Victor Gold FRS FRSC (29 June 1922 – 29 September 1985) was a chemist who served on the faculty of King's College, London.Carsten Reinhardt (2001), Chemical sciences in the 20th century, page 20. Wiley-VCH, ,
Gold was born in Vienna, the son of lawyer Oscar Gold and his first wife, the former Emmy Kopperl. He was raised primarily by his mother. Gold arrived in England, at Croydon aerodrome, in the spring of 1938, aged 15. His entry to the UK had been arranged by his uncle Max Gold (father of Thomas Gold, FRS). He was sent, with a cousin, to Loughborough College to learn English and work in the engineering workshops (probably with Herbert Schofield).
By the autumn of 1939, Gold had gained a place at University College (transferred to King's and Bristol, because of the war) to study chemistry, but the following summer all Austrian and German aliens were interned, mostly in Douglas, Isle of Man. In the camp Gold met Hans Pelzer, one of the founders of transition state theory, who taught Victor some quantum mechanics.
Gold was released from internment in December 1940, and joined UCL, now in Aberystwyth; Bristol was out of bounds for him. After a poor start he gained a first-class honours degree, largely thanks to the encouragement of Sir Christopher Ingold. In 1944, Gold was appointed Demonstrator at King's, now back in the Strand. He remained at King's for the rest of his life. Milestones along the way were:
1946 — Assistant Lecturer 1947 — Lecturer 1956 — Reader in Physical Organic Chemistry 1964 — Professor of Chemistry 1971 — Head of Department 1975 — Fellowship of King's College 1978 — Dean of the Faculty of Natural Science'GOLD, Prof. Victor', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016Colin Archibald Russell and Gerrylynn K. Roberts (2005) Chemical history: reviews of the recent literature, Royal Society of Chemistry, ,
Gold's specialty was physical organic chemistry. His research focused on the kinetics of organic chemical reactions. He established the Advances in Physical Organic Chemistry publication series in 1963 and edited it for many years.Advances in Physical Organic Chemistry, Google Books website
He initiated the development of the IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, which is published with a gold-colored cover and is known as the "Gold Book" in recognition of his work as its first author and compiler.IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, International Union of Pure and Applied ChemistryFrom the Editor, Chemistry International, Vol. 28 No. 6, November–December 2006
Gold was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1972.
Ten years after his appointment at King's, Gold married Jean Sandiford, who had read chemistry at King's. They had two children: Elizabeth Helen in 1957, and Martin in 1959. Victor Gold, whose home was in South Croydon, died on 29 September 1985.
Publication pH Measurements: Their Theory and Practice, Metheun & Co., London, 1956.
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