Pattison Muir (1848-193 1) RALPH E . OESPER University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
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HE hopes and ambitions of fathers are often realized only m the successes of their sons. Likewise many teachers, standing in loco parentis, find their greatest rewards in the accomplishments of their students. Every college teacher of science is eventually confronted with the eternal question: teaching or research? Those who choose teaching as their main business are not well remembered, or a t least not very long. They leave little behind beyond the affectionate and respectful gratitude of those whose lives have been shaped and bettered by contact with these unselfish men. Such grateful sentiments are ephemeral a t best, and for the most part are felt rather than expressed. James Hilton caught considerable of this spirit in his "Mr. Chips," and much of the popularity of this book came from those who recognized that he had said what they had been wishing to say to their revered, self-sacrificing teachers. Matthew Moncrieff Pattison Muir was born on November 1, 1848, a t Glasgow. He was educated a t the University there and then a t Tubingen. The FrancoPmssian War closed the German universities before he could obtain his doctorate. He returned to Scotland and in 1871 was appointed Demonstrator in Chemistry a t Anderson's College, Glasgow, where T. E. Thorpe was his chief. In 1873 he became Demonstrator and Assistant Lecturer under Henry Roscoe a t Owens College, Manchester. His record was so good that in 1877 he was called to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, as Praelector. He served this school for 30 years. When he retired from active teaching in 1906, he was a Fellow of the College, and held the rank of Lecturer and was also head of the College Chemical Laboratory. Characteristically, he had not sought high places nor flashy distinctions. He was a member of the Council of the Chemical Society from 1890 to 1894; the Royal Society of Edinburgh made him a Fellow in 1873. The degree Hon. M.A. was conferred a t Cambridge in 1880. Not a long nor impressive list. At the beginning of his career he published constantly. He, either alone or with young collaborators, published 18 papers on bismuth compounds, so that for a time he was known in chemical circles as "Bismuth Muir." However, he then forsook active laboratory research, though he always advised promising young men to enter this phase of chemistry. He specialized in teaching, and many hundreds of prospective scientists, and especially pre-medicals, learned a t least the essentials of chemistry under him. His lectures were clear, well delivered, and interesting. Basic principles and broad generalizations were emphasized rather than details. He experimented a good deal with teaching methods and his excellent texts are still
good reading. The laboratory exercises were an integral part of his system of chemical education and he gave particular attention to the students while they were engaged in following a carefully planned series of preparations, analyses, etc. Neatness in the laboratory was one of his pet requirements. His terse description of a poor student, who was also slovenly, could well be displayed as an admonition to students everywhere: "Desk in a puddle, brain in a muddle." For the beginners he wrote a number of texts, including: "Practical Chemistry for Medical Students" (1878); "Elementary Chemistry" (with C. Slater) (1887) ; "Practical Chemistry, A Course of Laboratory Work" (with D. Carnegie) (1887); "Tables and Directions for the Qualitative Chemical Analyses of Moderately Complex Mixtures of Salts" (1895). His charming "The Chemistry of Fie" (1893) had as its object "to set forth in a simple way the chief elementary principles of chemistry by the study of a common occurrence, namely, the burning of a candle." This book, in 160 pages, covers the essence of a good short course, and goes far beyond Faraday's "The History of a Candle," which inevitably is called to mind. "To know what to omit has been one of the most difficult parts of my undertaking. The chemical student is too often subjected to a shower-bath of facts; he is made to feel that to sit as a passive bucket and be pumped intocan in the long-run be exhilarating to no creature." Those who write general chemistries, and those who teach beginners from these encyclopedic texts can find good food for thought in this excerpt from Muir's Preface to his "Treatise on the Principles of Chemistry" (1884). This text, intended for those who possessed some knowledge of descriptive chemistry, dealt with the theories of modern chemistry from a historical point of view, and the author traced the connections between the older and the current theories. "It is hoped that the student may thus gain a firmer grasp of these theories than he is able to do when they are put before him as entirely creations of recent times." A second editon appeared in 1889. A very snccessful venture into a new (for him) field was a second edition of Watt's "Dictionary of Chemistry." This classic was entirely revised and rewritten by Muir and F. H. Morley, assisted by eminent contributors. In these four volumes (1898-1901) they presented "a valuable and up to date abstract of the science." In 1885, with the collaboration of D. M. Wilson, he published "Elements of Thermal Chemistry." Muir was an ardent student of the history of chemistry! He wrote entertainingly and effectively in this field. In his "Heroes of Science" (1883) he "endeavored
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to exhibit, by selected biographies, the progress of lor to his boys. Tea was served in the advanced laborachemistry from the beginning of the inductive method tory every day, and teachers and students came to(Black) until the present time." In 1893 he published gether for a profitable interlude. His home was always "The Alchemical Essence and the Chemical Element; an open, and even shy undergraduates soon learned to take Episode in the Quest of the Unchanging." "The Story advantage of this hospitality. He and his wife were of the Chemical Elements," a historical account, ap- affectionately remembered by the students after they peared in 1896. This was followed (1899) by "The left Cambridge, and many wrote to him regularly. After he retired, he lived a t Farnham and later a t Story of the Wanderings of Atoms. Especially Those of Carbon" and by "Thestory of Alchemy and the Begin- Norwich. He continued his literary work, though his nings of Chemistry'' in 1902. His great "History of efforts were mainly along nonscientific lines. He gave Chemical Theories and Laws" appeared in 1909. "The lectures, and took an active part in helping the public more I try to understand chemistry, the more I am con- libraries of the city. His two sons entered the church, vinced that the methods, achievements, and aims of the and Muir moved to Epsom, where the elder son was science can be realized only by him who has followed vicar. Muir was a deeply religious man, but his views the gradual development of chemical ideas." His last were often a t variance with the orthodox Scotch tenets. book (1914) in this field was "Roger Bacon, his Rela- In politics he was an ardent follower of Gladstone, and believed strongly in Home Rule. Professor Muir died tions to Alchemy and Chemistry." Professor Muir was not only a good teacher and effec- a t Epsom on September 2, 1931, a t the age of 82. His tive writer, he was also a good friend and wise counsel- indeed had been a life alcd with service.
