James William McBain, 1882-1953

Abstract

James William McBain was the eldest son in a family of five, consisting of three sisters and a brother. He was born in Chatham, New Brunswick, on 22 March 1882, his father being James Afleck Frazer McBain, D.D., a minister in the Presbyterian church at Port Dover, Canada. One of his great grandfathers was James Hunter, Principal of St Andrews University. James and his brother, Clifford, as boys, led a very open-air life, especially in making and sailing in home-made boats. His parents died when he was young, and for many years he was in the care of his two elder sisters. He received his early education on Rhode Island. He entered the University of Toronto at the age of 17, graduating with the B.A. degree in 1903 and the M.A. in 1904, obtaining first class honours in chemistry and mineralogy and the Edward Blake Scholarship in his second year. He was especially attracted to the comparatively new branch of chemistry, namely, physical chemistry, taught there by F. B. Kenrick and W. Lash Miller, to whom he was assistant. His first scientific publication consisted in an examination of the rate of oxidation of ferrous salts on exposure to air. The winter semester of 1904-5 was spent at the University of Leipzig which at that time was at the height of its academic activity in physical chemistry, including on its staff Wo. Ostwald, R. Luther, H. Freundlich, and K. Drucker. He devoted the following three semesters to study with G. Bredig at Heidelberg, where he obtained the Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry, with mathematics and physics as subsidiary subjects. In Germany he developed a fondness for art and music, taking a walking tour round the art galleries of Italy during his summer vacation and becoming an accomplished player on the flute.