Tony Tench, through the eyes of three scientists who knew him well

xv

Tony Tench,

t h r o u g h t h e eyes o f t h r e e scientists who krifw h i m well

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I m p r e s s i o n s o f a co-worker a t H a r w e l l : a t r i b u t e by D r . R . L .

N e l s o n , AERE

" I t i s a p r i v i l e g e t o be a b l e t o c o n t r i b u t e i n a s m a l l way a t t h i s

Symposium t o h o n o u r t h e memory o f Tony Tench. B e i n g a c o n t e m p o r a r y and co-worker

o f T o n y ' s I h a v e many p e r s o n a l m e m o r i e s , b u t t h e r e a r e f o u r i n

p a r t i c u l a r t h a t I would l i k e t o s h a r e w i t h you. Tony and I j o i n e d H a r w e l l i n t h e e a r l y 1960s and s h o r t l y a f t e r we s t a r t e d o u r c o l l a b o r a t i o n on t h e examinat i o n of i r r a d i a t e d magnesium o x i d e . We c a r r i e d o u t a ' t i t r a t i o n " o f a c o l o u r c e n t r e w i t h oxygen i n t h e c a v i t y o f a n E.S.R.

m a c h i n e . Having s t a y e d o n l a t e

t o c o m p l e t e t h e e x p e r i m e n t we f i n i s h e d o f f b y w r i t i n g down on a s i n g l e s h e e t o f p a p e r a l l t h e a p p a r e n t a t t r i b u t e s o f t h i s c e n t r e ; t h i s done we l o o k e d a t e a c h o t h e r and knew w h a t t h e o t h e r was t h i n k i n g - a magic moment

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this defect

h a d t o b e a s u r f a c e oxygen i o n v a c a n c y w i t h a t r a p p e d e l e c t r o n , t h e S o r Fs c e n t r e . We d i d n o t know t h e n t h a t J a c k L u n s f o r d was on t h e same t r a i l b u t soon a f t e r w a r d s we w e r e e a g e r l y s c a n n i n g e a c h new j o u r n a l from t h e USA t o s e e what new c e n t r e J a c k h a d d i s c o v e r e d on MgO. I t i s p l e a s u r e t o h a v e P r o f e s s o r L u n s f o r d ' s c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h i s Symposium a s i t i s a l s o t o h a v e P r o f e s s o r F r a n k S t o n e ' s whom Tony and I c o n s u l t e d r e g u l a r l y i n t h o s e e a r l y d a y s o f o b s e r v a t i o n s on s u r f a c e d e f e c t s on o x i d e s . My s e c o n d memory o f Tony was s h o r t l y a f t e r h i s f i r s t m a j o r o p e r a t i o n i n

1965. While h e was r e c o v e r i n g from t h i s we u s e d t o t a k e d a i l y w a l k s a l o n g t h e b a n k s o f t h e Thames a t Abingdon. H i s enormous d r i v e was e v i d e n t on t h e s e w a l k s b y h i s c o n s t a n t c o n c e r n t o p l a n f u r t h e r e x p e r i m e n t s and we s u c c e e d e d i n l a y i n g t h e b a s i s o f o u r work f o r t h e f o l l o w i n g t h r e e t o f o u r y e a r s . He h a d t h e s t r e n g t h t o s e t a s i d e t h e u n c e r t a i n t i e s o f h i s p e r s o n a l h e a l t h and p l a n f o r t h e f u t u r e - a common theme t h r o u g h a l l h i s work. One o f t h e a r e a s we s u b s e q u e n t l y s t u d i e d was t h e r o l e o f t r a n s i t i o n m e t a l i o n s i n magnesium o x i d e and

i t is a p l e a s u r e t o h a v e a c o n t r i b u t i o n from P r o f e s s o r D a n t e C o r d i s c h i a t t h i s Symposium. D a n t e was t h e f i r s t o f many w o r k e r s from o v e r s e a s w i t h whom Tony c o l l a b o r a t e d so s u c c e s s f u l l y .

