THE
ROYAL
COMMISSION
ON
HISTORICAL
MANUSCRIPTS
Report on the correspondence and papers of
ULICK RICHARDSON EVANS
(1889 - 1980)
metallurgist
deposited in
Cambridge University Library
(CSAC 90/1/83)
by
London
WC2 iHP
THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS
Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane,
Reproduced for the Contemporary Scientific Archives Centre
No 83/1
1983
All rights reserved
CSAC 90/1/83
CONTEMPORARY SCIENTIFIC ARCHIVES CENTRE
British National Committee for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology
under the guidance of the Royal Society’s
Catalogue of the papers and correspondence of
ULICK RICHARDSON EVANS, CBE, FRS
(1889 - 1980)
Metallurgist
Deposited in Cambridge University Library
All rights reserved
1983
Compiled by: Jeannine Alton
Julia Latham- Jackson
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
The work of the Contemporary Scientific Archives Centre, and the
production of this catalogue, are made possible by the support of the following
societies and institutions:
The Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland
The Biochemical Society
The British Pharmacological Society
The Charles Babbage Foundation for the History of Information
Processing
The Institute of Physics —
The Nuffield Foundation
The Physiological Society
The Institution of Electrical Engineers
The Royal Society of London
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
LIST OF CONTENTS
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
SECTION A
BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL A.1 - A.23
A.l
>A.
BIOGRAPHICAL AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
A.12.-A.15
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
A.16-A.19
FAMILY AND PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE
A.20- A.23.
AMENITY SOCIETIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
SECTION B
B:t.=B.6
SECTION C
With an introductory note
B.7. -B.16
ENERGY CONSERVATION
B.17 - 8.31
NUTRITION AND FOOD SCIENCE
RESEARCH PROJECTS B.1 - B.31
ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND CORROSION
INDEX OF CORRESPONDENTS
NON-SCIENTIFIC WRITINGS
C.1-C.6
SECTION D
CORRESPONDENCE
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
PROVENANCE
The majority of the material was received from Dr. J.E.O. Mayne, a
professional colleague, close personal friend and neighbour of Evans.
Dr. Mayne
also collaborated with Sir Alan Cottrell in the Royal Society Memoir (Biographical
Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, a, (FSI).
Volume III of Evans's 'Non-scientific Efforts of a Scientist’ was made avail-
able by Mrs. Ann
Wilson (niece) and is included as item C.6.
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Evans was internationally known as the 'Father of the modern science of
corrosion and protection of metals';
he went from Marlborough to King's College,
Cambridge, in 1907, remaining there until 191] and returning after army service
in the First World War.
He spent the rest of his life in Cambridge, researching
and writing prolifically on corrosion and oxidation of metals, and died there,
unmarried, at the age of ninety-one.
As the years went by, however, he realised
Evans's intellectual vigour and spirit of enquiry remained undiminished to the
end of his very long life, as can be seen from several surviving letters written after
he was ninety.
accumulated after this major clear-out in the 1960s.
He was fully conscious of his continuing achievements in extreme
old age, and nurtured them by a regime of outdoor exercise, careful diet and self-
imposed limits on social activities.
the need to make suitable dispositions of his possessions; scientific books.and journals
were offered to appropriate institutions, and in 1964 Evans made a selection of
personal writings, photographs and other material which, in bound or typescript
form, he circulated among his family and friends: these appear at A.3, A.6 and
C.6 in the present collection.
papers; consequently, no personal records survive of his most important research
findings, or of his consultative work for government and industry in the earlier part
of his life, and the existing documents are essentially confined to those which
It seems that he then destroyed his remaining
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
An exception to this is the material relating to Evans's tripartite consultanc
P
pa
y.
with S. Rideal and his son E.K. (later Sir Eric) Rideal in 1912 (see B.2 - 8.5),
remaining material in Section B has its interest in documenting Evans's lifelong
concern - no doubt continuing that of his father Richardson Evans - for the con-
servation of the natural environment, whether by the use of windmills to replace
or supplement fossil fuels, or by his somewhat less than practical scheme to foster
economical and nutritious home baking which greatly occupied his time and tea-
parties in his last years (see B. 17 - B.31 and introductory note).
