{{Short description|Scottish chemist (1899–2001)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}} {{Use British English|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Christina Miller | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1899|08|29|df=yes}} | birth_place = Coatbridge, Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|2001|07|16|1899|08|29|df=yes}} | death_place = | education = Edinburgh University<br/>Heriot-Watt College | doctoral_advisor = James Walker | thesis_title = Diffusion in solution | thesis_year = 1924 | thesis_url = http://hdl.handle.net/1842/22491f | spouse = | children = | known_for = }} '''Christina Cruikshank Miller''' FRSE (29 August 1899 – 16 July 2001) was a Scottish chemist and one of the first five women (also the first female chemist) elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh (7 March 1949).<ref name="Royal Society of Edinburgh Obituary">{{cite web|title=Christina Cruickshank Miller|url=http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/miller_christina.pdf|work=Royal Society of Edinburgh|publisher=Royal Society of Edinburgh|accessdate=3 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306081452/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/miller_christina.pdf|archive-date=6 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Christina Miller was deaf from childhood and also lost the sight of one eye in a laboratory explosion in 1930. The Christina Miller Building within Edinburgh University's Kings Buildings is named in her honour, as is Christina Miller Hall at Heriot-Watt University.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ed.ac.uk/alumni/services/notable-alumni/alumni-in-history/christina-miller|title=Christina Cruikshank Miller (1899 - 2001)|website=ed.ac.uk}}</ref>
==Early life== Christina Cruikshank Miller (Chrissie Miller) was born in 1899 in Coatbridge, Scotland to a stationmaster and was the eldest of two sisters. She suffered from measles and rubella at the age of five, causing her hearing to become damaged<ref name="Royal Society of Edinburgh Obituary"/> which became progressively worse throughout her life. Miller became interested in studying chemistry after reading a magazine article which showed industrial analytical chemistry as a potential career choice for women.<ref name="Chemistry Was Their Life">{{cite book|last=Raynor-Canham|first=Marlene|title=Chemistry Was Their Life: Pioneering British Chemists, 1880-1949|year=2008|publisher=Imperial College Press|pages=286–288}}</ref> Originally she had hopes to pursue a career in teaching but unfortunately her disabilities prevented this.
==Education== Miller simultaneously studied on a three-year degree course at Edinburgh University (1917-1920) and a four-year diploma course at Heriot-Watt College (1917-1921),<ref name="Chemistry Was Their Life" /> now Heriot-Watt University, which took the form of evening classes during the First World War, during this period she was one of only three women to get a diploma in chemistry. In 1920 she graduated from Edinburgh University with a BSc with special distinction,<ref name="Chemistry Was Their Life" /> won the class medal and was awarded the Vans Dunlop Scholarship which allowed her to undertake research for her PhD.<ref name="Royal Society of Edinburgh Obituary" /><ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Cruickshank Miller|first=Christina|date=1924|title=Diffusion in solution|hdl=1842/22491|url=https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/22491|language=en}}</ref> She then went on to graduate from Heriot-Watt College in 1921. She approached Professor Sir James Walker in 1920 in the hopes of working under him at Edinburgh University and he instructed her to return in 1921 once she had learned German as much of the important literature of the time was written in German.<ref name="Chemistry Was Their Life" /> In 1951 she was the only woman among the 25 first fellows of Heriot-Watt University.<ref name="Obituary" />
==Research== Her PhD work was under the direction of Sir James Walker. She worked on verifying the Stokes-Einstein law for diffusion in solution. She studied how viscosity and temperature affected the diffusion of iodine in various solutions.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cruickshank Miller|first=Christina|title=The Stokes Einstein Law for Diffusion in Solution|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society|date=December 1924|page=724| volume=106|issue=740 | doi=10.1098/rspa.1924.0100|bibcode=1924RSPSA.106..724M|doi-access=free}}</ref> The work was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
