ARTHUR BECKET LAMB
AGE 72 YEARS
Arthur Becket Lamb, chemist and editor, was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, the son of Louis Jacob Lamb, a jewelry manufacturer, and Elizabeth Becket. Lamb’s youthful interests in chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematics were reinforced by his studies at Tufts College (A.B., A.M. 1900, Ph.D. 1904). Arthur Michael, a leading American organic chemist and professor at Tufts, turned him toward chemistry. Lamb did some research in biology and inorganic and organic chemistry at Tufts, but he decided to concentrate on physical chemistry. After two years of graduate study in chemistry at Tufts, Lamb was attracted to graduate work at Harvard by Theodore W. Richards. His Ph.D. from Harvard (1904) was based on work with Richards on properties of aqueous solutions; his Tufts doctorate was based on his thesis with Michael in organic chemistry.
In 1917 Lamb took part in research on defense against gas warfare, becoming finally a lieutenant colonel in the Chemical Warfare Service. Here he contributed to the development of charcoals for gas masks and became an expert on the adsorption of gases by solids, particularly for the oxidation of toxic carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. In 1917 he also started his major life work, the editorship of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, which he retained until 1950. During these years the amount of chemical research conducted in the United States increased greatly, and the journal’s size increased accordingly.
Returning to Harvard in 1921, Lamb carried the laborious task of editing the journal in addition to teaching, research, and administrative activity. He extended the referee system for evaluating papers; although he was firm in maintaining good standards for publication, he was very helpful to authors, particularly younger ones. His editorial policies displeased a few established chemists, but it was generally felt that he was fair and unbiased in a very difficult task. The Journal became the largest chemical journal in the world and one of the best. In 1923 he married Blanche Anne Driscoll, with whom he would have two children.
Lamb raised funds for and helped design the new chemical laboratories at Harvard, the Mallinckrodt and Converse laboratories, which opened in 1928.
He received the Nichols and Priestley medals from the American Chemical Society, held membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and was an honorary Fellow of the Chemical Society of London. He was president of the American Chemical Society in 1933.
Quiet, agreeable, and strong-willed if necessary, Lamb possessed both a sense of humor and the ability to inspire devotion in his collaborators. He served as a deacon in the Unitarian Church and enjoyed tennis and mountaineering. His career was an example of unselfish and effective public service in science. He died in Brookline.
(Taken from an biography by Stanley Tarbell)
Contributor: Ed Fenlon.
AGE 72 YEARS
Arthur Becket Lamb, chemist and editor, was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, the son of Louis Jacob Lamb, a jewelry manufacturer, and Elizabeth Becket. Lamb’s youthful interests in chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematics were reinforced by his studies at Tufts College (A.B., A.M. 1900, Ph.D. 1904). Arthur Michael, a leading American organic chemist and professor at Tufts, turned him toward chemistry. Lamb did some research in biology and inorganic and organic chemistry at Tufts, but he decided to concentrate on physical chemistry. After two years of graduate study in chemistry at Tufts, Lamb was attracted to graduate work at Harvard by Theodore W. Richards. His Ph.D. from Harvard (1904) was based on work with Richards on properties of aqueous solutions; his Tufts doctorate was based on his thesis with Michael in organic chemistry.
In 1917 Lamb took part in research on defense against gas warfare, becoming finally a lieutenant colonel in the Chemical Warfare Service. Here he contributed to the development of charcoals for gas masks and became an expert on the adsorption of gases by solids, particularly for the oxidation of toxic carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. In 1917 he also started his major life work, the editorship of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, which he retained until 1950. During these years the amount of chemical research conducted in the United States increased greatly, and the journal’s size increased accordingly.
Returning to Harvard in 1921, Lamb carried the laborious task of editing the journal in addition to teaching, research, and administrative activity. He extended the referee system for evaluating papers; although he was firm in maintaining good standards for publication, he was very helpful to authors, particularly younger ones. His editorial policies displeased a few established chemists, but it was generally felt that he was fair and unbiased in a very difficult task. The Journal became the largest chemical journal in the world and one of the best. In 1923 he married Blanche Anne Driscoll, with whom he would have two children.
Lamb raised funds for and helped design the new chemical laboratories at Harvard, the Mallinckrodt and Converse laboratories, which opened in 1928.
He received the Nichols and Priestley medals from the American Chemical Society, held membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and was an honorary Fellow of the Chemical Society of London. He was president of the American Chemical Society in 1933.
Quiet, agreeable, and strong-willed if necessary, Lamb possessed both a sense of humor and the ability to inspire devotion in his collaborators. He served as a deacon in the Unitarian Church and enjoyed tennis and mountaineering. His career was an example of unselfish and effective public service in science. He died in Brookline.
(Taken from an biography by Stanley Tarbell)
Contributor: Ed Fenlon.
