Talk:Lewis Urry

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography
	This article is supported by the science and academia work group.

Untitled

This article seems very similar to the obituary in the Globe and Mail. --Wtshymanski 16:58, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Just a coincidence, I guess with a guy who has only one major achievement there's only so much you can say. To be perfectly honest with you I've never heard of the Globe and Mail (living in the UK I've only heard of the Post and NY Times). In the interests of full disclosure I did write the article having read pieces in the Guardian and the Independent, but I have better things to do than rip articles off intentionally. Rje 17:37, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I read a few other obituaries on the Web and they all sound pretty much the same. My mistake. --Wtshymanski 23:36, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

No worries. Rje 10:36, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Switched?

The text says that eveready "immediately switched" to manufacturing alkaline batteries. This is incorrect, because they continued to make carbon batteries for decades after alkalines were introduced, and as far as I know they still may be making them. I would change this to "immediately began" but I would like to see the source for this first, because while I know "immediately switched" is wrong, I don't know for that matter that they did "immediately begin" making alkaline batteries, though of course that is plausible. For that reason I am changing it to simply "began," since that is obviously correct no matter how long it took. If a source can be found to support the "immediately" then that word should be reintroduced. Jafafa Hots 14:44, 25 January 2006 (UTC) Also changing "prototype" to "design" as once in production it was obviously no longer a prototype. Jafafa Hots 14:46, 25 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Review comments

Some suggestions for improvement as the article is expanded:

Template:Infobox Scientist should be added
Photograph should be added from a source with a free license, if available
Some basic biographical information required, eg any marriages/children, place of death
After expansion, article should be divided into appropriate subheadings
Information on research should be expanded and references required
References should be added, preferably in the inline format
External links to useful online resources should be added if available

Espresso Addict 02:12, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I worked with Lew Urry for nearly 23 years

I was only about 2 years old when Lew demonstrated his Alkaline cell, but I worked with him from June 1976 until May 1999. When I started, we were both working on a Li-thionyl chloride cell, commonly referred to as the ".475", that he had proposed for use in a 9V battery. There was a development group of electrochemists, engineers, lab technicians, and assistants, of which he was the most senior and I was the most junior. I don't recall exactly when I met Lew but wasn't impressed with his shabby appearance and stern demeanor. After all, no one had told me how famous and important he was, or even that he was Canadian. It was my first job out of college, and I had very little knowledge of practical electrochemistry and batteries and was quite surprised that I had been hired. I got assigned to the Lab Safety Committee shortly after I was hired (I was low man on the totem pole). No one wanted the assignment because we had to do stupid things like double check that fire extinguishers had been checked. At that time, we were having trouble with "spontaneous disassembly" of partially discharged cells. Lew had his lab assistant dissolving partially discharged lithium anodes in distilled water, for analysis of contaminants. This was a very unnerving process because the lithium surface was very active and reacted violently with the water. Lew had told his small, older, female assistant to do the process in glass beakers because the stockroom was out of plastic beakers. She came into my lab at break time because there were other people to talk to, but I noticed she was shaking so bad she could barely hold her cigarette. I asked her what was upsetting her. She told me some of the beakers had shattered when the anodes flashed. I told her not to process any more anodes until I talked to Lew. She was obviously fearful of Lew's reaction if she didn't follow his orders. I went down to Lew's office, which was in the management segment of the building, a floor down from our labs. Telling him about my conversation with his lab assistant upset him, because his work was top priority and who was I to question his orders and delay this work. Telling him that I was the group Lab Safety Committee member didn't mean anything to him. I said he could write a purchase order for the plasticware, and rush it through Purchasing, and have the beakers by the next day, if not sooner. His response was to tell our Tech Manager that I was insubordinate, and he thought I should be severely reprimanded or even fired. The Tech Manager called me to his office to explain my actions. I told him what I had done and why, while Lew stood there. The Tech Manager turned to Lew and said, "John was just doing his job". It was no secret that the Tech. Manager had little regard for Lew. There was no shortage of "Lew stories". He was a Legend that stayed much too long. John C. Coppers (talk) 22:01, 12 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]