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in May 1906. His candidacy citation read: He was president of the

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...

in 1899, of the chemical section of the British Association in 1905, of the

Institute of Chemistry The Royal Institute of Chemistry was a British scientific organisation. Founded in 1877 as the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland (ICGBI), its role was to focus on qualifications and the professional status of chemists, and its aim ...

in 1909–12, and of the Institute of Metals in 1916–8. In 1912 he was a member of the

Royal Commission on Fuel and Engines The British Royal Commission on Fuel and Engines was established in the United Kingdom on 31 July 1912, and its remit was " report on the means of supply and storage of Liquid Fuel in peace and war, and its application to warship engines, whether ...

for the Navy. During

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 ...

, he was a member of the Admiralty

Board of Invention and Research Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a t ...

. He joined the Society for Psychical Research in 1914. He was knighted in the

1916 Birthday Honours The 1916 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

Personal life and death

In 1877, he married Emma Clarke Newnham, usually referred to as Lady Bielby, who was a great supporter of women's organisations, particularly in practical ways behind the scenes. They had a son Hubert and a daughter, Winifred Moller Beilby (1885-1936) who worked with, published with and in 1908 married chemist Frederick Soddy. Beilby supported some of his son in law's research work at the University of Glasgow. He died in Hampstead, London, in 1924.

Commemoration

The

Beilby Medal and Prize The Beilby Medal and Prize is awarded annually to a scientist or engineer for work that has exceptional practical significance in chemical engineering, applied materials science, energy efficiency or a related field. The prize is jointly administe ...

is named in his honour. It is awarded in rotation by the

Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a UK engineering institution whose activities encompass the whole materials cycle, from exploration and extraction, through characterisation, processing, forming, finishing and applicatio ...

, 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 ...

and the

References

* *
Cyanide patent

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beilby 1850 births 1924 deaths Parapsychologists Scientists from Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society Scottish chemists People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh