Reflections on the Life and Works of Sir John W. (‘Kappa’) Cornforth
Damon RidleySchool of Chemistry F11, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Email: damon.ridley@gmail.com
Having graduated from The University of Sydney (Ph.D., B.Sc. Hons Class I, and University Medal), Damon Ridley was a Research Fellow in Oxford, before taking up a Lectureship in Chemistry at Imperial College, London. He returned to The University of Sydney in 1972, where he worked for the next 30 years. During this time, he made contributions in many areas: he was Pro-Dean of the Faculty of Science, Chair of the Organic Division of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, the recipient of an Excellence in Teaching Award, and author of over 150 publications, as well as Captain of the University First XI. Damon is also well known for his work on chemical information retrieval. From 2003 to 2012, he was Head of the Department of Chemistry at Silverbrook Research, which was then Australia's largest private research company. During this period, he was the author of over 50 US patents. During 1978–1979, he was on study leave at the University of Sussex with Professor Sir John Cornforth, with whom he established a lifelong friendship. |
Australian Journal of Chemistry 68(4) 538-542 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH14600
Published: 10 April 2015
References
[1] J. W. Cornforth, Selected Research Papers with Commentaries 1992 (Ed. B. T. Golding) (Pergamon Press: Oxford).[2] J. W. Cornforth, G. K. Hughes, F. Lions, R. H. Harradence, J. Proc. R. Soc. NSW 1937, 71, 486.
[3] J. W. Cornforth, R. H. Cornforth, R. Robinson, J. Chem. Soc. 1942, 682.
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[4] J. Cornforth, M.-H. Du, J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1 1990, 1459.
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[5] J. W. Cornforth, R. H. Cornforth, R. Robinson, J. Chem. Soc. 1942, 689.
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[6] See pp. 417–418 in: J. W. Cornforth, Selected Research Papers with Commentaries 1992 (Ed. B. T. Golding) (Pergamon Press: Oxford).
[7] J. W. Cornforth, R. H. Cornforth, J. Chem. Soc. 1947, 96.
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[8] J. W. Cornforth, R. Robinson, J. Chem. Soc. 1949, 1855.
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[9] J. W. Cornforth, Prog. Org. Chem. 1955, 3, 1.
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[10] J. W. Cornforth, I. Y. Gore, G. J. Popják, Biochem. J. 1957, 65, 94.
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[11] J. W. Cornforth, I. Youhotsky, G. J. Popják, Nature 1954, 173, 536.
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[12] (a) J. W. Cornforth, J. Mol. Catal. 1976, 1, 145.
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(b) J. W. Cornforth, Science 1976, 193, 121.
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(c) J. W. Cornforth, Angew. Chem. 1976, 88, 551.
[13] J. W. Cornforth, R. H. Cornforth, A. Pelter, H. G. Horning, G. J. Popják, Tetrahedron 1959, 5, 311.
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[14] For example, and if you are interested in the game of chess, you may wish to read how Kappa fared against 12 chess players – simultaneously and blind-folded in Perth in 1937: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=130136.
[15] G. J. Popják, J. W. Cornforth, Biochem. J. 1966, 101, 553.
[16] J. W. Cornforth, J. W. Redmond, H. Eggerer, W. Buckel, C. Gutschow, Nature 1969, 221, 1212.
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[17] J. W. Cornforth, Chem. Br. 1970, 6, 431.
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[18] (a) J. Cornforth, Chem. Aust. 1978, 45, 249.
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(b) See also: J. Cornforth, in Biopolymer Complexes (Proceedings of the 11th Workshop Conference, Hoechst Schloss Reisenburg, 11–15 October 1981) (Eds E. Bartmann, G. Snatzke) 1981, pp. 1–16.
[19] J. Cornforth, A. F. Sierakowski, T. W. Wallace, J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun. 1979, 294.
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[20] J. Cornforth, L. M. Huguerin, J. R. H. Wilson, J Chem Soc, Perkin Trans. 1 1987, 871.
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[21] J. Cornforth, Interdiscip. Sci. Rev. 1984, 9, 107.
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[22] J. W. Cornforth, Aust. J. Chem. 1993, 46, 265.Freely available at: http://www.publish.csiro.au/media/client/CH92229.pdf [accessed 1 October, 2014].
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[23] J. W. Cornforth, Aust. J. Chem. 1993, 46, 157.Freely available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/CH9930157 [accessed 1 October, 2014].
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