John White in a safety inspection of the drained swimming pool of the nuclear reactor at Institut Laue Langevin in Grenoble, France, 1978. Photo courtesy Prof White

By Peter Pockley

Arguably Australias most internationally experienced and prominent chemistry researcher, Professor John White continues to produce original research long after normal retirement age, and he is, unshakeably, a committed Christian.

John White had chemistry in his brain from age 8, and his enthusiasm for this fundamental science has never waned throughout his 71 years. His engineer father, George, had given him a chemistry textbook that he kept by his bed in Newcastle, NSW, while he set up a private lab in his grandmothers house to investigate the properties of a new chemical he bought every week from the local pharmacist. He recalls: Basically, my family was tremendously supportive and fed my interest in the subject.

He taught himself how to identify the presence of metals in substances, and guided by Sherwood Taylors book I never had an explosion or fire. But, I once sucked up in a pipette mercury nitrate, which is highly poisonous. Taylor told me to swallow the yolk of an egg [as antidote] and, though a revolting experience, I escaped unharmed.

He did not understand about atoms and molecules being the basis of chemicals and their reactions until he was taught about them at Newcastle High, a selective school with science masters who were good, and even built their own equipment. He reflects: I do tremendously regret that children at school today dont do interesting experiments [like I did] at school any more. Whites abiding philosophy of education in science is learning by doing. As for priorities, he says: Im a teacher and fascinated by research, but I would never do it without teaching.

Taking a science course at Sydney University he learned: Chemistry is a subject which allows you to make things and understand how they are made. That combination of skill and understanding is very creative.

He decided to specialise in physical chemistry which, he says, is different to physics because there is a qualitative as well as a quantitative aspect. Physical chemistry is concerned with how reactions go and uses instruments to measure whats going on. It requires some mathematics. All this attracted me.

Oxford Beckons and Captures White won the Dixon Prize for topping his year in chemistry, and moved to an Honours year for his first taste of research. While he expected to progress to a PhD in Sydney, his supervisor, Prof Laurie Lyons, pushed him to go overseas instead. This was an era when PhDs in Australia were few and far between and a stint of overseas training was almost mandatory for an academic posting in Australia. He won an 1851 Scholarship, which took him to Oxford University in 1959 to learn under Dr Rex Richards about the new technique of nuclear magnetic resonance being pioneered for chemistry there.

He made his mark with papers published by The Royal Society of London, and, even before finishing his DPhil, he was elected an ICI Fellow in Lincoln College and President of the Middle Common Room (catering for postgraduate students). The privileges of Oxford had begun to capture the young Australian. Soon he was elected a Fellow of St Johns College in 1963 and remained in Oxford for 26 years.

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Immersed in Chemistry