No.

47ss December 17, 1960 NATURE 983

and especially interested in the two great friend of whomever he met, a goal which he achieved
Scottish gardens the Trust took over--Crathes in almost always, thanks to his rich Jewish humour and
Kincardineshire and Inverewe in Ross and Cromarty. his good-heartedness.
He gave great prestige to the Trust when, under the His last years were marred by great suffering
Trust's auspices, he inaugurated the early 'Garden b ecause of his many maladies. Nevertheless, he put
Cruises', a unique and previously unused method of up a stubborn fight against his disease and refused
transport which has enabled people from all parts of to give in. He was active in the laboratory and full
the world to visit famous, and sometimes somewhat of plans to his last day, and succumbed to a heart
inaccessible, gardens in great comfort. attack while still wearing his white laboratory coat.
Happy and industrious though h e had b een in His colleagues and collaborators will always remem-
India, and undoubtedly was in Edinburgh, he ber his high human qualities, his scientific ingenuity,
frankly admitted that not until he retired from and his infectious enthusiasm, and hope that the
Edinburgh in 1954 and accepted the post of gardens work being continued in his laboratory will serve as
adviser to the National Trust for Scotland, with his a living monument to him. E. FISCHER
headquarters at Inverewe House on the incredibly
lovely and rocky peninsula at Poolewe, did complete
contentment and satisfaction come to him ; and Dr. Robert W. Lawson
naturally so, when through his great energy and drive
ROBERT WILLIAM LAWSON, who died in hospital
he saw the number of visitors to the Garden steadily
on November 14 in his seventy-first year, was a
increase from a few hundreds in 1954 to 47,000 in
1960. lecturer in the Physics Department of the University
of Sheffield for thirty-six years. He went from his
Cowan's services to horticulture were acknow-
native town of Gateshead to Armstrong College (now
ledged by the Royal Horticultural Society by the
King's College), Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1908 and
award of the Veitch Memorial Medal in 1951 and by
obtained a first-class degree with honours in physics.
the Victoria Medal of Honour in 1955. He was made
C.B.E. in 1952. Mrs. Cowan and a son and daughter This was followed by two years research work in the
survive him. H. R. FLETCHER College on the production of those high-frequency
oscillations which later developed into radio-waves,
but the study of which was then in its infancy. This
brought him an award which enabled him to go to
Prof. Yehuda Hirshberg the Radium Institute in Vienna in early 1914. He
PROF. y EHUDA HIRSHBERG, head of the Laboratory was interned on the outbreak of war but generously
of Photochemistry and Spectroscopy in the Weiz- r eleased on parole, so that he could continue his
mann Institute in Rehovoth, Israel, died on Septem- researches into radioactivity at the Institute. He
ber 20. Prof. Hirshberg was born in 1903, went to worked long hours under difficult conditions, on an
Israel as a pioneer in 1923 and joined a Kibbuz. inadequate diet, and published a number of papers,
After a strenuous year he fell ill with malaria, and particularly on the rate of emission of alpha-particles
was compelled to move to Jerusalem. There he from radium. The result he obtained in this investi-
worked as a labourer and at the same time enrolled gation was verified by later workers and is accepted
as one of the first students in the pre-faculty of as the standard value. These papers earned him the
sciences of the Hebrew University. He studied award of the degree of doctor of science of his own
chemistry under Prof. A. Fodor, and graduated University of Durham. He also became one of the
in 1928 (unofficially, since the Hebrew University was first Fellows of the Institute of Physics when it was
not yet r ecognized at the time). Being an outstanding founded.
student, he was given a study grant which enabled On his return to Britain in 1919, Lawson was
him to go to Brussels, where he continued his studies appointed a lecturer in physics at Sheffield and
towards the degree of doctor of science under two r emained there for the rest of his life, being made a
distinguished teachers-Victor Henry and Jaques senior lecturer on the establishment of this grade.
Errera. Despite the difficulties of a new language The privations he suffered in Vienna had an adverse
and environment, he completed his studies with great effect on his health, and it was some time before this
distinction, and was appointed an assistant. His was sufficiently restored for him to resume experim-
first independent research paper was published in ental research . The work of t eaching the influx of
1932. A year later he made the acquaintance of ex-Service students could not be deferred, however ,
Chaim Weizmann, who soon recognized the high and at once he enter ed on a life of service to the
qualities of the young scientist and invited him to Physics Department. He was a lucid lecturer and it
serve as the physical chemist of the Daniel Sieff was his delight to give experimental demonstrations
Research Institute which was planned at the time. of his talks whenever possible. In the early nineteen-
Thus b egan Hirshberg's life-long association with the twenties he was placed in charge of the laboratories
Sieff and Weizmann Institutes. His scientific career in which both the special and gen eral degree students
can truly be called a fruitful one, a s witnessed by worked. Thus he had a large share in training the
nearly ninety r esearch papers in v arious scientific many Sheffield physicist,;; who have attained dis-
journals. His well-known discovery of 'photo- tinction. He devised many ingenious experiments
chromism' in 1950 and the investigation of this for them, some of which were shown at the open
phenomenon and of the 'photochemical memory' meetings of the Sheffield Physical Society which he
led by him since then, won him world-wide recognition organized between the two World vVars. He had a
and international acclaim. wide circle of friends among Continental physicists,
Despite his success, he never ceased to be a 'man and this, together with his proficiency in German,
of the people', being on friendly terms with every- led to the publication of several translations of
body, irrespective of grade or standing. His p er- important books. Probably the most noteworthy of
sonality was marked by boundless devotion to his these was "Relativity", by Einstein, the first simple
work, willingness to help, and eagerness to make a exposition of the theory which has affected science

