He was born on 15 July 1896 in
Tredegar in
Wales. He was the son of James McKie of
Port William in Scotland, and his wife, Janet Moseley. His father was an officer in the
South Wales Borderers and after local education he was sent to the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to train as an army officer and follow in his father’s footsteps. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the South Wales Borders in 1916, and joined the troops on the Western Front in Flanders, as part of the
First World War. However, his military career came to an abrupt end in July 1917, when he was severely injured during an attack on the Germans in the early days of the
Battle of Passchendaele. After more than a year in hospital he rejoined his regiment in 1919 as part of the occupying forces in Germany. He resigned his commission in 1920 and instead took up a new career in
Chemistry, studying at the
University of London. He graduated BSc in 1923. He did further post-graduate research, gaining both a PhD and DSc. He was on the staff of the
University of London from 1924 and gained his professorship in 1957, teaching the History and Philosophy of Science. In 1958 he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were
Herbert Turnbull,
W. P. D. Wightman, Monteath Wright and
James Pickering Kendall. due to his work on both Joseph Black and Lavoisier. He retired in 1964 and died in
London on 28 August 1967. ==Publications==