The life of the Imperial College-trained Robert Fergus Hunter (1904–1963) was a Bildungsroman of a gifted chemist who appeared destined for a prominent academic career in organic chemistry. Two circumstances spoiled his chances. In the first place, he became associated with the declining fortunes of the weekly Chemical News. More seriously, as a professor at the Aligarh Muslim University in British India (1930–1936), he published papers on valence theory with the German-Jewish physicist Rudolf Samuel that fatally destroyed his chance of further academic preferment. Instead he became a research chemist in the food and plastics industries. The paper critically assesses Hunter's work on valence and also provides new light on science in India during the 1930s.

在帝国理工学院受训的罗伯特·弗格斯·亨特 (Robert Fergus Hunter，1904-1963 年) 是一位天才化学家的成长小说，他似乎注定要在有机化学领域取得杰出的学术生涯。有两种情况破坏了他的机会。首先，他与每周化学新闻的衰落联系在一起。更严重的是，作为英属印度阿里格尔穆斯林大学的教授（1930-1936），他与德国犹太物理学家鲁道夫·塞缪尔（Rudolf Samuel）一起发表了关于价论的论文，这致命地破坏了他进一步升学的机会。相反，他成为了食品和塑料行业的研究化学家。这篇论文批判性地评估了亨特在化合价方面的工作，并为 1930 年代印度的科学提供了新的视角。