Page 23 - PERIODIC Magazine Issue 6

Al
The embic Club:

a lasting legacy

The Alembic Club was one of the most prominent scientific societies in the University
of Oxford for much of the twentieth century, having been established by a group
of students and young graduates in 1901. For decades to follow it provided a lively

forum for scientific debate for those in the Department of Chemistry and beyond.

The Senior Alembic Club brought together graduates and
academics from the then separate Organic, Inorganic and
Physical Chemistry Sections, and its Junior counterpart
accommodated undergraduates. While the Senior Alembic
Club held periodic open-session seminars, its main activity
was weekly closed-session meetings exclusively for full
members. During these, faculty and esteemed guests would
present their research and discuss scientific advancements in
the University of Oxford and at peer institutions.
Unlike its counterparts in Cambridge and Manchester, which
had accepted women as full members since the very early
1900s, the Senior Alembic Club did not admit women until
1950. This was challenged by many members and by the
rapidly-growing number of successful and influential female
chemists in Oxford. On one occasion before women were of the Alembic Club and all it brought to the Department.
admitted, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (who remains the only During their time in Chemistry, all who study and work here
British female winner of a Nobel Prize in any of the sciences) help shape the Department for those that follow them.
attempted to join a closed-session meeting. Incensed Leaving a legacy gift to Chemistry is a powerful way to
by her unauthorised presence, a fully-fledged member support the Department and its researchers and students for
picked up Hodgkin and carried her out of the meeting! An many years to come; a poignant way to leave a lasting mark on
overwhelming majority of members subsequently voted the Department that will have an impact well into the future.
to accept women following a period of tense debate,
and 10 years later the Club had its first female president: Have you already pledged to leave a legacy gift to the
Muriel Tomlinson, Fellow of St Hilda’s and a much-loved Department of Chemistry, or would you like to learn more
demonstrator in the Dyson Perrins Laboratory. about the influence these special gifts can have? If so, we
would love to hear from you:
The Alembic Club slowed down during the 1960s and ‘70s, Please contact Jane Rice by email at jane.rice@chem.ox.ac.uk
but will always remain an important element of the history or by phone on +44 (0)1865 275093.
of the Department of Chemistry and is remembered fondly
by many former members. Although no longer in operation
today, the Club has left a legacy of activity behind it. There is Were you a member of the Alembic Club?
now a range of scientific societies that chemists can join, as We would like to know more about the history and
well as an exciting programme of lectures given by visiting activities of the Club and would love to hear your
world-leading experts throughout the year in the Department. stories and recollections. If you have any memories
These clubs and events provide valuable opportunities for or photographs that you would be willing to share,
the knowledge-sharing and discourse that are so critically please contact Susan Davis, Alumni Relations and
important in scientific research and education today, as they Communications Manager, by email at
were during the peak of the Alembic Club’s activities. alumni@chem.ox.ac.uk or by post (Physical and
Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road,
This year we are launching the Alembic Circle to recognise Oxford OX1 3QZ). We will publish a selection of stories in
and celebrate those who choose to remember Oxford the next edition of Periodic. Thank you!
Chemistry with a gift in their will, and to cement the memory

23
Periodic
The Magazine of the Department of Chemistry