Robertson, Robert (1869–1949)

Scottish chemist who worked on explosives for military use, such as TNT (trinitrotoluene, 2,4,6-trinitromethylbenzene), and made improvements to cordite. KBE 1918.

Robertson was born in Cupar, Fife, and studied at St Andrews. Working at the Royal Gunpowder Factory in Essex, he was put in charge of the main laboratory in 1900 and transferred to the Research Department at Woolwich Arsenal, London, 1907. In 1921 Robertson became the government chemist. He left government service in 1936 for the Royal Institution, but returned to Woolwich for the duration of World War II.

Robertson's appointment to Woolwich in 1907 coincided with the analysis of defects in British ammunition that had been revealed during the South African War. The new explosives tetryl (trinitrophenylmethylnitramine) and amatol were developed.

His investigations as government chemist included the carriage of dangerous goods by sea, the determination of sulphur dioxide and nitrous gases in the atmosphere, the elimination of sulphur dioxide from the emissions at power stations, the possible effects on health of tetraethyl lead additives to petrol, and the preservation of photographic reproductions of valuable documents.