Alexander KingCMGCBE (26 January 1909 – 28 February 2007) was a British chemist and pioneer of the sustainable development movement who co-founded the Club of Rome in 1968 with the Italian industrialist Aurelio Peccei.[1] The Club was one of the first institutions to voice concerns about the impact on the environment of unprecedented economic growth in the 20th century. "Peccei and King were lonely prophets at a time of overwhelming optimism," who did much to push environmental issues on to the political agenda.[2] At the time of the Club's founding, King was Director-General for Scientific Affairs at the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).[3][4]
Born in Glasgow, King attended Highgate School and later studied chemistry at Imperial College, where he edited the college's literary magazine and served as president of its literary and debating society. From 1929 to 1931, he pursued postgraduate research on a fellowship at the University of Munich. On his return to London, he became a lecturer and then senior lecturer in physical chemistry at Imperial. In 1938, he was awarded the Edward Harrison Memorial Prize by the Royal Society of Chemistry.[5]
With the outbreak of WWII, Sir Henry Tizard invited King to join the Ministry of Production as Deputy Scientific Adviser. It was during this period that a letter from the Geigy Company in Switzerland to its Manchester branch office, detailing the composition of a new "mothballing agent" dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, was intercepted by the censor.[6] King recognised the importance of the chemical agent and its potential use as an insecticide, allegedly coining the acronym DDT.[7] In 1943, King travelled to the United States, becoming Head of the UK Scientific Mission and Scientific Attaché at the British Embassy in Washington. Following the war, King became Secretary of the Advisory Council on Scientific Policy and personal adviser to the Lord President of the Council, Herbert Morrison. King was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1948 Birthday Honours.[8] He later became Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.
In 1957, King joined the European Productivity Agency (EPA) as Director in Paris, subsequently becoming Director-General for Scientific Affairs at the OECD[9] At the OECD, "he initiated the Science Policy Surveys, which took a critical look at the state of science and technology in the OECD countries. Among other things, his initiatives encouraged new forms of education."[10] He retired from the OECD in 1974, taking up the chairmanship of the International Federation of Institutes of Advanced Studies (IFIAS), an organisation based in Stockholm.[11]
The Club of Rome
King has been described as "a cool catalyst with the golden knack of transforming ideas into action."[12] It was while working at the OECD that King co-founded the influential think tank the Club of Rome. In 1966, he came across the transcript of a speech given by Aurelio Peccei and the two met to discuss common interests. With the support of the Agnelli Foundation, they invited 30 European scientists, economists and industrialists to Rome to discuss global issues. While the initial 1968 meeting at Accademia dei Lincei (Palazzo Corsini) was a failure, it led to the formation of a network of individuals with shared concerns about the environmental consequences of untrammelled global development.[13] The first formal meeting of the Club of Rome took place in Bern in 1970.[14]
The 1972 best-selling report The Limits to Growth, which was commissioned by the Club of Rome and funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, was the first attempt to simulate the consequences of development on the earth's limited resources.[15] The book "challenged the economic orthodoxy that the earth would always provide the resources for human prosperity, and became the biggest-selling environmental book in history."[16] In questioning prevalent assumptions about the inevitability and benefits of economic growth, the Club of Rome provoked sometimes fierce controversy and accusations of elitism. Its warnings about the dangers of anthropogenic environmental change were disputed in ways that anticipate contemporary opposition to scientific assessments of global climate change.[17] The Club of Rome's concerns with overpopulation were viewed by some as neo-Malthusian.[18] However, the Club of Rome's mission to bring awareness to the pressures of development on the environment – and in particular the publication of The Limits to Growth – according to King's obituary, "touched a raw nerve in the body politic. Its warnings resonated with the fears of others that there was an emerging environmental crisis. The United Nations Environment Programme was established a few months after [the book] appeared. The word 'environment' does not even appear in the 1945 UN Charter, and King helped expand the UN's role into environmental protection."[19]
After Peccei's death, King served as the Club's President from 1984 to 1990. He was the recipient of many honours: in 1975 he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) and in 1987 he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to raising awareness of "the positive and negative impact of technological progress on society."[20]
Works
King's autobiography, Let the Cat Turn Round: One Man's Traverse of the Twentieth Century, was published in 2006 and acclaimed by the scientist, and Limits to Growth co-author Dennis Meadows, as "a chronicle of a century": "Few science policy advisors were better situated than Alex King to observe the way technology co-evolved with politics and economics in the 1900s. This book summarizes his contributions and offers his insights. Both are of major importance."[21] Other books by King include The State of the Planet (Pergamon, 1980) and, with Bertrand Schneider, The First Global Revolution (Pantheon, 1991).
