Alexander King (chemist)

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Alexander King (left) (1987)

Alexander King CMG , CBE (born January 26, 1909 in Glasgow , † February 28, 2007 in London ) was an English scientist and pioneer in the field of renewable energies , who founded the Club of Rome in 1968 with the Italian industrialist Aurelio Peccei .

biography

King was born in Glasgow on January 26, 1909. At the age of 12, in 1921, his family moved to London where he went to Highgate School . Alexander King studied chemistry at the Royal College of Science at the University of London , between October 1929 and 1931 he studied at the University of Munich as part of a research fellowship. He then became a lecturer in physical chemistry at Imperial College in London and an author of scientific books.

During the Second World War , King worked for the British government. Through an intercepted letter he got to know the properties of the insecticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane , which he coined with the acronym DDT. When the USA entered World War II, Alexander King came to Washington in 1943, where he became head of the British scientific mission and scientific attaché to the British embassy.

Between 1950 and 1956 he was senior scientist in the “Department of Scientific and Industrial Research” in Great Britain, from 1956 head of the “European Productivity Agency” in Paris, whereupon from 1960 a position as General Director for Education and Science at the OECD followed. In 1974 King retired. His involvement in the Club of Rome increased with the publication of the report The Limits to Growth in 1972. Between 1984 and 1990 Alexander King was President of the Club of Rome.

Honors

In 1948 King was honored for his work with the Order of the British Empire and in 1975 with the Order of St Michael and St George . He was also awarded the Erasmus Prize in 1987 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Keith Suter: Obituary: Alexander King , The Guardian , May 2, 2007, accessed April 9, 2012
  2. ↑ a b c d The Telegraph : Obituaries: Alexander King , March 26, 2007, accessed April 9, 2012
  3. ↑ Erasmus Prize: Alexander King , accessed April 9, 2012
personal data
SURNAME King, Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British chemist
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Glasgow
DATE OF DEATH February 28, 2007
Place of death London