The
Several of the letters in Section D refer to the considerable achievement of
his publication in 1976 of the 'Second Supplementary Volume' of his major book
‘Corrosion and oxidation of metals'.
He was then eighty-seven, but continued
to ask his correspondents for comments and additional references which he was
assembling for use by a successor who would after his death compile a third supple-
ment.
OTHER MATERIAL
A small amount of material, including apparatus and specimens, is held in
the Department of Metallurgy, Cambridge.
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
SECTION A ©
BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL
A.1-A.23
A.1-A.11
BIOGRAPHICAL AND AUTOBIO GRAPHICAL
A.1
Obituary notice, The Times, 7 April 1980.
Offprint of memoir by Sir Alan Cottrell and J.E.O. Mayne
(Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 27,
1981).
Photographs of Evans, including group photographs with
colleagues.
"Memories - mostly non-metallurgical’.
21 pp. duplicated typescript, originally written for 'The
Metallurgist' and brought up to date (in 1968) for private
circulation.
See note to A.6.
"Note on medical history’.
7 pp. typescript and ms., mainly on the efficacy of acid in
the treatment of Evans's rheumatism.
See also C.4.
Athletic activities.
Hardback notebook, inscribed 'Athletic Events from 1921'.
‘Outdoor activities’.
Some pages are torn from the front, and the first entry is 1922.
The book contains press~cuttings of cross-country matches,
plans of runs, ms. notes of conditions and results by Evans, and
invitation to act as starter in Varsity cross-country match,
1937.
niece) and included at C.6.
Evans intended that 'Volumes I] and III will be available only
in typescript - intended mainly for family purposes'.
It seems
likely that his ‘Memories - mostly non-metallurgical' (A. 3)
constitutes 'Volume II' though this is not indicated on the
typescript.
it
detective story kindly made available by Mrs. A. Wilson (Evans's
This volume was presented to J.E.O. Mayne, with ams. note
added by Evans to the 'Introductory Letter’.
been made available by Dr. Mayne.
It has kindly
Vol. | of Evans's 'The Non-Scientific Efforts of a Scientist’,
privately printed, Cambridge, 1964.
Volume III
is bound and inscribed as such;
is the
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
Biographical and personal
Folder of 'Extracts from letters received from Recipients
of Volume I'.
Two albums of photographs of climbing expeditions,
almost all with identifications by Evans of places, dates,
companions, weather, etc.
'Views in Tatra (Czecho-Slovakia) and Austria’.
"Views in Dolomites and Lake District also Austrian Alps’.
Miscellaneous items of biographical interest.
Letter to Evans from his sister, c.1912.
Letter offering Evans post as analyst in
1912.
'a Steel Works',
Press-cutting re dinner to celebrate election to Fellowship
of Royal Society, 1949.
Photocopy notice of award of 1971 Cavallaro Medal to
Evans, 1971.
Miscellaneous items of biographical interest.
Signed message of greeting from colleagues at 'Eurocor '77'.
Signatures of guests at Evans's 90th birthday party, 31 March
Includes miscellaneous biographical and
Program of the U.R. Evans International Conference on
"Localized Corrosion’, held at Williamsburg, 6-10
December 1971.
bibliographical information.
1979.
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
Biographical and personal
A.12-A.15
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
A.12-A.14
KING'S COLLEGE
Miscellaneous correspondence on College affairs.
Several of the exchanges are requests for informa-
tion about Kingsmen for the college obituary notices,
which Evans's long connection with the college enabled
him uniquely to provide.
1966-68.
1969-72.
Includes guest
for Evans's 80th birthday.
list for a lunch party given by the college
1973-78.
DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGY
Miscellaneous correspondence, mainly invitations to various
social functions at or arranged by the Department, 1969-71.
