John Macadam

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John Macadam (1865)

John Macadam (born May 1827 in Northbank , Scotland , † September 2, 1865 ) was an Australian chemist , medic and politician . The genus Macadamia was named after him by his colleague Ferdinand von Mueller in 1857 .

Macadam was born in Northbank near Glasgow . He studied chemistry at the University of Strathclyde and University of Edinburgh , later he switched to medicine in Glasgow. In 1855 he went to Melbourne , where he was appointed professor of chemistry and science at Scotch College . During that time he was one of two umpires in one of the earliest recorded Australian football games. In 1858 he was also appointed Analytical Chemist to the Government of Victoria .

He later became the first lecturer to teach at the University of Melbourne School of Medicine . On March 3, 1862, he began teaching chemistry.

Between 1857 and 1862 he served as Honorary Secretary at the Philosophical Institute of Victoria , which later became the Royal Society of Victoria . In 1863 he was appointed vice president. During this time, he was also Honorary Secretary of the Exploration Committee that organized the disaster-struck Burke and Wills expedition . He was also a Member of the Parliament of Victoria.

Macadam died in 1865 after an accident on board a ship. His grave is in the Melbourne General Cemetery . An exhibition in the School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne commemorates him.

1857 by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller and Walter Hill discovered Macadamia , a genus of plants from the family of proteaceae (Proteaceae) was named in his honor. It is best known for the “macadamia nuts”, the fruits of the five to six meter high trees.

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SURNAME Macadam, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian chemist, medic and politician
DATE OF BIRTH May 1827
PLACE OF BIRTH Northbank, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH September 2, 1865