Norman Neill Greenwood. 19 January 1925—14 November 2012

Abstract

Norman Neill Greenwood was a member of the group of distinguished post-Second World War inorganic chemists who created modern inorganic chemistry. He was particularly recognized for his contributions to the chemistry of the main group elements boron (especially the metallaboranes), aluminium and gallium and for his contribution to the application of Mössbauer spectroscopy to inorganic systems. He was also committed to the teaching of his subject and wrote several highly regarded books; most notably, he was co-author of a textbook on inorganic chemistry, Chemistry of the elements , widely regarded as among the very best of its kind. Norman spent most of his career at the Universities of Nottingham, Newcastle and Leeds. He was a highly active member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and served on a number of committees, chairing several. He was particularly concerned with the establishment of ‘correct atomic weights’ and was involved with many of the issues associated with the discovery of the array of new elements and with the ensuing problems of isotopes.