How to Use the Database

Ways you can interrogate the database

• Browse personal names alphabetically
• Search for personal names
• Search for individuals at a firm, academic institution, or society
• Search for individuals born in a particular year (or range of years)

• Browse personal names alphabetically

If you know the name of the chemist you want details on, the easiest way to locate information on that person is to browse the alphabetical list of names. For example, to find the physical organic chemist, C K Ingold, click on the letter 'I' in the alphabet brought up by clicking on the 'Browse' button. This will take you to a list of all the 'I' entries in the database. Scroll through the list until you reach 'Ingold, Christopher Kelk Sir (1893-1970)'. Click on this link to view the database's information on Ingold.

• Search for a personal name

If you are vague about an individual's name ('J Smith'), another way to find a person's details is to use the form brought up by clicking on the 'Search' button. Enter the information that you do know about the person's name ('Smith') in the Family Name box and ('J') in the First Name box. Then click on 'Submit' to see a list of all 'J Smith's' (including 'J Goldsmith'). If the list is short enough, click on the individual entries until you locate your 'J Smith'. However, it might be quicker to refine your search by entering other information, which you may have, in further boxes on the 'Search' form. For instance, enter the name of a firm where you know your J Smith worked, or a univeristy or college where your J Smith studied, in the Institution box, and/or enter an approximate year of birth (a likely range of years) in the Born Between boxes. Then 'Submit' your query again.

• Search for individuals at a firm, academic institution, or society

To see a list of everyone who the database includes as having worked for a particular firm, as having studied at a particular university or college, or as having belonged to a particular society, enter the name of the firm, academic institution, or society in the Institution box on the Search form. Beware that certain institution names (Chemical Society!) will return unmanageable numbers of individuals and that the constraints on names included here mean that such returns cannot be used for statistical purposes, see Studies of the 'British Chemical Community' Project.

• Search for individuals born in a particular year (or range of years)

To see a list of everyone in the database born in a particular year, enter that year in the first of the Born Between boxes. To see a list of everyone in the database born in a particular range of years, enter the first year of the range in the first Born Between box and the final year of the range in the second Born Between box. Such a search might be helpful for identifying generational groups, but again the constraints on names included here mean that such returns cannot be used for statistical purposes, see Studies of the 'British Chemical Community' Project.

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