Dr Robert C Mackenzie (1920-2000)

Robert Mackenzie died on 4 July 2000. He was a co-founder of ICTAC and a pioneer thermal analyst since his early work at the Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen from 1944 onwards.

It was Robert's wish that his collection of scientific papers, letters and other materials might be available to future historians of thermal analysis. As a native of the Scottish Highlands, born in the village of Portmahomack in Ross-shire, he strongly supported the Millennium project to create the University of the Highlands & Islands. Before his death, Robert approached me (I was then the Principal of Inverness College, the largest College in the UHI consortium), to enquire whether it would be possible to bequeath his papers to the new University. After his death, his son and daughter invited me to sift the contents of his study and retain any items that I thought would be of historical interest.

Four years later, I write to inform your readers of the materials that I have now deposited with the library at Inverness College.

As well as being an accomplished scientist, Robert was also a polyglot. He had amassed a huge collection of Russian and Eastern European books, research publications and conference proceedings. I have retained those that I judged might be difficult to access by conventional methods. They are sub-divided into the fields of thermal analysis and clay mineralogy and further sorted into books, journals and conference papers. Probably of greater interest to any future historian is a collection of Robert's personal letters, notebooks, photographs and other papers. This contains folders of the following:

• Collections of personal notes and letters, many from the 1950's, on the history of the scientific study of clays and early applications of thermoanalytical techniques
• Large collection of papers, letters and notes on the early history of thermometry, furnaces and thermal analysis, including drawings and photographs of the first DTA apparatus at the Macaulay Institute and original DTA curves
• Robert's personal notebook detailing his early experiments on the thermal properties of soils (July 1944)
• Large collection of slides used by Robert in lectures and conference presentations on minerals/soils and the history of thermal analysis (particularly DTA)
• Photographs of early thermoanalytical pioneers and other items of historical significance
• Early papers and notes on the heating effects of electricity
• Papers and research notes on the life and work of George Martine, an early investigator of thermometry and heat (see R.C.Mackenzie, J Thermal Anal., 35, 1823-36 (1989)

Inverness College library has not catalogued any of these items so interested researchers would have to request to view the Robert Mackenzie collection housed in the archive. Anyone interested in any particular aspect of Robert's work may wish to contact me initially. I may be able to advise on whether any specific item is contained in the collection. I can be contacted at gm.clark@virgin.net.

It may not be generally known that a great friend of Robert's was the consultant geologist Robert (Robbie) Robertson, who lived in Pitlochry. Robbie also left his collection of scientific papers to the UHI Millennium Institute. They are lodged with Perth College and can be accessed through the College library.

Dr. Graham M Clark