King wrote a monograph, Science, Technology and the Quality of Life (1972) and co-authored An Eye to the Future (1975) for the London-based Institute for Cultural Research, which was founded and directed by the writer and thinker, Idries Shah, a fellow member of the Club of Rome.[22][23][24]
Personal life
The King family originated from Dunblane and Doune in Scotland. Alexander King's father, James Mitchell King, worked for the Nobel Explosives Company and eventually became a director of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). On his mother's side, King was a descendant of the industrialist and philanthropist David Dale (1773–1806), the founder of the New Lanark Mills and father-in-law of the utopian socialist Robert Owen (1771–1858).[25] In 1933, King married Sarah Maskell Thompson whom he had met in Munich, a niece of the Liberal politician Walter Runciman, Viscount Runciman of Doxford, and granddaughter of the Liberal MP and industrialist James Cochran Stevenson. King's daughter, Catherine Peckham, is a well known doctor, who became the first Professor of Paediatric Epidemiology in the UK.
References
^"History of the Club of Rome". Club of Rome. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
^Suter, Keith (1999). "The Club of Rome: The Global Conscience". Contemporary Review. 275: 1-5.
^Schmelzer, Matthias (2017). ""Born in the Corridors of the OECD": The Forgotten Origins of the Club of Rome, Transnational Networks, and the 1970s in Global History'". Journal of Global History. 12: 26-48. doi:10.1017/S1740022816000322. S2CID 164497528.
^"BBC Radio 4 - Last Word". BBC Radio 4. 30 March 2007. from the original on 28 June 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
^"Harrison Memorial Prize". Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
^Brabyn, Howard (24 August 1972). "Cool Catalyst". New Scientist: 390.
^Suter, Keith (2 May 2007). "Alexander King: Obituary". The Guardian.
^"Birthday Honours". The London Gazette. No. 38311. 10 June 1948.
^.King, Alexander (2006). Let the Cat Turn Round: One Man's Traverse Through the Twentieth Century. London: CPTM. p. 220-249.
^"Erasmus Prize Former Laureates". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
^Peccei, Aurelio (1977). The Human Quality. Pergamon. p. 7.
^Brabyn, Howard (24 August 1977). "Cool Catalyst". New Scientist: 390.
^Schmelzer, Matthias (2017). "Born in the Corridors of the OECD: The Forgotten Origins of the Club of Rome, Transnational Networks, and the 1970s in Global History". Journal of Global History. 12: 26–48. doi:10.1017/S1740022816000322. S2CID 164497528.
^"History of the Club of Rome". Club of Rome. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
^Meadows, Donella H; Meadows, Dennis L; Randers, Jorgen; BehrensIII, William W (1972). The Limits to Growth. Universe Books. ISBN9780876631652.
^"Alexander King: Obituary". The Telegraph. 26 March 2007.
^"American Fanatics put Scientists Lives at Risk". New Scientist: 219. 22 October 1981.
^Davis, Mike (2006). Planet of Slums. London and New York: Verso. p. 1. ISBN9781844670222.
^Suter, Keith (2 May 2007). "Alexander King: Obituary". The Guardian.
^"Erasmus Prize". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
^King, Alexander (2006). Let the Cat Turn Round: One Man's Traverse Through the Twentieth Century. London: CPTM. p. back matter.
^King, Alexander (2006). Let the Cat Turn Round: One Man's Traverse Through the Twentieth Century. London: CPTM. p. 10.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander King (scientist).
Memoirs of a Boffin contains some biographical material on King
CPTM contains information about Alexander King's autobiography Let the cat turn round: one man's traverse of the Twentieth century published by CPTM, November 2006
Brabyn, Howard (1972). "Cool Catalyst". New Scientist. 55 (24 Aug): 390–391.
