Ronald George Wreyford Norrish

@Chemists, Family and Personal Life ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Ronald George Wreyford Norrish was a British Chemist, who received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1967 British Scientists Chemists Scorpio Celebrities Ronald George Wreyford Norrish was a British Chemist, who received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1967 for his work on the studies of extremely fast chemical reactions. He was a co-recipient of the award along with George Porter and Mafred Eigen. From 1949 to 1965, Norrish worked in collaboration with his former pupil George Porter in the development of ‘flash photolysis’ and kinetic spectroscopy for the investigation and study of very fast reactions. Norrish’s contribution to chemistry became significant and obtained worldwide recognition when he made the most remarkable correction to the Draper’s law. John Draper had proposed that the amount of dynamic rate of photochemical change is directly proportional to the product of the intensity of light and time. But Norrish proved that it is proportional to the square root of the light intensity. Norrish was a man of immense energy. He enjoyed meeting people from other countries and different walks of life and also loved to travel to different places around the world.

Personal Details

Birthday: November 9, 1897 Died on: June 7, 1978 Nationality: British Famous: Scientists, Chemists Spouses: Annie Smith Universities: University of Cambridge (BA PhD) Birth Place: Cambridge, United Kingdom Information Detail Birthday November 9, 1897 Died on June 7, 1978 Nationality British Famous Scientists, Chemists Spouses Annie Smith Universities University of Cambridge (BA PhD) Birth Place Cambridge, United Kingdom Gender Male Father Herbert Norrish Mother Amy Norrish Sun Sign Scorpio Born in Cambridge, United Kingdom Famous as Chemist Died at Age 80

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Ronald George Wreyford Norrish born at Unsplash Birth Place

In 1926, Norrish married Annie Smith who was a lecturer in the University of Wales in Cardiff. They have two daughters and four grandchildren. Unsplash Personal Life

Norrish died on 7th June 1978, at the age of 81 in Cambridge. Unsplash Personal Life

Norrish was born in Cambridge on 9th November 1897 to Herbert Norrish and Amy Norrish. His father was a native of Crediton, Devonshire and moved to Cambridge to start his pharmacy. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He did his early schooling at a local boarding school and went on for high school at the Perse Grammar School in 1910 upon receiving a scholarship. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

In 1915, he obtained a scholarship through entrance examination and entered the Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1915 to pursue Natural Sciences. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

In 1916, Norrish was assigned military duty by the Royal Field Artillery for service in France during the World War I. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He was taken prisoner of war in 1918 by the German forces to Germany and stayed there until the rest of the war. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Norrish was inspired by Eric Redeal under whom he took up his first research work for the study of Photochemistry. Unsplash Career

In 1930, he was appointed a lecturer in the department of physical chemistry in the University of Cambridge. In 1937, he was promoted to the post of professor. Unsplash Career

In 1965, he retired as a Professor Emeritus from the Cambridge University. Unsplash Career

At the Cambridge University, Norrish had the opportunity to work with some highly intuitive students and with them he carried out an extensive research in the field of Photochemistry and reaction kinetics, including combustion and polymerization. Unsplash Major Works

Unfortunately his research work came to a halt with the start of the Second World War in 1940. However, he continued to lead the department and teach during that period. He was actively working about his research ideas and collaborated with government committees. Unsplash Major Works

In 1945, after the World War II came to an end, he continued with his research once again about transients in short lived chemical reactions. Unsplash Major Works

From 1949 to 1965, Norrish worked in collaboration with his student, George Porter (who is presently a professor) on ‘Flash Photolysis and ‘Kinetic Spectroscopy’, the most powerful methods till date for studying all aspects of a chemical reaction. Unsplash Major Works

His other scientific interests were in the areas of mechanism of chain reactions including combustion and formation of plastics. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	November 9, 1897
Died on	June 7, 1978
Nationality	British
Famous	Scientists, Chemists
Spouses	Annie Smith
Universities	University of Cambridge (BA PhD)
Birth Place	Cambridge, United Kingdom
Gender	Male
Father	Herbert Norrish
Mother	Amy Norrish
Sun Sign	Scorpio
Born in	Cambridge, United Kingdom
Famous as	Chemist
Died at Age	80

Ronald George Wreyford Norrish

British

Nov 9, 1897

Biography

Personal Details

Cambridge, United Kingdom