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
A.16-A.19
FAMILY AND PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE
Biographical and personal
A.16
Family correspondence, with nephews, nieces and their
families, 1966-76.
Not indexed.
Shorter correspondence with colleagues and departments
te the loan or gift of books or journals, 1969-79.
Shorter personal correspondence.
Not indexed.
Draft letter re Evans's proposed will, 1959.
Brief exchange with Evans's doctor, 1974, 1978.
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
Biographical and personal
AMENITY SOCIETIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Correspondence with societies and with individuals.
In alphabetical order.
Cambridge Civic Society:
Commons, Open Spaces and Footpaths Preser-
vation Society
Department of the Environment re traffic in
the Lake District.
See also correspondence with G.F. Peaker in
A.22.
1976
1974
1974
Dorking and Leith Hill Preservation Society
1976
John Evelyn Society for improving the amenities
of Wimbledon.
1977
The National Trust
The Society was founded by Richardson
Folder includes
Evans (father of U.R. Evans).
correspondence with the Secretary of the Society 1977-78
with recollections of Wimbledon personalities and a
commemorative article 'Someone to be thankful for'
about the work of Richardson Evans by Philip Rathbone
(grandson of Richardson and nephew of Ulick Evans)
Also included here is a report, 1938-39, annotated by
Evans, on the activities of 'The SCAPA Society’ founded
in 1893 by Richardson Evans as the ‘Society for
Checking the Abuses of Public Advertising’.
Evans's carbon only, re Tree Lovers' Society.
Includes part of Peaker's evidence at enquiry
into proposed relief road at Ambleside.
See also A.20.
Peaker, G.
F.
-
1939
1973, 1975
Reading,
1971
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
Biographical and personal
Schomberg, B.
1971-74
Personal correspondence, re pollution in the
Cam, and Schomberg's concern about pollution
in the Rhine.
Includes various recollections of
people and places.
fone, TH:
1974-76
Similar material on pollution and corrosion,
including references to Schomberg.
Wilson, A.
197]
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
SECTION B
B.1-B.6
RESEARCH PROJECTS, B
.1
- B.31
ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND CORROSION
B.1
Hardbacked notebook .
Main sequence is an undated series of experiments
intended to measure the velocity of chemical action
at various temperatures. ~
Pasted into rear of book is a smaller notebook recording
experiments on catalytic reactions, with a ms. note
inside front cover 'Experiments performed - account
written about the beginning of 1908?'.
Also included are loose pages of experiments with
chemical weed-killers, dated May 1914.
Correspondence and agreements re the consultancy
with S. Rideal and E.K. (later Sir Eric) Rideal,
which Evans embarked upon in 1912 (see Memoir, p.236).
The letters were received tightly folded in an envelope
marked 'E.K.R. letters up to Sep. 1912'.
Most of them
are dated and some are paginated or annotated by Evans.
They are sent from Aachen and Bonn, where Rideal was
working under A. Fischer and Professor Anschutz res-
pectively;
1912, was awarded the Gold Medal of the Bonn Society
his doctorate, obtained at Bonn in June
_ of Engineers.
Letters, April (one only) - July 1912.
List of chemicals and apparatus.
Includes original envelope.
Correspondence from Evans to E.K. Rideal, May-June.
Most of these are cards and probably résumés of hand-
written letters without carbons.
signed, dated 1 July 1913.
Various drafts, and signed final 'Proposed working agree-
ment between S. Rideal, E.K. Rideal and U.R. Evans,
22 October 1912. °
Included here is a letter from S. Rideal, May 1912, with
offer of employment and conditions of work.
Later agreement between S. Rideal and U.R. Evans,
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
Research projects
Soft-backed notebook inscribed 'Literature by E.K.
Rideal and U.R. Evans'.
Few pages used, mostly in Evans's hand.
‘Mineral Coatings.
of corrosion wastage’.
A novel principle in the control
Typescript draft with considerable ms. emendation and
correction.
1974.
