Person
Lane, John Edgar (1932 - 2022)
- Born
- 2 December 1932
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia - Died
- 29 August 2022
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Physical chemist
Summary
John Lane was a physical chemist well-known for his research on surface thermodynamics. On completing his PhD on the surface properties of liquid sodium and liquid potassium, he spent three years overseas. At McGill University he worked on applying irreversible thermodynamics to multicomponent diffusion; at Bristol he developed a simple model of the solid-liquid interface. Lane returned to Australia in 1974 and joined the CSIRO Division of Physical Chemistry where he worked with Bill Mansfield on the control of evaporation from dams. During the 1970s he worked on the simulation of physical absorption using the Monte Carlo methods, greeted by some as brilliant work. He was later involved in discussions on properties of competing materials for banknote substrates. Suffering from chronic asthma, he retired in 1980. Lane was active in the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, holding office in the Victorian Branch Committee and being elected Fellow on his retirement. For some years, in a voluntary capacity, he lectured in thermodynamics to undergraduates at the University of Melbourne and assisted research students.
Details
Chronology
- 1957
- Education - BSc, University of Adelaide
- 1963
- Career position - Research fellow, metallurgical department, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- 1963
- Education - PhD, University of Adelaide
- 1964 - 1965
- Career position - Research fellow, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
- 1965 - 1966
- Career position - Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Physical Chemistry, Fishermens Bend
- 1966 - 1974
- Career position - Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Applied Chemistry
- 1968 - 1970
- Career position - Book review editor, Proceedings of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute
- 1968 - 1980
- Career position - Member, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
- 1970 - 1973
- Career position - Member of Committee, Victorian Branch, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
- 1971 - 1972
- Career position - Chairman, Victorian Branch Physical Chemistry Group, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
- 1973 - 1974
- Career position - Committee Member, Victorian Branch Physical Chemistry Group, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
- 1973 - 1979
- Career position - Member, Physical Chemistry Division Commission on Physicochemical Measurement, International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)
- 1974 - 1980
- Career position - Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Applied Organic Chemistry
- 1980
- Life event - Retired on medical grounds
- 1980 - 2022
- Award - Fellow, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
Related entries
Colleague
Published resources
Journal Articles
- Aston, J. R., Lane, J. E. and Healy, T. W., 'The solution and interfacial chemistry of nonionic surficants used in coal flotation', Mineral processing and extractive metallurgy review, 5 (1/4) (1989), 229-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/08827508908952651. Details
- Aston, Rachel; and Spurling, Tom, 'Vale John Edgar Lane (1932 - 2022): thermodynamicist without peer', Chemistry in Australia (2023), 34. Details
Theses
- Lane, John Edgar, 'Surface properties of liquid alkali metals', PhD thesis, University of Adelaide, 1962. https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/items/82be9f31-fb5f-4d6f-921b-3c210eb33fa2. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 21 November 2024