XVI Then, a g a i n , a f t e r we a t t e n d e d promotion i n t e r v i e w s on t h e same day i n London we s p e n t a most e n j o y a b l e a f t e r n o o n i n t h e N a t i o n a l G a l l e r y . Tony had a . v e r y profound a p p r e c i a t i o n of a r t and t h i s i n t e r e s t p e r s i s t e d throughout the following years. My f i n a l memory of him was o n l y t h r e e days b e f o r e h i s d e a t h . Although c l e a r l y i n d i s t r e s s he had come i n t o Harwell t o cope w i t h s c i e n t i f i c and a d m i n i s t r a t i v e i s s u e s r e l a t i n g t o h i s group and t h e p r o j e c t w i t h which he was c u r r e n t l y concerned. I dropped i n t o h i s o f f i c e and, a f t e r t h e u s u a l wolds of g r e e t i n g , we looked a t each o t h e r a s we had t h a t evening i n 1964, a g a i n no words were n e c e s s a r y . My l a s t i n g memory i s one of a man of g r e a t courage. "

- Impressions of a co-worker from o v e r s e a s and a r e g u l a r v i s i t o r a t Harwell : a t r i b u t e by P r o f . S. C o l u c c i a , U n i v e r s i t y of T u r i n , I t a l y I am d e e p l y g r a t e f u l t o t h e o r g a n i s e r s who have asked me t o s a y a few words a b o u t Tony Tench, a s I was one of h i s c o l l a b o r a t o r s from abroad. I am g r a t e f u l because I have been given t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o s a y something I should have s a i d t o Tony and t h a t , a s i t happens, I r e g r e t I never d i d . I s h a l l n o t t a l k about h i s s c i e n t i f i c works t h a t were s o v a l u a b l e , b u t about Tony a s t h e man I knew, a s t h e f r i e n d he became t o me d u r i n g o u r l o n g collaboration. Tony Tench i n v i t e d me t o t h e A . E . R . E .

a s Vacation A s s o c i a t e f o r t h e f i r s t

t i m e i n 1974. I had never m e t him b e f o r e , and w a s s u r p r i s e d t o s e e how young h e was. I had imagined him t o b e o l d e r on t h e b a s i s of h i s g r e a t number of valuable papers. S i n c e t h a t t i m e I have r e t u r n e d t o England f o r a few months e v e r y y e a r and g r a d u a l l y g o t t o know him. H e c e r t a i n l y w a s n o t an e a s y man t o u n d e r s t a n d .

He w a s k i n d , i n f o r m a l , h e l p f u l , b u t h e never t a l k e d a b o u t h i m s e l f . He used

t o work v e r y h a r d and I w a s c o n t i n u o u s l y s t r u c k by t h e a b i l i t y h e had t o o r g a n i z e h i s time r i g o r o u s l y : s o many h o u r s f o r r e s e a r c h , s o many h o u r s

XVII

for administrative work, and

so

on for sport, etc. This was the secret which

allowed him to follow “so many projects”, as he used to say. Another characteristic of Tony was his determination, often his anxiety, to see things finished, and I must have made him unhappy many times with my laziness in writing papers. But all this did not mean he was reserved. On the contrary, he liked to invite and to be invited to parties, to walk and visit places in company, though I knew he loved his solitary walks on the Downs, There were often several visitors in his laboratory and he encouraged us to get to know one another, helped in this by his wife Ann. Indeed I owe Ann for the fact that I met

so

so

much t o Tony and

many colleagues at the A.E.R.E. who became

dear friends to me. As time went on, the ties between Tony and myself grew well beyond scientific collaboration. Nevertheless, he never mentioned his illness to me, and i t was only a few years ago that

I started to understand how serious it was,

and to realize with what serene awareness he had been fighting his battle to live a normal and productive life for his wife Ann, for his children Allen and Colin, for his friends, for himself. He succeeded, and I am s u r e we all feel that his greatness is here.

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Impressions of a scientific competitor : a tribute by Prof. J.H. Lunsford, Texas A & M University, USA

At the present, collaborative research is stressed in many circles, probably with good justification. My experience with Tony Tench over the past twenty years, however, have taught me that competition between research groups may be equally as beneficial as collaboration. The history of chemistry is replete with sordid stories of strife between research groups in keen competition, yet such w a s never our experience. The fruitfulness of our competition largely may be attributed to Tony’s kind and gentle personality. This is best illustrated by the following event which occurred at the time when I first met Tony.