Post PhD, Miller changed topic to working on phosphorus trioxide. In 1928 she obtained the first ever sample of pure Phosphorus trioxide<ref name="Phosphorus Trioxide">{{cite journal|last=Miller|first=Christina Cruiokshank|title=The preparation and properties of pure phosphorus trioxide|journal=Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed)|year=1928|pages=1847|doi=10.1039/JR9280001847}}</ref> and showed the luminescence observed in previous samples was due to the presence of dissolved phosphorus. The paper was awarded the Keith Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh.<ref name="Royal Society of Edinburgh Obituary" /> The success of this work led to her achieving her ambition to obtain a DSc before the age of 30. She was described by a leading inorganic chemist of that time as the greatest advance in knowledge of the topic in the last 20 years.<ref name="Obituary" />
The research into phosphorus trioxide was curtailed following an explosion in which she lost the sight in one eye.<ref name="Royal Society of Edinburgh Obituary" /> Following this, Miller focused on developing techniques for Microanalysis. She focused on using these techniques to analyse rocks and metals.<ref name=Obituary>{{cite web|title=Obiturary Chrissie Miller|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jul/30/guardianobituaries.physicalsciences|work=The Guardian|accessdate=3 December 2013}}</ref>
According to Ann Jones, "Christina Miller was a true trailblazer. She made pioneering discoveries in analytical chemistry when this field was still very much a male preserve, and was an inspirational teacher and a mentor to generations of students.'<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://heriotwattalumni.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/do-you-remember-chemistry-trailblazer-christina-miller/|title=Do You Remember…? Chemistry Trailblazer Christina Miller|last=Harry|date=2013-07-30|website=The Watt Club|access-date=2017-06-14}}</ref> In 1933 she was appointed director of the teaching laboratory and, through her commitment to innovation and new technology, strove to ensure that chemistry students received a thorough grounding in analytical chemistry.<ref name="Obituary" />
In 1949 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Her proposers were Sir James Pickering Kendall, Sir Edmund Hirst, John Edwin MacKenzie and J. Norman Davidson. She won the Society's Keith Medal for the period 1927–29.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|access-date=14 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Legacy == University of Edinburgh established the Christina Miller Fellowship Scheme <ref>{{Cite web|title=Christina Miller Fellowship {{!}} School of Chemistry|url=https://www.chem.ed.ac.uk/news-events/news/christina-miller-fellowship-0|access-date=2021-10-10|website=www.chem.ed.ac.uk}}</ref> to support early-career researchers from backgrounds under-represented in chemistry research and academia (e.g. gender, minority ethnicity, disability, disadvantaged circumstances, etc.) Christina Miller Fellows at University of Edinburgh include: Dr Stephanie Urwin, Dr Ben Bhawal, Dr Antonia Mey, Dr Claire Hobday, Dr Amanda Jarvis, Dr Jennifer Garden. Hobday, Jarvis and Garden have all subsequently been awarded UKRI Future Leader Fellowships.<ref>{{Cite web|title=UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship {{!}} School of Chemistry|url=https://www.chem.ed.ac.uk/news-events/news/ukri-future-leaders-fellowship|access-date=2021-10-12|website=www.chem.ed.ac.uk}}</ref>
==Honours and awards== *Keith Medal 1929<ref name=":0" /> *Fellow of Royal Society of Edinburgh 1949<ref name=":0" /> *Honorary Fellowship of the Heriot Watt College 1951<ref name="Obituary" />
==Retirement== Miller ended her career in 1961 due to her own health issues<ref name=":1">{{cite web|last=Loney|first=Harry|title=Do You Remember…? Chemistry Trailblazer Christina Miller|url=http://thewattclub.hw.ac.uk/tag/fellow-of-the-royal-society-of-edinburgh/|publisher=Heriot-Watt University|accessdate=3 December 2013}}</ref> and to care for her mother and sister.
== Personal Letters to J.P. Ward == [http://james.wardware.com/Dr%20Chrissie%20Miller%20Letters.pdf This article] (PDF) contains twenty one personal letters by Dr Christina Cruickshank Miller to J. P. Ward,<ref>{{cite web|title=LETTERS FROM DR CHRISTINA CRUICKSHANK MILLER|url=http://james.wardware.com/|accessdate=3 April 2016}}</ref> a former student and pupil, written between 1984 and 2001, the year in which she died aged almost 102.
==References in art and culture== Chrissie Miller appears as a character in the opera ''Breathe Freely'' by Scottish Composer Julian Wagstaff<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/arts/news/polish-forces-chemist-subject-of-scots-opera-1-3108634 | title=The Scotsman, 24 September 2013 | location=Edinburgh | first=Shan | last=Ross | date=24 September 2013 | accessdate=8 January 2014}}</ref> (The opera's title is borrowed from a book of the same name by fellow chemist James Kendall).
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Christina Cruickshank}} Category:1899 births Category:2001 deaths Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Category:Alumni of Heriot-Watt University Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Category:Scottish women centenarians Category:Scottish women chemists Category:20th-century Scottish chemists