January 06, 2023
alexander, king, scientist, alexander, king, january, 1909, february, 2007, british, chemist, pioneer, sustainable, development, movement, founded, club, rome, 1968, with, italian, industrialist, aurelio, peccei, club, first, institutions, voice, concerns, abo. Alexander King CMG CBE 26 January 1909 28 February 2007 was a British chemist and pioneer of the sustainable development movement who co founded the Club of Rome in 1968 with the Italian industrialist Aurelio Peccei 1 The Club was one of the first institutions to voice concerns about the impact on the environment of unprecedented economic growth in the 20th century Peccei and King were lonely prophets at a time of overwhelming optimism who did much to push environmental issues on to the political agenda 2 At the time of the Club s founding King was Director General for Scientific Affairs at the Paris based Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development OECD 3 4 King in 1987 Contents 1 Life and career 2 The Club of Rome 3 Works 4 Personal life 5 References 6 External linksLife and career EditBorn in Glasgow King attended Highgate School and later studied chemistry at Imperial College where he edited the college s literary magazine and served as president of its literary and debating society From 1929 to 1931 he pursued postgraduate research on a fellowship at the University of Munich On his return to London he became a lecturer and then senior lecturer in physical chemistry at Imperial In 1938 he was awarded the Edward Harrison Memorial Prize by the Royal Society of Chemistry 5 With the outbreak of WWII Sir Henry Tizard invited King to join the Ministry of Production as Deputy Scientific Adviser It was during this period that a letter from the Geigy Company in Switzerland to its Manchester branch office detailing the composition of a new mothballing agent dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane was intercepted by the censor 6 King recognised the importance of the chemical agent and its potential use as an insecticide allegedly coining the acronym DDT 7 In 1943 King travelled to the United States becoming Head of the UK Scientific Mission and Scientific Attache at the British Embassy in Washington Following the war King became Secretary of the Advisory Council on Scientific Policy and personal adviser to the Lord President of the Council Herbert Morrison King was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire CBE in the 1948 Birthday Honours 8 He later became Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research In 1957 King joined the European Productivity Agency EPA as Director in Paris subsequently becoming Director General for Scientific Affairs at the OECD 9 At the OECD he initiated the Science Policy Surveys which took a critical look at the state of science and technology in the OECD countries Among other things his initiatives encouraged new forms of education 10 He retired from the OECD in 1974 taking up the chairmanship of the International Federation of Institutes of Advanced Studies IFIAS an organisation based in Stockholm 11 The Club of Rome EditKing has been described as a cool catalyst with the golden knack of transforming ideas into action 12 It was while working at the OECD that King co founded the influential think tank the Club of Rome In 1966 he came across the transcript of a speech given by Aurelio Peccei and the two met to discuss common interests With the support of the Agnelli Foundation they invited 30 European scientists economists and industrialists to Rome to discuss global issues While the initial 1968 meeting at Accademia dei Lincei Palazzo Corsini was a failure it led to the formation of a network of individuals with shared concerns about the environmental consequences of untrammelled global development 13 The first formal meeting of the Club of Rome took place in Bern in 1970 14 The 1972 best selling report The Limits to Growth which was commissioned by the Club of Rome and funded by the Volkswagen Foundation was the first attempt to simulate the consequences of development on the earth s limited resources 15 The book challenged the economic orthodoxy that the earth would always provide the resources for human prosperity and became the biggest selling environmental book in history 16 In questioning prevalent assumptions about the inevitability and benefits of economic growth the Club of Rome provoked sometimes fierce controversy and accusations of elitism Its warnings about the dangers of anthropogenic environmental change were disputed in ways that anticipate contemporary opposition to scientific assessments of global climate change 17 The Club of Rome s concerns with overpopulation were viewed by some as neo Malthusian 18 However the Club of Rome s mission to bring awareness to the pressures of development on the environment and in particular the publication of The Limits to Growth according to King s obituary touched a raw nerve in the body politic Its warnings resonated with the fears of others that there was an emerging environmental crisis The United Nations Environment Programme was established a few months after the book appeared The word environment does