Professor James Gow Black

c. 1900

Department of Chemistry, University of Otago

Unpublished

Professor James Black, MA BSc DSc(Edin), was appointed to the chair of Natural Science in 1871 and taught chemistry, mineralogy, geology and metallurgy. Like Mellor, he came from a humble background and was ‘the son of a poor Highland crofter’. He championed the practical applications of science claiming with a scientific education one could 'produce a pound of corn, or wool, or iron, or gold, at half the expenditure which it previously cost.' His two books, Chemistry for the gold fields (1885), dedicated to 'The Diggers and Miners of New Zealand', and Lectures on agricultural chemistry (1895), were manuals as well as textbooks. According to most he was a sincere, kind man who was well liked by all who came into contact with him.