25 Sep 07

The Vice-Chancellor Dr John Hood unveils the plaque dedicated to Henry Moseley alongside Professor Jim Feast, President of the RSC.

He was to chemistry and physics what Wilfred Owen was to poetry: a phenomenal talent cut down in his prime. But while most people know of Wilfred Owen, few have heard of the brilliant British physicist Henry GJ Moseley (1887-1915), part of a generation of young men lost in World War I.

On 24 September 2007 a plaque celebrating Henry Moseley’s life and achievements was unveiled at Oxford University’s Department of Physics by the Vice-Chancellor Dr John Hood. The plaque, which is mounted on the building where Moseley completed his pioneering work, was donated by the Royal Society of Chemistry as part of its Chemical Landmarks scheme.

Henry Moseley, a graduate of Trinity College Oxford, was killed fighting in Gallipoli in 1915 aged just 27. Despite his youth he had already made many important contributions to science, including demonstrating that atomic numbers were not arbitrary but had a physical basis that could be measured. This discovery (Moseley’s Law) would provide a natural explanation for the way the elements are organised in the periodic table and led Moseley to predict the existence of several then-unknown elements. Moseley’s work also provided one of the first experimental tests of quantum theory, supporting new ideas about the structure of the atom. Many believe that, had he lived, Moseley would have been awarded the Nobel Prize.

Both the President of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Professor Jim Feast, and The Minister Counsellor of Turkey to the UK, Mr Atilay Ersan, gave speeches paying tribute to Moseley. A lecture on Moseley’s work was delivered by Professor E Joseph Nordgren of the University of Uppsala, Sweden.

So why is it that the loss of great writers, artists and musicians in wartime is recognised but the loss of great scientists, such as Moseley, is so rarely commemorated? ‘It is a sad fact that the contribution of even the most talented scientists to society is often ignored,’ said Professor Andrew Boothroyd, Head of Condensed Matter Physics at Oxford University. ‘The loss of a scientist of the calibre of Henry Moseley in his prime can only make us wonder what further discoveries he might have made. It is fitting that, through this award from the Royal Society of Chemistry, we celebrate what Moseley achieved in his short but illustrious career: he helped to revolutionise how people thought about the physical world and his ideas underpin almost all areas of physics and chemistry as we know them today.’

For more on the Royal Society of Chemistry Chemical Landmarks scheme visit www.rsc.org