Purdie Building

Purdie Building

Thomas Purdie was born on January 27th 1843 in Biggar, South Lanarkshire. He spent seven years of his youth in South America, where he the abundance of flora and fauna captured his attention, arousing a spirit of inquiry that remained for the rest of his life. He returned to Scotland later in life. It was a conversation with Thomas Henry Huxley that convinced him to pursue a scientific education.

Purdie was elected to the vacant chair at St Andrews in 1884. At the time, the university could only offer cramped accommodation, imperfect equipment and the small matter that Chemistry had no official place in the curriculum. These circumstances did not faze Thomas Purdie whatsoever, as he worked to found the School of Chemistry in the university.

His work at St Andrews was influential, and he is described as someone who devoted himself to developing the characters of his students much more than converting them into chemists. He was also instrumental in founding a “research school” in St Andrews, when he presented to the University a fully equipped research laboratory.

If you want to learn more about Thomas Purdie, visit here.

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