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{{Short description|English chemistry university lecturer and army officer}}
{{Short description|English chemistry university lecturer and army officer}}
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{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{{about|the chemistry lecturer|other people named Brian Shaw|Brian Shaw (disambiguation)}}
{{about|the chemistry lecturer|other people named Brian Shaw|Brian Shaw (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox person
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| citizenship =
| citizenship =
| nationality =
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| alma_mater = [[University College, Nottingham]]
| alma_mater = [[University College, Nottingham]]
| awards = [[Military Medal]]<br/>[[Territorial Decoration]]
| awards = [[Military Medal]]<br />[[Territorial Decoration]]
| signature = <!--(filename only)-->
| signature = <!--(filename only)-->
| signature_alt =
| signature_alt =
| spouse = {{marriage|Margaret Elsie Wheldon|1916}}<br/>{{marriage|Alice Maud|1990}}
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Margaret Elsie Wheldon|1916}}
* {{marriage|Alice Maud|1990}}
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Lieutenant Colonel '''Brian Duncan Shaw''', {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|MM|TD}} (10 February 1898 – 7 November 1999) was a British chemistry lecturer at the [[University of Nottingham]],<ref name="CareerUNottingham">[http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/b.d.shaw.centenary/career.html "The Career of Lt. Col. Brian Duncan SHAW MM TD BSc PhD DSc"], ''[[University of Nottingham]]''. Retrieved on 30 January 2015.</ref> widely known for his demonstrations on explosives.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZoFFRCGZHc It's a Blast! public lecture on explosives by Col B D Shaw], accessed 31 January 2015.</ref>
Lieutenant Colonel '''Brian Duncan Shaw''', {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|MM|TD}} (10 February 1898 – 7 November 1999) was a British chemistry lecturer at the [[University of Nottingham]],<ref name="CareerUNottingham">[http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/b.d.shaw.centenary/career.html "The Career of Lt. Col. Brian Duncan SHAW MM TD BSc PhD DSc"], ''[[University of Nottingham]]''. Retrieved on 30 January 2015.</ref> known for his demonstrations on explosives.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZoFFRCGZHc It's a Blast! public lecture on explosives by Col B D Shaw], accessed 31 January 2015.</ref>


==Early and personal life==
==Early and personal life==
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He started working at [[Boots the Chemist]] in 1914 as an apprentice pharmacist.<ref name="CareerUNottingham" />
He started working at [[Boots the Chemist]] in 1914 as an apprentice pharmacist.<ref name="CareerUNottingham" />


In May 1916, he married to his first wife, Margaret Elsie Wheldon.<ref name="DictionaryNationalBio">{{Cite ODNB | doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/73575| author = Robin Mackie| title = Shaw, Brian Duncan (1898-1999)| year = 2004}}</ref> After her death, in 1990, he would marry to Alice Maud on 5 June of the same year, who, in turn, would die in 1998, a year before Shaw died.
In May 1916, he married his first wife, Margaret Elsie Wheldon.<ref name="DictionaryNationalBio">{{Cite ODNB | doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/73575| author = Robin Mackie| title = Shaw, Brian Duncan (1898-1999)| year = 2004}}</ref> After her death in 1990 he married Alice Maud on 5 June of the same year; she died in 1998, a year before Shaw himself.


