From Bacteria to Seaweed...the Amazing Bakers

Aim

The creation of a new Gallery to celebrate the national, inspiring, ground-breaking scientific achievements of the Bakers, a local family.

So what do bacteria, seaweed and even chlorine and the Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran have in common? The answer, of course, is the Baker family of Runcorn.  We want them to be better known in their own region and to be inspiring scientific heroes for the current young people living in the area. The work and achievements of chemists Dr Harry Baker (1859-1935) and his son, Professor Wilson Baker FRS (1900-2002), on chlorine and synthetic penicillin, respectively, can rightly claim to have saved millions of lives around the world. Harry developed the electrolysis method for creation of chlorine at Castner Kellner Works ( formerly ICI) in Runcorn in 1897, still used today to produce chlorine which is used worldwide as the ultimate defence against waterborne microbiological infections, in the production of polyvinylchloride (PVC), solar panels, bullet proof vests, computers and in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals.  Baker Road in Weston Point, Runcorn is named after him. Wilson was a lead member of the research team at the end of World War II in Oxford on the creation of a revolutionary life-saving product - penicillin. He was also a founder member of Oxfam.  His brother, mechanical engineer, Professor Wright Baker FEng, was chosen in 1955, because of his renowned highly meticulous way of working, to attempt to open the copper scrolls from Qumran on the Dead Sea in Jordan. This he did successfully at UMIST opening up the possibility of the study of the languages used in the scrolls. His wife, Dr Kathleen Drew Baker from Leigh in Lancashire, a respected botanist researching laver seaweed of North Wales at the University of Manchester, is revered in Japan for the saving of their Nori seaweed industry. She is known as 'Mother of the Seas'. Nori seaweed is the wrapping in sushi. All were Quakers and studied at the University of Manchester (Owens College). Quite a family who will be depicted in the special discrete Baker Gallery.

This project closed unsuccessfully on 8th September 2017