Laurie Aldridge
Laurie wanted to be a physicist however his “cruel” examination markers decided that he would be much better suited as a chemist . Subsequently he discovered “a physicist is one who ‘knows everything about nothing’ while chemists ‘know nothing about everything’” .
As Laurie developed a wide range of interests in various fields these confirmed the wisdom of his choice.
So in the end Laurie became a typical ‘physical chemist’ and “applying the physics they failed to understand to the chemistry they are unable to do”!
Laurie began working with the structure of zeolites as catalysts using x-ray diffraction techniques at the University of Otago in Dunedin New Zealand where he gained his PhD. in 1971.
He worked at Department of Scientific and industrial research (DSIR) New Zealand for 19 years, working on cements and catalysts.
During this time Laurie also completed a number of post doctoral studies with Mike Bancroft in Canada working on the Mossbauer of minerals and with Ali Trautwein in Lubeck, Germany on the calculation of spectra (optical Mossbauer ) of minerals. During this time Laurie found enjoyment in discussions with his research colleagues regarding the Geology and Geo-chemistry of minerals and their formation.
In 1990 Laurie came to ANSTO in Australia specialising in cement chemistry and studying the structure of minerals and clays. This research was directed towards the conditioning of low-level radioactive waste and containing it in cementitious products.
THE BEGINNING OF AN OPAL INTEREST
It was whilst at ANSTO Laurie began collaborating with Abhi Ray, Paul Thomas and Anthony Smallwood and became very interested in the chemistry of opals. Since his retirement he had been invited to join Deakin University (Melbourne) as an adjunct professor with the Institute of Frontier Materials. In 2014 the collaborators went to ANSTO to use the newly commissioned PELICAN instrument to measure the movement of water in opal.
Present opal research
Laurie has been collaborating with Paul Thomas, Anthony Smallwood and Bruce Dickson for many years using neutrons to elaborate on other studies regarding the properties of Opal. Laurie is particularly interested in the spectra, the water, and the mineralogy of opal.Our collaborative team has used Synchrotron and Neutron radiation to look at opal structure, arrangements of silica spheres in precious and potch opal, and the water that is confined in precious opal from the Great Australian (Artesian) Basin (GAB) and compare it with water confined within the opal sourced from Tintenbar NSW and other occurrences. Much of the neutron work has been carried out in collaboration with Associate Professor Bordallo at the Niels Bohr institute, University of Copenhagen Denmark. Substantial research has be done in collaboration with colleagues on the neutron beam of the “Opal Reactor” at ANSTO, Lucas Heights, NSW.
A video presentation of a discussion concerning opal research given by Laurie at the 10th opal symposium held in Coober Pedy South Australia in 2021.