Background
Kendall, James was born on July 30, 1889 in Surrey, England. Son of William Henry and Rebecca (Pickering) Kendall.
Kendall, James was born on July 30, 1889 in Surrey, England. Son of William Henry and Rebecca (Pickering) Kendall.
He attended the local village school and then from 1900 Farnham Grammar School. In 1907 he went up to Edinburgh University graduating both Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in 1910.
In 1912, with the help of a scholarship he left for the Nobel Institute for Physical Chemistry in Stockholm to work with Arrhenius on electrolytes. In 1913 he accepted the position as Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University, New New York He also served in 1917 as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Reserve, acting as Liaison Officer with Allied Services on Chemical Warfare.
His candidacy for the Royal Society of London in 1924 read: "Distinguished as an investigator in physical and general chemistry.
Has published since 1912, partly with collaborators, over sixty papers in Proc Roy Social, Journ Chem Social, Philosophy Magazine, Journ American Chem Social, Journ Phys Chemistry, etc, dealing with the following subjects: - "Mechanism of the Ionisation Process". The Problem of Strong Electrolytes".
"Correlation of Compound Formation, Ionisation and Solubility in Solution, and in Fused Salt Mixtures". "Prediction of Solubility in Polar Solutions".
"Stability of Hydrates and other Additive Compounds".
"Viscosity of Binary Mixtures". "A Method for the Separation of Rare Earths and of Isotopes." He was elected in 1927. In 1926 he moved to be Professor of Chemistry at New York University pending a final move back to Scotland to be Professor of Chemistry at Edinburgh University.
In 1938 Kendall was invited to deliver the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture on Young Chemists and Great Discoveries.
After many years of service to the Royal Society of Edinburgh he was appointed President from 1949-1954. James Kendall appears as a character in the opera Breathe Freely by Scottish Composer Julian Wagstaff.
(The opera"s title is borrowed from Kendall"s book of the same name).
Fellow Royal Society, Royal Society Edinburgh, American Association for the Advancement of Science. Member American Chemical Society (chairman New York section, 1925), American Institute Chemists (chairman New York section 1926), London Chemical Society, London Society Chemical Industry, Faraday Society, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Alpha Chi Sigma, Phi Lambda Upsilon. Clubs: Century, Chemists’.
Revised and rewrote Smith’s Intermediate Chemistry, Smith’s College Chemistry, Smith’s Elementary Chemistry, Smith’s Inorganic Chemistry, and laboratory outlines of each, 1922-1926.
Married Alice Tyldesley, of Victoria, British Columbia, September 13, 1915. Children: James Tyldesley, Isabella Jean, Alice Rebecca.