==Career==
==Career==
===Military service===
===Military service===
During the [[First World War]], with the [[Royal Lincolnshire Regiment]],<ref>London Gazette 28 June 1918,Suplement 30733, Page 7720 {{Cite web |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30773/supplement/7720 |title=Appointment as Temporary Lieutenant Lincolnshire Regiment}}</ref> he fought on the battles of [[Battle of the Somme|Somme]], [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Cambrai]] and [[Battle of Passchendaele|Passchendaele]], .<ref name="UNottingham Centenary">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/b.d.shaw.centenary/career.html|title=The Career of Colonel Brian Shaw|website=www.nottingham.ac.uk}}</ref> In July 1917 Cpl Shaw was awarded the [[Military Medal]] (MM) for bravery at Beaucamp near Cambrai.
During the [[First World War]], with the [[Royal Lincolnshire Regiment]],<ref>London Gazette 28 June 1918,Supplement 30733, Page 7720 {{Cite web |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30773/supplement/7720 |title=Appointment as Temporary Lieutenant Lincolnshire Regiment}}</ref> he fought on the battles of [[Battle of the Somme|Somme]], [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Cambrai]] and [[Battle of Passchendaele|Passchendaele]].<ref name="UNottingham Centenary">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/b.d.shaw.centenary/career.html|title=The Career of Colonel Brian Shaw|website=www.nottingham.ac.uk}}</ref> In July 1917 Cpl Shaw was awarded the [[Military Medal]] (MM) for bravery at Beaucamp near Cambrai.
He served with the 5th Battalion, [[Sherwood Foresters]] in the [[Second World War]]. At the [[Fall of France]], on 10 June 1940, he was cut off in [[Normandy]] by German tanks, and was separated from the battalion he was with. After that, he got a bike and spent ten weeks hiding from the Nazis, while trying to reach [[Spain]], eventually cycling {{Convert|300|mi|abbr=off}}. Near [[Poitiers]], a French gendarme stopped him because the bicycle lacked a plaque used for annual tax, and phoned the Germans, who made him prisoner.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ten weeks in hiding |publisher=Nottingham Evening Post |page=5 |date=1 February 1941 |access-date=22 March 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000321/19410201/028/0005 }}</ref> He was sent to Germany and spent the rest of the war in five [[Prisoner-of-war camp|POW camps]],<ref name="CareerUNottingham" /> including at [[Tittmoning]], [[Bavaria]] and [[Oflag IX-A/H|Spangenburg bei Kassel]].<ref name="DictionaryNationalBio" />
He served with the 5th Battalion, [[Sherwood Foresters]] in the [[Second World War]]. At the [[Fall of France]], on 10 June 1940, he was cut off in [[Normandy]] by German tanks, and was separated from the battalion he was with. After that, he got a bike and spent ten weeks hiding from the Nazis, while trying to reach [[Spain]], eventually cycling {{Convert|300|mi|abbr=off}}. Near [[Poitiers]], a French gendarme stopped him because the bicycle lacked a plaque used for annual tax, and phoned the Germans, who made him prisoner.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ten weeks in hiding |publisher=Nottingham Evening Post |page=5 |date=1 February 1941 |access-date=22 March 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000321/19410201/028/0005 }}</ref> He was sent to Germany and spent the rest of the war in five [[Prisoner-of-war camp|POW camps]],<ref name="CareerUNottingham" /> including at [[Tittmoning]], [[Bavaria]] and [[Oflag IX-A/H|Spangenburg bei Kassel]].<ref name="DictionaryNationalBio" />


As a prisoner of war Shaw took part in theatrical productions. Among other things he [http://www.mgoodliffe.co.uk/images/ghost.jpg played] the part of the ghost in Hamlet in a production at Tittmoning.
As a prisoner of war, Shaw took part in theatrical productions. Among other things he [http://www.mgoodliffe.co.uk/images/ghost.jpg played] the part of the ghost in Hamlet in a production at Tittmoning.


===Academic career===
===Academic career===
Apart from a brief period as a Lecturer at the East London College, ending in 1923, B.D. Shaw spent his entire career as a lecturer in chemistry at University College in Nottingham, which from 1948 onwards was the [[University of Nottingham]].
Apart from a brief period as a Lecturer at the East London College, ending in 1923, B.D. Shaw spent his entire career as a lecturer in chemistry at University College in Nottingham, which from 1948 onwards was the [[University of Nottingham]].


From 1930 he became notable for the "Explosives Lecture" which demonstrated a large variety of ways to produce flashes and bangs using chemistry, including the famous [[Barking dog reaction]]. He would continue to provide this lecture for a total of 60 years, extending long past his official retirement. In 1969 the Explosives Lecture was filmed by the [[BBC]].<ref name=bdshawlec>{{cite web| title=The B.D. Shaw Lecture|url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/b.d.shaw.centenary/lecture.html|date=1999|publisher=University of Nottingham |access-date=13 Sep 2020}}</ref>
From 1930, he became known for the "Explosives Lecture" which demonstrated a large variety of ways to produce flashes and bangs using chemistry, including the [[barking dog reaction]]. He would continue to provide this lecture for a total of 60 years, extending long past his official retirement. In 1969, the Explosives Lecture was filmed by the [[BBC]].<ref name=bdshawlec>{{cite web| title=The B.D. Shaw Lecture|url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/b.d.shaw.centenary/lecture.html|date=1999|publisher=University of Nottingham |access-date=13 Sep 2020}}</ref>


