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Call for Applications
Previous Winners
Call for Applications
The competition is now open for the Prize of 2013-2014. The Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry has established the Partington Prize in memory of Professor James Riddick Partington, the Society’s first Chairman. It is awarded every three years for an original and unpublished essay on any aspect of the history of alchemy or chemistry. The prize consists of five hundred pounds (£500). The competition is open to anyone with a scholarly interest in the history of alchemy or chemistry who, by the closing date of 31 December 2013, has not reached 35 years of age, or if older has been awarded a doctoral thesis in the history of science within the previous three years. Scholars from any country may enter the competition, but entries must be submitted in English and must not have been previously submitted to another journal. The prize-winning essay will be published in the Society’s journal, Ambix.
Entries should be submitted electronically as e-mail attachments. We prefer files to be Microsoft Word documents (Word 93–2013 or higher), although these may be accompanied by a PDF version if desired. Essays must be fully documented using the conventions used in the current issue of Ambix. Essays must not exceed 10,000 words in length, including references and footnotes. All entries must be submitted with a word count.
All entries should be sent to The Hon Secretary, Dr Anna Marie Roos, at anna.roos@history.ox.ac.uk, with the words “Partington Prize” in the subject heading. Two documents should be submitted: the first, a separate title page giving the author’s name, institution, postal address, e-mail address and date of birth (and, if relevant, the date of the award of the Ph.D.). The second should be the essay. The author’s name and contact details must not appear on the pages of the essay as the identity of the author will not be made available to the judges. Essays (no more than one from each competitor) must be received no later than midnight GMT on 31 December 2013.
The decision of the judges appointed by the Council will be final. The Society reserves the right to divide the prize between two or more entries of equal merit, or not to award a prize should no essay be deemed of suitable standard. The name of the winner will be announced by 30 April 2014.
Previous Winners
The joint winners in 2011 were:
Dr Marcos Martinon-Torres, Institute of Archaeology, UCL, “Inside Solomon’s House: An archaeological study of the Old Ashmolean chymical laboratory in Oxford.”
Dr Evan Ragland, Department of History, University of Alabama at Huntsville, “Chymistry and taste in the seventeenth century: Franciscus Dele Boe Sylvius as a chymical physician between Galenism and Cartesianism.”
2008 Winners: Jennifer Rampling, “Establishing the Canon: George Ripley and his Alchemical Sources” and
Georgette Taylor, “Tracing Influence in Small Steps: Richard Kirwan’s Quantified Affinity Theory”.
2005 Winner:: Dane T. Daniel, “Invisible wombs: Rethinking Paracelsus’s concept of body and matter”.
Published as: Dane T. Daniel, ‘Invisible Wombs: Rethinking Paracelsus’s Concept of Body and Matter’, Ambix, 53 (2006), 129 – 142.
2002 Winner: No award
1999 Winner: Tara E. Nummedal, “Alchemical reproduction and the strange career of Maria Zieglerin”.
Published as: Tara E. Nummedal, ‘Alchemical Reproduction and the Career of Anna Maria Zieglerin’, Ambix, 48 (2001), 56 – 68.
1996: No award
1993: Katherine D. Watson, “The chemist as expert. The consulting career of Sir William Ramsay”.
Published as: Katherine D. Watson, ‘The Chemist as Expert: The Consulting Career of Sir William Ramsay’, Ambix, 42 (1995), 143 – 159.
1990: Marco Beretta, “The history of chemistry in the eighteenth century”.
Published as: Marco Beretta, ‘The Historiography of Chemistry in the Eighteenth Century: A Preliminary Survey and Bibliography’, Ambix, 39 (1992), 1 – 10.
1987: T. D. Moy, “A chemical mediator. Emil Fischer’s role as liaison during the First World War”.
Published as Timothy D. Moy, ‘Emil Fischer as “Chemical Mediator”: Science, Industry, and Government in World War One’,Ambix, 36 (1989), 109 – 120.
1984: T. M. Luhrman, “An interpretation of the Fama Fraternitas with respect to Dee’s Monas Hieroglyphica”.
Published as: T. M. Luhrman, ‘An Interpretation of the Fama Fraternitas with Respect to Dee’s Monas Hieroglyphica’, Ambix, 33 (1986), 1 – 10.
1981:William Newman, “Thomas Vaughan as an interpreter of Agrippa van Nettesheim”.
Published as William Newman, ‘Thomas Vaughan as an Interpreter of Agrippa von Nettesheim’, Ambix, 29 (1982), 125 – 140.
1978: Reinhard Low, “The progress of organic chemistry during the period of German RomanticNaturphilosophie, 1795-1825″.
Published as Reinhard Löw, ‘The Progress of Organic Chemistry during the Period of German Romantic Naturphilosophie’,Ambix, 27 (1980), 1 – 10.
1975: P. C. Barratt, “Speculative chemistry in the 1880s – Prout’s legacy for the chemical elements”.