author
Norman Collie
1859–1942
Best remembered for living two adventurous lives at once, he was a respected chemist who also became one of the great early mountaineers of Skye and the Canadian Rockies. His story blends laboratory work, exploration, and a lifelong love of wild places.
1 Audiobook
Climbing on the Himalaya and Other Mountain Ranges
by Norman Collie
About the author
Born in 1859, J. Norman Collie built a serious scientific career in chemistry and went on to become Professor of Organic Chemistry at University College London. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, reflecting the strength of his work as a scientist.
At the same time, he earned lasting fame as a mountaineer and explorer. He is closely associated with climbing in the Cuillin of Skye, often alongside the guide John Mackenzie, and he also explored and climbed in the Canadian Rockies, helping to open up terrain that was little known to European climbers of the time.
Collie died in 1942, but his reputation has endured because he never fit neatly into one role. He is remembered as both an inventive academic and a pioneering outdoor figure, with a life that feels unusually broad even by the standards of his era.