Roberts, Muriel

West, Muriel. Notes on the importance of alchemy to modem science in the writings of Francis Bacon and Robert Boyle. Ambix 9, no. 2 (Jun 1961) 102-114. 

Analytical chemistry was an area favoured by some women chemists during the interwar period. In fact, a remarkable number of women chemists who graduated from UL chose this direction. We have chosen three individuals to exemplify this Dorothy Baylis, Muriel Roberts, and Gertrude Andrew. 

Whereas Baylis led a peripatetic life, Muriel Roberts45 remained in one position for most of her career. Roberts was bom in 1894 and completed her B.Sc. at UL in 1915. She became a member of the Society for Chemical Industry in 1924 and of the Analytical Society in 1931. Her name appears as Senior Analyst of the Liverpool City Corporation in 1932, and she still held this post at her retirement. She died on 29 June 1985, aged 91 years. 

Scott-Moncrieff, R. (1981). The classical period in chemical genetics Recollections of Muriel Wheldale Onslow, Robert and Gertrude Robinson and J. B. S. Haldane. Notes and Records of the Royal Society, London 36 125-154. 

The research relationship between the married biochemists Dorothy Moyle (see Chap. 8) and Joseph Needham could better be described as autonomous rather than independent, as their research overlapped to a significant extent. We will see below that the descriptor autonomous also fits the research profile of Gertrude Walsh with Robert Robinson. Finally, Muriel Wheldale s collaboration with Huia Onslow (see Chap. 8) might be considered farther along the collaborative spectrum as semi-autonomous. Nevertheless, most active women spouse-chemists were part of a collaborative couple. 

See Muriel West, Notes on the Importance of Alchemy to Modern Science in the Writings of Francis Bacon and Robert Boyle, Ambix 9, 1961, 102-114 William R. Newman, Boyle s Debt to Corpuscular Alchemy, in Robert Boyle Reconsidered, ed. Hunter Lawrence M. Principe, Robert Boyle s Alchemical Secrecy Codes, Ciphers, and Concealments, Ambix 39, 1992, 63-74 idem, Boyle s alchemical pursuits, ibid., 91-105 idem, The Aspiring Adept-, Michael Hunter, Alchemy, Magic and Moralism in the Thought of Robert Boyle, British Journal for the History of Science 23, 1990, 387- 10. 

Muriel Funck, Neil D. Bowley, Gareth W. V. Cave, Stephanie E. B. McArdle, and Robert C. Rees, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Lane, Nottingham NG11 8NS, United Kingdom... 

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