ARTHUR BECKET LAMB
AGE 72 YEARS
Arthur Becket Lamb, chemist and editor, was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, the son of Louis Jacob Lamb, a jewelry manufacturer, and Elizabeth Becket. Lamb’s youthful interests in chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematics were reinforced by his studies at Tufts College (A.B., A.M. 1900, Ph.D. 1904). Arthur Michael, a leading American organic chemist and professor at Tufts, turned him toward chemistry. Lamb did some research in biology and inorganic and organic chemistry at Tufts, but he decided to concentrate on physical chemistry. After two years of graduate study in chemistry at Tufts, Lamb was attracted to graduate work at Harvard by Theodore W. Richards. His Ph.D. from Harvard (1904) was based on work with Richards on properties of aqueous solutions; his Tufts doctorate was based on his thesis with Michael in organic chemistry.
In 1917 Lamb took part in research on defense against gas warfare, becoming finally a lieutenant colonel in the Chemical Warfare Service. Here he contributed to the development of charcoals for gas masks and became an expert on the adsorption of gases by solids, particularly for the oxidation of toxic carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. In 1917 he also started his major life work, the editorship of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, which he retained until 1950. During these years the amount of chemical research conducted in the United States increased greatly, and the journal’s size increased accordingly.
Returning to Harvard in 1921, Lamb carried the laborious task of editing the journal in addition to teaching, research, and administrative activity. He extended the referee system for evaluating papers; although he was firm in maintaining good standards for publication, he was very helpful to authors, particularly younger ones. His editorial policies displeased a few established chemists, but it was generally felt that he was fair and unbiased in a very difficult task. The Journal became the largest chemical journal in the world and one of the best. In 1923 he married Blanche Anne Driscoll, with whom he would have two children.
Lamb raised funds for and helped design the new chemical laboratories at Harvard, the Mallinckrodt and Converse laboratories, which opened in 1928.
He received the Nichols and Priestley medals from the American Chemical Society, held membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and was an honorary Fellow of the Chemical Society of London. He was president of the American Chemical Society in 1933.
Quiet, agreeable, and strong-willed if necessary, Lamb possessed both a sense of humor and the ability to inspire devotion in his collaborators. He served as a deacon in the Unitarian Church and enjoyed tennis and mountaineering. His career was an example of unselfish and effective public service in science. He died in Brookline.
(Taken from an biography by Stanley Tarbell)
Contributor: Ed Fenlon.
AGE 72 YEARS
Arthur Becket Lamb, chemist and editor, was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, the son of Louis Jacob Lamb, a jewelry manufacturer, and Elizabeth Becket. Lamb’s youthful interests in chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematics were reinforced by his studies at Tufts College (A.B., A.M. 1900, Ph.D. 1904). Arthur Michael, a leading American organic chemist and professor at Tufts, turned him toward chemistry. Lamb did some research in biology and inorganic and organic chemistry at Tufts, but he decided to concentrate on physical chemistry. After two years of graduate study in chemistry at Tufts, Lamb was attracted to graduate work at Harvard by Theodore W. Richards. His Ph.D. from Harvard (1904) was based on work with Richards on properties of aqueous solutions; his Tufts doctorate was based on his thesis with Michael in organic chemistry.
In 1917 Lamb took part in research on defense against gas warfare, becoming finally a lieutenant colonel in the Chemical Warfare Service. Here he contributed to the development of charcoals for gas masks and became an expert on the adsorption of gases by solids, particularly for the oxidation of toxic carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. In 1917 he also started his major life work, the editorship of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, which he retained until 1950. During these years the amount of chemical research conducted in the United States increased greatly, and the journal’s size increased accordingly.
Returning to Harvard in 1921, Lamb carried the laborious task of editing the journal in addition to teaching, research, and administrative activity. He extended the referee system for evaluating papers; although he was firm in maintaining good standards for publication, he was very helpful to authors, particularly younger ones. His editorial policies displeased a few established chemists, but it was generally felt that he was fair and unbiased in a very difficult task. The Journal became the largest chemical journal in the world and one of the best. In 1923 he married Blanche Anne Driscoll, with whom he would have two children.
Lamb raised funds for and helped design the new chemical laboratories at Harvard, the Mallinckrodt and Converse laboratories, which opened in 1928.
He received the Nichols and Priestley medals from the American Chemical Society, held membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and was an honorary Fellow of the Chemical Society of London. He was president of the American Chemical Society in 1933.
Quiet, agreeable, and strong-willed if necessary, Lamb possessed both a sense of humor and the ability to inspire devotion in his collaborators. He served as a deacon in the Unitarian Church and enjoyed tennis and mountaineering. His career was an example of unselfish and effective public service in science. He died in Brookline.
(Taken from an biography by Stanley Tarbell)
Contributor: Ed Fenlon.
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