© 1960 Nature Publishing Group

 984 NATURE December 17, 1960 Vo1.. 166

so profoundly. His colleagues benefited from his wide on the Senate when this recognition was accorded.
reading, and in past years he was also a frequent He retired in 1955, but his interest in physics remained
contributor to the columns of Nature. unabated. His unexpected death will be a shock to
Lawson played a prominent part in the formation his old students, who had a high regard for him, and
of the Non-Professorial Staff Association of the to his many friends. He married in 1922 and leaves a
University and was one of its first representatives widow and daughter. J. R. CLARKE

NEWS and VIEWS

Inorganic and Structural Chemistry at Leeds the Institute of Social Anthropology. For t,he next
Prof. H. M. N. H. Irving four years he held research fellowships which first
took him to New York as a Commonwealth Fund
DR. H. M. N. H. IRVING has been appointed to Fellow, where he studied social anthropology under
the chair of inorganic and structural chemistry in Dr. Margaret Mead during 1948 and 1949 in prepara-
the University of Leeds, in succession to Prof. E. G. tion for two years of field studies in Rajputana,
Cox (see Nature, 185, 144; 1960). Dr. Irving was where he carried out research while living in three
born in Oxford in 1905 and educated at St. Bees primitive village communities. During part of this
School and Queen's College, Oxford, where he was time he held a Rockefeller Grant and a fellowship
a pupil of F. D. Chattaway. He took a 'first' in from the Henderson Trust and worked as a graduate
chemistry in 1928, a D.Phil. in 1930 and was student of Cambridge under the direction of Prof.
awarded the degree of D.Sc. in 1958. He became a Meyer Fortes. His researches in Rajputana are pub-
demonstrator in Queen's College laboratory, but lished in his book, "The Twice Born". He has also
when this closed down Prof. Soddy appointed him as published widely in psychiatry and in the psychiatric
a demonstrator in the Inorganic Chemistry Labor- aspects of social anthropology.
atory of the University. Although his early training
was in the field of organic chemistry, ho rapidly Lister Medal of the Royal College of Surgeons :
acquired a mastery of inorganic chemistry, and skil- Prof. W. G. Penfield, 0 M., C.M.G ., F.R.S.
fully used his knowledge of organic synthesis, and
PROF. WILDER GRAVES PENFIELD, director of the
familiarity with a wide range of organic substances,
Montreal Neurological Institute, has been awarded
the Lister Medal of the Royal College of Surgeons of
in an attack on various analytical problems and par-
ticularly in the application of stereochemical prin-
England, in recognition of his service to the advance-
ciples to their solution. Later he exploited solvent
ment of medical and biological knowledge, especially
extraction and radiochemical methods to good effect.
in the fields of neurology, surgical neurology, and
In these fields he has built up an international
psychology ; and equally as humane surgical healer
reputation. During the War he was engaged on
and as scientific research worker. He will deliver the
government research problems and took an active
Lister Memorial Lecture in London on April 5, 1961,
part in local Civil Defence. He was a lecturer at St.
under the auspices of the Royal College of Surgeons
Edmund Hall during 1935-38, and has been an
of England. 'l'his is the thirteenth occasion of the
official Fellow from 1938 and vice-principal since award, which is made by a committee representative
1951. He has played an active part in the Chemical
of the Royal Society, the Royal College of Surgeom;
Society, Royal Institute of Chemistry and the Society of England, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland,
for Analytical Chemistry, and has served on numerous the University of Edinburgh and the University of
official committees. He is the author of nearly a
Glasgow.
hundred papers on scientific subjects, and in addition
to many interests outside his ordinary work he holds Code of Practice against Radiation Hazards
the licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music. A CODE of practice issued by tho Imperial College
of Science and Technology, University of London,
Psychological Medicine in Edinburgh: describes the rnles applicable to the use of equipment
Prof. G. M. Carstairs producing X-rays, to particle accelerators, and to the
DR. GEORGE MORRISON CARSTAIRS, director of nso of radioactive isotopes, either sealed or unsealed
the Medical Research Council Unit for Research on (Third edition, revised. Pp. v + 35. London : Im-
the Epidemiology of Psychiatric Illnrn::s, Tavistock perial College of Science and Technology, 1960). The
Square, London, has been appointed to the chair of code supersedes a previous one of December 1958,
psychological medicino in the University of Edin- and deals, in the main, with administrative procedure
burgh in succession to the lato Prof. Alexander and control ; a second part consists of a number of
Kennedy. Dr. Carstairs was born in India and appendixes giving detailed info1·ma.t,ion and advico
educated at Georgo Watson's College and the on practice. The purpose of the code is set out under
University of Edinburgh. At the Univorsity he road tho following headings: (1) the protection of the
arts as well as medicine and was a medallist, in Fine worker's health ; the hazard includes direct radiation
Art. He was also a well-known athlete. He served and the accumulation of traces of radioactive
as a medical officer in tho Royal Air Force in Europe material in the body; (2) the avoidance of con-
and the Far East. During the War, Dr. Car8tairs tamination of the laboratory; (3) to ensure the safe
became int,erested in social anthropology, particularly disposal of waste material and effluent. The code
in studies of the influence of different cultural environ- also describes tho mothod of control, the names of
ments in personality development,. After tho \Var, referees and the health physicist, the kind of work
Dr. Carstairs held various sonior appointments at to be registered and the procedure for registration.
mental hospitals in Edinburgh and Oxford, and also Conditions to he observed before work is begun are
studied social anthropology as an external stud0nt of also described.

© 1960 Nature Publishing Group