EGERTON, Sir Alfred (1886-1959)

Scope and Content

Papers of Sir Alfred Egerton, 1908-1958, comprising research papers, notes and reports largely relating to explosives, manufacture of ammonia and hydrogen, [1916-1925], laboratory work at Oxford, 1919-1926, work for the Admiralty, 1940-[1950], papers relating to patents, 1928-1958; research notebooks, 1908-1937, including some correspondence and notably concerning vapour pressure of metals, amides of metals, residual gases in discharge tubes; lecture notes concerning combustion; papers on optical pyrometry, 1933-1938; correspondence and papers relating to research on the properties of steam, steam tables, international conferences on steam, 1930-1946.

Administrative / Biographical History

Born, 1886; educated at Eton, University College London; Reader in Thermodynamics, Oxford University, 1921-1936; elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 1923; Professor of Chemical Technology, Imperial College, 1936-1952; Secretary, Royal Society, 1938-1948; Knighted, 1943; Rumford medal of the Royal Society, 1946; Chairman of Scientific Advisory Council to Minister of Fuel and Power, 1948-1953; Director, Salters Institute of Industrial Chemistry, 1949-1959; Emeritus Professor of Chemical Technology, University of London, 1953-1959; Chairman, Commonwealth Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, India, 1954; died, 1959. Publications: The 1939 Callendar Steam Tables with G S Callendar (E Arnold & Co, London, 1939); editor of Fuel; lectures and papers largely relating to combustion and utilization of energy.

Access Information

Researchers wishing to consult the Archives should first contact the College Archivist, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, for an appointment.

Other Finding Aids

A catalogue is available at the College Archives.

Separated Material

Correspondence and papers, held at the Royal Society (reference: AE); correspondence with Lord Cherwell, 1914-1949, held at Nuffield College Library, Oxford, (reference: Cherwell papers); correspondence with Archibald Vivian Hill, 1944-1959, held at the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge (reference: AVHL).

Conditions Governing Use

A photocopying service is available at the discretion of the Archivist. Photocopies are supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archivist.

Custodial History

Accumulated by Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine during the course of business.

Related Material

Records of the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (KC), held at Imperial College.

Bibliography

Sir Alfred Egerton, FRS 1886-1959. A memoir with papers Lady Ruth Julia Egerton (privately printed, London, 1963).