XVIll I n t h e mid-1960's

S

I had m i s t a k e n l y a t t r i b u t e d c e r t a i n f e a t u r e s o f t h e

s p e c t r u m t o g - v a l u e s a n i s o t r o p y . Tony and I were b o t h s p e a k e r s a t a n

H American Chemical S o c i e t y Symposium i n Miami d u r i n g t h e l a t e ~ O ' S , and

f o l l o w i n g a s e s s i o n I had a c h a n c e t o d i s c u s s w i t h him some o f h i s r e c e n t r e s u l t s . He d e s c r i b e d e x p e r i m e n t s which c l e a r l y d e m o n s t r a t e d o u r e r r o r , y e t h e d i d t h i s i n s u c h a d i s a r m i n g and m a t t e r - o f - f a c t

manner t h a t I r e s p e c t e d

Tony b o t h a s a f r i e n d and a s a s u p e r b s c i e n t i s t u n t i l h i s u n t i m e l y d e a t h . D u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d and i n t h e e a r l y 7 0 ' s o u r r e s e a r c h programs w e r e a m a z i n g l y s i m i l a r , a l t h o u g h we r a r e l y knew what t h e o t h e r was d o i n g u n t i l we r e a d t h e j o u r n a l s .

I n t h e e a r l y summer o f

1970, w h i l e a t t e m p t i n g t o make

t h e N20i i o n . we o b t a i n e d f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e t h e EPR s p e c t r u m o f 0- on magnesium o x i d e . D u r i n g August o f t h a t summer I was t e l l i n g C l a u d e Naccache o f o u r d i s c o v e r y , and upon h e a r i n g o u r r e s u l t s Claude i n f o r m e d me t h a t j u s t p r i o r t o v i s i t i n g u s , h e had b e e n i n H a r w e l l . T h e r e h e had l e a r n e d t h a t Tony had i d e n t i f i e d t h e same s p e c i e s . Thus, w i t h i n a p e r i o d o f s e v e r a l weeks n e a r l y i d e n t i c a l e x p e r i m e n t s w e r e c a r r i e d o u t i n d e p e n d e n t l y on b o t h s i d e s of the A t l a n t i c . Needless t o say, our competitive s p i r i t taught u s t o publish our r e s u l t s a s rapidly a s possible.

I t i s f o r t h i s r e a s o n t h a t many o f t h e r e p o r t s from

b o t h l a b o r a t o r i e s a p p e a r i n j o u r n a l s s u c h a s Chemical Communications and Chemical P h y s i c s L e t t e r s . Not o n l y d i d c o m p e t i t i o n b e n e f i t my r e s e a r c h p r o g r a m , b u t T o n y ' s c r e a t i v e e x p e r i m e n t s l i k e w i s e h a v e had a p o s i t i v e e f f e c t . F o r e x a m p l e , h i s p i o n e e r i n g u s e o f oxygen-I7

in t h e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f t h e s u p e r o x i d e i o n on magnesium

o x i d e prompted u s t o employ t h i s e x p e n s i v e i s o t o p e t o c o n f i r m t h e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f t h e 0- i o n . I n a d d i t i o n , Tony p u b l i s h e d a l a r g e l y u n r e c o g n i z e d n o t e i n w h i c h h e d e s c r i b e d how h y d r o g e n a t o m s , g e n e r a t e d i n a d i s c h a r g e , r e a c t e d w i t h magnesium o x i d e t o form F

c e n t e r s and a p r o t o n . T h i s p u b l i c a -

t i o n l a t e r formed a b a s i s f o r o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e manner i n which alkyl r a d i c a l s r e a c t with metal oxide surfaces. C l e a r l y , Tony's r e s e a r c h , coupled with h i s person, h a s g r e a t l y influenced t h e manner i n which we v i e w s u r f a c e d e f e c t s and s u r f a c e oxygen i o n s . I s u s p e c t t h e same c a n b e s a i d o f h i s i n f l u e n c e o n many l a b o r a t o r i e s t h r o u g h o u t t h e w o r l d . The r e s u l t s o f my c o m p e t i t i o n w i t h Tony which was o f t e n i n t e n s e b u t a l w a y s c o n g e n i a l c a n b e s t b e summarized b y t h e p r o v e r b , " I r o n s h a r p e n s i r o n , s o o n e man s h a r p e n s a n o t h e r . "