He published several articles on pyridines, mainly in the [[Journal of the Chemical Society]].<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/CT9232302233| title = CCXLIX.?Bromination of aliphatic acids| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions| volume = 123| pages = 2233–2240| year = 1923| last1 = Shaw | first1 = B. D. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/CT9242501930| title = CCXLV.?Fission of the pyridine nucleus during reduction| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions| volume = 125| pages = 1930–1934| year = 1924| last1 = Shaw | first1 = B. D. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/CT9242502363| title = CCCXIX.?2 : 6-Distyrylpyridine and its derivatives| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions| volume = 125| pages = 2363–2365| year = 1924| last1 = Shaw | first1 = B. D. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/CT9252700215| title = XXXVI.?Fission of the pyridine nucleus during reduction. Part II. The preparation of glutardialdoxime| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions| volume = 127| pages = 215–216| year = 1925| last1 = Shaw | first1 = B. D. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/JR9300000504| title = LXXI.?The reactivity of halogen atoms in compounds of the pyridine series. Part I. The halides of 2-stilbazole| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed)| pages = 504–507| year = 1930| last1 = Blood | first1 = J. W. | last2 = Shaw | first2 = B. D. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/JR9370000300| title = 61. The preparation of 1 : 5-dioximes from pyridine bases| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed)| pages = 300| year = 1937| last1 = Shaw | first1 = B. D. }}</ref>
He published several articles on pyridines, mainly in the [[Journal of the Chemical Society]].<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/CT9232302233| title = CCXLIX.?Bromination of aliphatic acids| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions| volume = 123| pages = 2233–2240| year = 1923| last1 = Shaw | first1 = B. D. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/CT9242501930| title = CCXLV.?Fission of the pyridine nucleus during reduction| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions| volume = 125| pages = 1930–1934| year = 1924| last1 = Shaw | first1 = B. D. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/CT9242502363| title = CCCXIX.?2 : 6-Distyrylpyridine and its derivatives| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions| volume = 125| pages = 2363–2365| year = 1924| last1 = Shaw | first1 = B. D. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/CT9252700215| title = XXXVI.?Fission of the pyridine nucleus during reduction. Part II. The preparation of glutardialdoxime| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions| volume = 127| pages = 215–216| year = 1925| last1 = Shaw | first1 = B. D. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/JR9300000504| title = LXXI.?The reactivity of halogen atoms in compounds of the pyridine series. Part I. The halides of 2-stilbazole| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed)| pages = 504–507| year = 1930| last1 = Blood | first1 = J. W. | last2 = Shaw | first2 = B. D. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/JR9370000300| title = 61. The preparation of 1 : 5-dioximes from pyridine bases| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed)| pages = 300| year = 1937| last1 = Shaw | first1 = B. D. }}</ref>
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[[Category:People from Ilkeston]]
[[Category:People from Ilkeston]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Nottingham]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Nottingham]]
[[Category:English centenarians]]
[[Category:English men centenarians]]
[[Category:Men centenarians]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers]]

Latest revision as of 03:09, 15 November 2024

This article is about the chemistry lecturer. For other people named Brian Shaw, see Brian Shaw (disambiguation).

Brian Duncan Shaw
MM TD
Brian Shaw in 1947
Born(1898-02-10)10 February 1898
Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England
Died7 November 1999(1999-11-07) (aged 101)[1]
Beeston, Nottinghamshire, England[2]
Alma materUniversity College, Nottingham
Spouses
Margaret Elsie Wheldon
​
​
(m. 1916)​
Alice Maud
​
(m. 1990)​
AwardsMilitary Medal
Territorial Decoration
Scientific career
Thesis (1927)
Doctoral advisorFrederic Stanley Kipping

Lieutenant Colonel Brian Duncan Shaw, MM, TD (10 February 1898 – 7 November 1999) was a British chemistry lecturer at the University of Nottingham,[3] known for his demonstrations on explosives.[4]

Early and personal life

[edit]

Shaw was born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, the fourth and youngest child of Samuel Shaw and Lydia Emma Shaw, his brothers and sisters being named Lydia Emma, Mabel and Clarence Gordon. His father was a brick manufacturer and his mother had been working as a teacher.[5]

He started working at Boots the Chemist in 1914 as an apprentice pharmacist.[3]

In May 1916, he married his first wife, Margaret Elsie Wheldon.[6] After her death in 1990 he married Alice Maud on 5 June of the same year; she died in 1998, a year before Shaw himself.

Career

[edit]

Military service

[edit]

During the First World War, with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment,[7] he fought on the battles of Somme, Cambrai and Passchendaele.[8] In July 1917 Cpl Shaw was awarded the Military Medal (MM) for bravery at Beaucamp near Cambrai.

He served with the 5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters in the Second World War. At the Fall of France, on 10 June 1940, he was cut off in Normandy by German tanks, and was separated from the battalion he was with. After that, he got a bike and spent ten weeks hiding from the Nazis, while trying to reach Spain, eventually cycling 300 miles (480 kilometres). Near Poitiers, a French gendarme stopped him because the bicycle lacked a plaque used for annual tax, and phoned the Germans, who made him prisoner.[9] He was sent to Germany and spent the rest of the war in five POW camps,[3] including at Tittmoning, Bavaria and Spangenburg bei Kassel.[6]

As a prisoner of war, Shaw took part in theatrical productions. Among other things he played the part of the ghost in Hamlet in a production at Tittmoning.

Academic career

[edit]

Apart from a brief period as a Lecturer at the East London College, ending in 1923, B.D. Shaw spent his entire career as a lecturer in chemistry at University College in Nottingham, which from 1948 onwards was the University of Nottingham.

