Victor Gold

Who was Victor Gold?

Victor Gold FRS was a chemist who served on the faculty of King's College, London.

Gold was born in Vienna, the son of lawyer Oscar Gold and his first wife, the former Emmy Kopperl. He was raised primarily by his mother. He joined King's College, London in 1945, having previously been affiliated with University College, London, and became Professor at King's College in 1971.

Gold's specialty was physical organic chemistry. His research focused on the kinetics of organic chemical reactions. He established the Advances in Physical Organic Chemistry publication series in 1963 and edited it for many years.

He initiated the development of the IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, which is published with a gold-colored cover and is known as the "Gold Book" in recognition of his work as its first author and compiler.

Gold was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1972.