Dalziel Hammick

Dalziel Llewellyn Hammick FRS (born 8 March 1887, West Norwood, London, England, died 17 October 1966), was an English research chemist. His major work was in synthetic organic chemistry. He promulgated Hammick's rule, which predicts the order of substitution in benzene derivatives, while the Hammick reaction is used in the synthesis of larger molecules.

Early life

The son of L. S. H. Hammick, Dalziel Hammick was educated at Whitgift School, Magdalen College, Oxford (where he was a demy), and at the University of Munich. He graduated BA in Natural Sciences in 1910 and MA in 1921.^[1]

At Oxford, he was a Cadet in the University's Officers' Training Corps, and in July 1911 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant for service with the Gresham's School OTC.^[2]

Career

After some ten years as a schoolmaster at Gresham's and Winchester, in 1920 Hammick was elected to a fellowship of Oriel College, Oxford, where he remained until his death in 1966. For most of his time at Oriel, he was also a lecturer in natural sciences at Corpus Christi College.

His early research was on inorganic substances. He studied sulfur and its compounds and suggested structures for liquid and plastic sulfur. In 1922 he showed that the polymer polyoxymethylene results from the sublimation of trioxymethylene. It was not until the 1960s that this polymer was to be used commercially.

He also translated scientific books from French into English.

His work was honoured by election as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1952.

Career summary

• 1906 – 1910: Magdalen College, Oxford (demy) (BA 1910)
• 1909 – 1910: University of Munich
• 1910 – 1918: Assistant Master at Gresham's School
• 1918 – 1920: Assistant Master at Winchester College
• 1920 – 1966: Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford
• 1921 – 1958: Lecturer in natural sciences, Corpus Christi College, Oxford

Publications

• An Introduction to Organic Chemistry by Dalziel Llewellyn Hammick (London, Bell, 1921)
• Atoms, by Jean Perrin, translated by Dalziel Llewellyn Hammick (London, Constable, 1916, reprinted Ox Bow Press 1990) ISBN 0-918024-78-1
• numerous papers in the Journal of the Chemical Society and the Journal of the American Chemical Society

Private life

Hammick married and had a son and two daughters. The family moved into The Grey Cottage, Old Road, Headington, near Oxford, in 1923, which was also the year of the birth of Hammick's younger daughter, Judith.^[3]

Honours

• 1952: Fellow of the Royal Society

References

1. ^ 'HAMMICK, Dalziel Llewellyn', in The Provosts and Fellows of Oriel College (1922)
2. ^ The Times, Wednesday, Jul 26, 1911; pg. 15; Issue 39647; col. C
3. ^ Memories of the 1920s and 1930s: Judith Hammick at headington.org.uk (accessed 21 June 2008)

• D. L. Hammick at cartage.org
• Bowen, E.J., Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society (1967) Volume 13, pages 107-124
• The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists: Chemists. ed. David Abbott (Peter Bedrick Books, New York, 1983)
• Russell, A. S., 'Dr. D. L. Hammick' in Nature, Volume 212, Issue 5063, (1966) pp. 674 ([1])

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Name	Hammick, Dalziel
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Date of birth	8 March 1887
Place of birth
Date of death	17 October 1966
Place of death