History of Imperial College London

Read the third of our excerpts from Dr Hannah Gay's new book - the first major history of Imperial College London.

Dr Hannah Gay's book The History of Imperial College London 1907-2007: Higher Education and Research in Science, Technology and Medicine is the first major history of the College to be published, telling the story of a new type of institution.

Each month for the remainder of 2007, we will whet your appetite by publishing excerpts from Dr Gay's book.

Alumni can purchase copies of the book online from Imperial College Press books, where if you enter discount code P478 when ordering, you will receive a 20 per cent discount on the book price. You can also purchase copies of the book from the Union Shop on the Sherfield Walkway, South Kensington Campus.

Excerpt three, August 2007
1928-1947
The Sir Henry Tizard years

In 1929 Thomas Holland was succeeded as Rector by Henry Tizard. Four years later Tizard joined the Aeronautical Research Committee, beginning work that would eventually draw him away from Imperial. While at the College Tizard thought seriously about its future expansion.

To help with planning at the South Kensington site, Tizard made a careful study of land usage in the immediate College area and commissioned a three-dimensional wooden model to help him envisgae future possibilities. There were ongoing negotiations with HM Office of Works on the allocation of land in South Kensington...After consultation with the Board of Studies and other interested parties, Tizard wrote to the Office of Works stating Imperial's conditions. Thye were: that the (so-called) island site be properly surveyed as to drainage and suitability for further construction, that three houses on Queen's Gate be purchased for the College so as to allow entry from there, that the site already occupied by Imperial College in the Western galleries be given to the Chemical Technology Department for a new building, that new buildings be funded for those departments still in the Huxley building, and for the physics and chemistry departments should the Royal College of Science building have to be given up. Space was to be given also for new squash and tennis courts, and for the College boilers. Further, if at any future date the Imperial Institute were to be vacated, Imperial would have the first option to take it up, or to demolish it for future development. Had the war not intervened, these proposals might well have been accepted by the government. As it turned out, they formed the basis for new negotiations after the war.

Tizard was outspoken and warm, though with a somewhat caustic wit. (He) was a great supporter of the Boat Club and his witty speeches given at club dinners were long remembered. On one occasion, after several members of a crew that had represented the College at Henley failed their examinations, he jokingly referred to 'eight men with but a single thought - if that.'

The Second World War

Imperial College staff were associated with some of the big scientific stories of the war - the atomic bomb, radar, operational research, penicillin, DDT, and the development of jet propulsion - as well as with more routine problems related to civil defence, food production and storage, fire protection, munitions and intelligence.

Imperial was the only major college in London to remain largely in place. Other colleges were evacuated, including the Royal College of Music, causing one Imperial student to note that he missed the 'multifarious sounds of warring orchestras' when walking down Prince Consort Road.

Early in 1939 mobilisation orders were distributed to College personnel, but they were soon rescinded and followed by new orders. Les Croker, then a technician in the chemistry department, remembered that in the initial confusion over the department's possible evacuation, hazardous chemicals, solvents, and acids were poured down the drain, and that later there was a frantic effort to replace the scarce materials that had been watsed in such a dubious fashion.

On 1 September 1939, when war was imminent, the maintenance parties were called in...An interesting feature of these parties was that normal hierarchies were disturbed. For example, at the Royal School of Mines (RSM), the professors had to take orders from Bill Guiver, the head cleaner, who was appointed fire captain. Since the maintenance parties lived on the site they needed some recreational activities. These, too, led to new associations. For example, a billiards table was purchased and placed in the RSM building. Sammy Sylvester, another cleaner in the building gave snooker lessons to the academic staff. He was an exceptional player and Tizard, who enjoyed billiards and snooker, often played with him. All this activity provided the opportunity for true camaraderie across class and professional lines; and, given that there were also women in the maintenance parties, across gender lines as well.

Text taken from chapters four and eight.

Chapter four - Governance and Innovation, 1907-43
Chapter eight - Imperial College during the Second World War

Reproduced with the kind permission of author Dr Hannah Gay

Copyright © 2007 by Imperial College Press