38 pp. +3 pp. references, latest date
Included here is a ms. draft, undated, of a letter to be
sent to a few colleagues, accompanying the paper and
inviting comments.
it, Evans says ‘Publication is not
contemplated. The research has, on the whole, been
a failure, although the easy method of preparing speci-
mens might be welcomed by some’.
In
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
Research projects
ENERGY CONSERVATION
"Energy from the wind without the use of sails’.
Miscellaneous typescript and ms. drafts for a paper
by Evans, with diagrams, November 1977 and January 1978.
Correspondence on energy conservation, 1973-76
In alphabetical order.
pacon, fi:
Tt.
1973-76
Correspondence on a wide range of problems
and suggestions related to energy, showing Evans's
continuing practical concern for research.
1973
1975, 1976 (one letter only)
Baily, M.
Bell, D.
A.
1974
1976
(Evans's carbons and press-cuttings only).
Cole, M.
On windmills.
1974-75
1974-75
1973-74
Hundy, B.
B
Maddox, J.
R.
Coffrell, A.
H.
On the 'cycle-car'.
On wind-power; also enclosed is a letter from
Evans to R. Eden on the subject.
1974, 1975
Evans's carbon only, describing energy con-
servation projects.
Evans's carbon only.
ilcon, A:
1976
1973
1974
1974
1976
Sibthorp, M.
Stodhart, A.
M.
H.
Wells, S.
Marples, D.
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
B.17-B.31
NUTRITION AND FOOD SCIENCE
Research projects
The material relates to Evans's belief that, by encouraging home baking on
scientific principles, it would be possible both to improve nutrition and also to con-
serve energy.
The idea - which became a dominant one in his last years - derived
from his own experiments in baking bread and cakes ona small electric cooker in
his kitchen and involved the use of reflecting panels to direct radiation on to the
food being cooked.
The clearest statement of his aims is perhaps the introduction
fo a paper on 'Some novel features of the Cambridge baking procedure', dated 31
January 1978, and now at B.20 which reads:
‘During recent years a method for the home baking of bread and cake
has been developed which aims at the reduction of energy consumption
(and hence lowering of the electricity bill) as well as a lessening of claims
of the cook's time.
found possible by the application of scientific principles, mostly well
established fifty years ago but not always applied by those who design
ovens or write cookery books’.
The present report seeks to show how this has been
the proposed book survive (B
17) though at least eight appear to have been written;
there are also various specifications for the design and patent (B.21) and some shorter
writings (B 18-B.20)
lishing a booklet on the subject perhaps with a co-author.
Only five chapters of
It was in any case confined
Nevertheless, he contemplated patenting a device, and pub-
Evans's idea was in fact less practical than he imagined, deriving as it did
from his use of a very small, obsolete model of cooker, the baking of tiny amounts
or 'loaflets' as he called them, and, at a later stage in the project, the manipu-
lation of steel shears to cut special liners or reflectors.
to electric cookers.
This correspondence is presented as a chronological sequence at B.22-B.31.
colleagues in science and industry on nutrition and food chemistry, with manufacturers
of domestic cooking appliances, with advisers on patenting and publication, and
with members of his family and acquaintances who constituted his 'panel of tasters’.
The promotion of the idea gave rise to considerable correspondence with
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
B.17-B.21
Drafts and papers by Evans
Research projects
B.17
Drafts for Chapters 1-5 of proposed book.
Photocopy of typescript with ms. corrections.
Chapter 1
Possible advantages of home baking.
Chapter 2.‘
The energy requirements of baking.
Chapter 3.
Claims on the cook's time.
Chapter 4
Fittings designed to obtain economy.
Chapter 5 = Examples of baking procedures.
'Bread-making ina small electric oven'.
9 pp. typescript and ms. draft dated 3 June 1975.
This paper explains how Evans, at the age of 86, became
interested in home baking and its improvement.
