Weighed in the Balance. A History of the Laboratory of the Government Chemist.

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office for the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, 1992. Quarto. Original green boards, titles to spine and crest with balance and crown to the upper board gilt. With the dust jacket. Illustrations from photographs throughout the text. Corners bumped, also slightly affecting the corners of the dust jacket, but otherwise fresh. An excellent copy. First edition, first impression of this comprehensive account of the history of government chemical and measurement standards laboratories in the United Kingdom. A very nice copy. The recipient of this volume, Sir Robert Robertson, was an expert on explosives and made numerous contributions to their development and manufacture in colonial India and during the Boer War and both World Wars. Appointed government chemist in 1921, he also "pursued important fundamental research. In collaboration with John Jacob Fox, who succeeded him as government chemist, he made a detailed study of the infra-red absorption of the gases ammonia, phosphine, and arsine and interpreted the main features of their spectra. This pioneering work stimulated the growth of infra-red spectroscopy both in Britain and abroad" (ODNB).