From 1930, he became known for the "Explosives Lecture" which demonstrated a large variety of ways to produce flashes and bangs using chemistry, including the barking dog reaction. He would continue to provide this lecture for a total of 60 years, extending long past his official retirement. In 1969, the Explosives Lecture was filmed by the BBC.[10]

He published several articles on pyridines, mainly in the Journal of the Chemical Society.[11][12][13][14][15][16]

After his retirement in 1965, he continued giving lectures and worked as an expert witness in several court cases, such as the defence of the Angry Brigade.[17][18]

A blue plaque was installed on 16 November 2012 at his home.[19][20] As a part of the Periodic table of videos, Prof. Martyn Poliakoff and Brady Haran filmed the event.[21]

The Shaw Medal

[edit]

In 1988, the University of Nottingham created a medal in his honour called the Shaw Medal. Shaw himself was the first recipient of this prize.[3]

[edit]
  • The blue plaque located at the front door of its former residence at Queens Road, Beeston.
    The blue plaque located at the front door of its former residence at Queens Road, Beeston.
  • Shaw (left), 5th Battalion Sherwood Foresters at Bisley 1947, firing a Bren light machine gun. The 5th Battalion team won the 'China Cup', 'Velongdis Cup' and 'Lewis 9mm' cup at Bisley in 1947
    Shaw (left), 5th Battalion Sherwood Foresters at Bisley 1947, firing a Bren light machine gun. The 5th Battalion team won the 'China Cup', 'Velongdis Cup' and 'Lewis 9mm' cup at Bisley in 1947
  • Rare image of Dr Brian Duncan Shaw giving a practical demonstration of explosive chemistry at the age of 88.[22]
    Rare image of Dr Brian Duncan Shaw giving a practical demonstration of explosive chemistry at the age of 88.[22]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "'Official Gazette of United Kingdom', 15 August 2000". Archived from the original on 30 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  2. ^ "'Blue plaque for birthplace of Nottingham's famous explosives lecturer', 5 March 2015". 5 March 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d "The Career of Lt. Col. Brian Duncan SHAW MM TD BSc PhD DSc", University of Nottingham. Retrieved on 30 January 2015.
  4. ^ It's a Blast! public lecture on explosives by Col B D Shaw, accessed 31 January 2015.
  5. ^ Brian Duncan shaw - Genealogy Chart - Boards - Genes Reunited, accessed 22 March 2015.
  6. ^ a b Robin Mackie (2004). "Shaw, Brian Duncan (1898-1999)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/73575. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. ^ London Gazette 28 June 1918,Supplement 30733, Page 7720 "Appointment as Temporary Lieutenant Lincolnshire Regiment".
  8. ^ "The Career of Colonel Brian Shaw". www.nottingham.ac.uk.
  9. ^ "Ten weeks in hiding". Nottingham Evening Post. 1 February 1941. p. 5. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  10. ^ "The B.D. Shaw Lecture". University of Nottingham. 1999. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  11. ^ Shaw, B. D. (1923). "CCXLIX.?Bromination of aliphatic acids". Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions. 123: 2233–2240. doi:10.1039/CT9232302233.
  12. ^ Shaw, B. D. (1924). "CCXLV.?Fission of the pyridine nucleus during reduction". Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions. 125: 1930–1934. doi:10.1039/CT9242501930.
  13. ^ Shaw, B. D. (1924). "CCCXIX.?2 : 6-Distyrylpyridine and its derivatives". Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions. 125: 2363–2365. doi:10.1039/CT9242502363.
  14. ^ Shaw, B. D. (1925). "XXXVI.?Fission of the pyridine nucleus during reduction. Part II. The preparation of glutardialdoxime". Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions. 127: 215–216. doi:10.1039/CT9252700215.
  15. ^ Blood, J. W.; Shaw, B. D. (1930). "LXXI.?The reactivity of halogen atoms in compounds of the pyridine series. Part I. The halides of 2-stilbazole". Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed): 504–507. doi:10.1039/JR9300000504.
  16. ^ Shaw, B. D. (1937). "61. The preparation of 1 : 5-dioximes from pyridine bases". Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed): 300. doi:10.1039/JR9370000300.
  17. ^ Jones, David (28 November 1985). "Still going down like a bomb". New Scientist: 62–63. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  18. ^ Exploding Pianos - Periodic Table of Videos on YouTube. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  19. ^ "Blue Plaques". 31 August 2014.
  20. ^ "Blue Plaques". www.beestonhistory.org.uk.
  21. ^ Explosives Legend - Periodic Table of Videos on YouTube. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  22. ^ "Colonel Brian Shaw's Explosives Lecture".

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]

Media related to Brian Duncan Shaw at Wikimedia Commons

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