Unwise Relationships and an Unsound Valence Theory: The Chemical Career of Robert Fergus Hunter (1904-1963)

The life of the Imperial College-trained Robert Fergus Hunter (1904-1963) was a Bildungsroman of a gifted chemist who appeared destined for a prominent academic career in organic chemistry. Two circumstances spoiled his chances. In the first place, he became associated with the declining fortunes of the weekly Chemical News. More seriously, as a professor at the Aligarh Muslim University in British India (1930-1936), he published papers on valence theory with the German-Jewish physicist Rudolf Samuel that fatally destroyed his chance of further academic preferment. Instead he became a research chemist in the food and plastics industries. The paper critically assesses Hunter's work on valence and also provides new light on science in India during the 1930s.