Person

Thomas, Richard Grenfell (Dick) (1901 - 1974)

Born
29 March 1901
Kapunda, South Australia, Australia
Died
1974
Occupation
Biochemist, Mineralogist and Science administrator

Summary

Dick Thomas was a mineralogist who was largely responsible for initiating research in CSIR(O) on minerals as industrial raw materials. After graduating he spent three years with the Australian Radium Corporation, working on innovative extractive processes for radioactive ores at Radium Hill, South Australia. He began his career with CSIR in 1928 with the inauguration of the CSIR Animal Nutrition Laboratory (later Division of Animal Nutrition). His work in mapping the occurrence of coast disease in sheep on Kangaroo Island in relation to soil analysis led him to propose a deficiency in trace elements as the cause of the disease. In 1940, with some clear ideas on the direction research in the Division of Industrial Chemistry should take, he was invited to lead the Division's Minerals Utilization Section, in charge of non-metallic minerals and ceramics. The Section, in 1959, became the Division of Mineral Chemistry with Thomas as its inaugural Chief. Thomas is also known for his work with Isabel Bear on the nature of argillaceous odour (the smell of rain), to which they gave the name petrichor.

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Details

Chronology

1924
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Adelaide
1925 - 1927
Career position - Chemist, Australian Radium Corporation
1927 - 1940
Career position - Chemist, CSIR Division of Animal Nutrition
1940 - 1959
Career position - Senior Organic Chemist, Section of Minerals Utilization, CSIRO Division of Industrial Chemistry
1959 - 1961
Career position - Chief, CSIRO Division of Mineral Chemistry

Published resources

Books

Journal Articles

Resource Sections

See also

  • Collis, Brad, Fields of Discovery: Australia's CSIRO (Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin, 2002), 520 pp. Details
  • Morison, Patricia, The Martin spirit: Charles Martin and the foundation of biological science in Australia (Canberra: Halstead Press, 2019), 296 pp. Details
  • Ward, Colin, 'Cobalt deficiency and the cure for coast disease', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, 2011. https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Cobalt-deficiency-and-the-cure-for-coast-disease/. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 5 July 2022

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