"Economy of power and time in home cooking of bread
and cake '
10 pp. typescript and ms. draft dated 5 April 1977.
p. diagrams,
O. 2273.0!
Correspondence and papers
S. C. Britton and J.E.O. Mayne
‘Novel features of the Cambridge baking procedure’.
‘An improved heating system for domestic Electrical Ovens’.
11 pp. typescript and ms. draft and 1
31 January 1978.
Various drafts, specifications and drawings for an invention
to be patented under this title, February-May 1978.
Some
sent to, or revised by,
and referred to in the correspondence below.
coating research.
Includes
of Evans's improved oven, and also on his metallic
letters to N.R.D.C,. on possible patenting
B.22
B.23
B.24
B.25
1975
January-June 1976
July-September 1976
October-December 1976
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
Research projects
January-April 1977
May-September 1977
Includes correspondence re publication projects.
October-December 1977
January-March 1978
Includes correspondence re provisional patent,
and various drafts submitted to colleagues for
comment.
April-June 1978
Similar material.
July 1978-February 1979
Similar material re patenting.
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
SECTION C
C41.Ce
ae
NON-SCIENTIFIC WRITINGS
C.1-C.6
"Science, Prosperity and Human Happiness’.
Typescript and ms. draft for a work so titled, with Intro-
duction, Chapters |
- VI] and Summary and Conclusions.
In original folder.
With publisher's rejection letter (Edward Arnold & Company)
returning the ms., 1931.
Comments and correspondence on the book from G.S. Adair
and G.F. Peaker, 1931.
'A Scheme for Exchange Holidays’.
6 pp. typescript and ms. draft for article.
With letter of rejection from The Hiker and Camper, 1932.
"Some observations on the physical chemistry of rheumatism.
By a patient’.
73 pp. typescript and ms. draft, with a ms. note on the
title page 'Written 1932'.
See also A.4.
'Cloud-burst.
at Hofgastein, Austria, near the Water-fall’.
A short story written by U.R. Evans in 1935
9 pp. duplicated typescript.
"Snap Up Your Chances.
The Start of a Detective Career
(being Vol. II] of "Non-scientific Efforts of a Scientist")'.
233 pp. typescript, bound in same format as A.6.
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
SECTION D
CORRESPONDENCE D.1 - D.31
The correspondence, which dates mainly from Evans's later years, includes
both personal and scientific material.
It
is presented as an alphabetical sequence,
with terminal dates and a note of any content of particular biographical or professional
interest.
D.1
Adair, G.
;
1971
Agar, J.
Ansell, E.
:
eacen Tf
4.
Mainly on fuel cells.
Bianchi, G.
Bragg, W.
ie
Brasunas, A. de S.
1967 (Evans's carbon
only), 1970
1969
1972-76
1977
1968
1973-77
Brennert, S.
Coan, Wie
J.
te Chaudron, G.
1967-68
1977
1973
1976
Campbell, H.
S.
Cambridge Philosophical Society
Recalling an incident in 1939 when Evans
assisted Brennert's research.
Evans's carbon only re library provision in
Cambridge.
197]
Mainly Evans's carbons, on Cambridge University
matters.
Correspondence with Chaudron's family and
colleagues after his death.
Ghils, &:
C.
1977
1976-77
Cottrell, Ai<:
H.
U.R. Evans
CSAC 90/1/83
Correspondence
Dixon, K.
Dougherty, J.
1967-78
1975
Eijnsbergen, J.
F.
4H.
vy.
1973,
1977. 19a
On various corrosion problems, and including
research findings.
Feather, N.
1977
Evans's recollections of Rutherford.
eer.
WW,
Francesco, E. de
Research on atmospheric corrosion.
Heitz, E.
1977
Evans's carbon only, with various personal
reflexions.
oer. tL
oP,
1967-75
1976
1975-76
1967
Seay.
zinc paints.
reey; G.>.
E.
re his current research
Evans's carbon only,
programme on metallic
f
.
Moneager,
EVANS, Ulick Richardson
Published: 13 September, 2023 Author: admin