Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction and, for once, I get the chance to write about The Chemist as Hero – Герой нашего времени, if you like. A man so filled with talents that it leaves the rest of us rather speechless with wonder.
And what is more, a man who fulfilled his childhood ambition to have a bit of glassware named after him: Richard Pardy, RN, DSO, BA (Cantab) DPhil. (Oxon), PDQ, Mrs, AF(2011).
Pardy devised a lovely piece of Schlenk-ware, a short path distillation device related to Hickman’s still, a device that you will be able to read more about in a month or two.
![[Pardy's other distillation device]](http://solarsaddle.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/andreas-12.jpg?w=175&h=300 "Pardy2")
Pardy's other distillation device - an anerobic Mongolian still. Could it have been inspired by his later travels to China?
Richard also devised another cute little bit of distillation kit, using a modified sublimation probe. The image is scanned from his thesis, as the device is unpublished – who knows where the original glassware is? It was a beautiful piece of delicate glassblowing. Some will rail that it’s just a reinvention of the wheel. And indeed it is – it’s what historians of science refer to as a Mongolian still, only anaerobic. And it seems appropriate in view of his later interest in the orient. But so what? It was cute, it was clever. And it worked.
You can read about this over at the Chemistry World site. Enjoy.
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About Andrea Sella
My name is Andrea Sella. I teach and do research in chemistry at UCL in central London in the UK. I also spend a lot time doing public science, and worrying about how to keep my family's energy consumption down.
![[Pardy's other distillation device]](http://solarsaddle.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/andreas-12.jpg?w=940&h=198&crop=1)
![[Pardy's other distillation device]](http://solarsaddle.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/andreas-12.jpg "Pardy2")
Dear Dr Sella,
I’ve just read your “classic kit”section regarding the Pardy Apparatus. What a fascinating story! I must admit some shame having gained a Ph.D in organometallic chemistry and had never heard of this piece of kit in spite of all the experience gained with Schlenkware, then and now. As a point of interest I looked up the Cock and Bull Inn and can find no reference to the place, does it still exist? I wouldn’t mind trying to contact Dr Pardy to discuss his piece of kit as at my business we are giving it consideration as an alternative to the Kugelrohr in certain instances.
Best Regards,
Alistair Miller
The Pardy apparatus is an excellent piece of kit – I have two of them in my lab, one of them in the accompanying photo. It is clear from the responses we’ve received that others had similar ideas well before Richard came up with it and, indeed, I have had the Hickman still planned for some time.
You’re right about the Kugelrohr. Brilliant piece of kit, though surprisingly I haven’t seen one in years.
As to the Cock and Bull, it’s a reference to Richard’s nickname (that was cut in the editing process – his father was very keen on American cartoons and gave him the middle name “Bullwinkle”). The pub does take a bit of finding. Richard is very discreet.
You can expect a little more about him in the next issue of Chemistry World.
Too brilliant! Mad scientists all round, eh.
I am ashamed to confess that I didn’t really understand the apparatus until Pardy’s informative letter in the May issue.