not even appear in the 1945 UN Charter and King helped expand the UN s role into environmental protection 19 After Peccei s death King served as the Club s President from 1984 to 1990 He was the recipient of many honours in 1975 he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George CMG and in 1987 he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to raising awareness of the positive and negative impact of technological progress on society 20 Works EditKing s autobiography Let the Cat Turn Round One Man s Traverse of the Twentieth Century was published in 2006 and acclaimed by the scientist and Limits to Growth co author Dennis Meadows as a chronicle of a century Few science policy advisors were better situated than Alex King to observe the way technology co evolved with politics and economics in the 1900s This book summarizes his contributions and offers his insights Both are of major importance 21 Other books by King include The State of the Planet Pergamon 1980 and with Bertrand Schneider The First Global Revolution Pantheon 1991 King wrote a monograph Science Technology and the Quality of Life 1972 and co authored An Eye to the Future 1975 for the London based Institute for Cultural Research which was founded and directed by the writer and thinker Idries Shah a fellow member of the Club of Rome 22 23 24 Personal life EditThe King family originated from Dunblane and Doune in Scotland Alexander King s father James Mitchell King worked for the Nobel Explosives Company and eventually became a director of Imperial Chemical Industries ICI On his mother s side King was a descendant of the industrialist and philanthropist David Dale 1773 1806 the founder of the New Lanark Mills and father in law of the utopian socialist Robert Owen 1771 1858 25 In 1933 King married Sarah Maskell Thompson whom he had met in Munich a niece of the Liberal politician Walter Runciman Viscount Runciman of Doxford and granddaughter of the Liberal MP and industrialist James Cochran Stevenson King s daughter Catherine Peckham is a well known doctor who became the first Professor of Paediatric Epidemiology in the UK References Edit History of the Club of Rome Club of Rome Retrieved 3 April 2019 Suter Keith 1999 The Club of Rome The Global Conscience Contemporary Review 275 1 5 Schmelzer Matthias 2017 Born in the Corridors of the OECD The Forgotten Origins of the Club of Rome Transnational Networks and the 1970s in Global History Journal of Global History 12 26 48 doi 10 1017 S1740022816000322 S2CID 164497528 BBC Radio 4 Last Word BBC Radio 4 30 March 2007 Archived from the original on 28 June 2008 Retrieved 5 September 2020 Harrison Memorial Prize Royal Society of Chemistry Retrieved 3 April 2019 Brabyn Howard 24 August 1972 Cool Catalyst New Scientist 390 Suter Keith 2 May 2007 Alexander King Obituary The Guardian Birthday Honours The London Gazette No 38311 10 June 1948 King Alexander 2006 Let the Cat Turn Round One Man s Traverse Through the Twentieth Century London CPTM p 220 249 Erasmus Prize Former Laureates Praemium Erasmianum Foundation Retrieved 3 April 2019 Peccei Aurelio 1977 The Human Quality Pergamon p 7 Brabyn Howard 24 August 1977 Cool Catalyst New Scientist 390 Schmelzer Matthias 2017 Born in the Corridors of the OECD The Forgotten Origins of the Club of Rome Transnational Networks and the 1970s in Global History Journal of Global History 12 26 48 doi 10 1017 S1740022816000322 S2CID 164497528 History of the Club of Rome Club of Rome Retrieved 3 April 2019 Meadows Donella H Meadows Dennis L Randers Jorgen BehrensIII William W 1972 The Limits to Growth Universe Books ISBN 9780876631652 Alexander King Obituary The Telegraph 26 March 2007 American Fanatics put Scientists Lives at Risk New Scientist 219 22 October 1981 Davis Mike 2006 Planet of Slums London and New York Verso p 1 ISBN 9781844670222 Suter Keith 2 May 2007 Alexander King Obituary The Guardian Erasmus Prize Praemium Erasmianum Foundation Retrieved 3 April 2019 King Alexander 2006 Let the Cat Turn Round One Man s Traverse Through the Twentieth Century London CPTM p back matter King Alexander 1972 Science Technology and the Quality of Life London The Institute for Cultural Research ISBN 978 0 950002 98 9 ISSN 0306 1906 King Alexander et al 1975 An Eye to the Future London The Institute for Cultural Research ISBN 978 0 9500029 1 0 King Alexander 1972 Science Technology and the Quality of Life The Institute for Cultural Research via The Idries Shah Foundation Archived from the original on 22 March 2019 Retrieved 22 March 2019 King Alexander 2006 Let the Cat Turn Round One Man s Traverse Through the Twentieth Century London CPTM p 10 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander King scientist The Club of Rome Beginnings Memoirs of a Boffin contains some biographical material on King CPTM contains information about Alexander King s autobiography Let the cat turn round one man s traverse of the Twentieth century published by CPTM November 2006 Brabyn Howard 1972 Cool Catalyst New Scientist 55 24 Aug 390 391 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Alexander King scientist amp oldid 1125741501, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
