Editing John Cornforth (section)

==Early life and family==
Born in Sydney, Cornforth was the son and the second of four children of English-born, [[University of Oxford|Oxford]]-educated schoolmaster and teacher John Warcup Cornforth and Hilda Eipper (1887–1969), a granddaughter of pioneering missionary and [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] minister [[Christopher Eipper]]. Before her marriage, Eipper had been a maternity nurse.<ref name="NNDB" /><ref name="UniSyd">{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/aboutus/cornforth.html |title=Sir John Cornforth (1917–2013) |work=University of Sydney, School of Chemistry |access-date=1 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207160559/http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/aboutus/cornforth.html |archive-date=7 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Cornforth was raised in Sydney as well as [[Armidale, New South Wales|Armidale]], in the north of New South Wales,<ref name="nobelprize">{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1975/cornforth-bio.html |title=John Cornforth – Biographical |work=Nobelprize.org |year=2014 |access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref> where he undertook primary school education.<ref name="UniSyd" />

At about 10 years old,<ref name="UniSyd 2">{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/history/cornforths-history.shtml |title=How the Cornforths started out in chemistry |work=University of Sydney, School of Chemistry  |access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref> Cornforth had noted signs of deafness, which led to a diagnosis of [[otosclerosis]], a disease of the middle ear which causes progressive hearing loss. This left him completely deaf by the age of 20 but also fatefully influenced his career direction away from law, his original intended field of study, and towards chemistry.<ref>[http://biotechnology-innovation.com.au/scientists/john_cornforth.html John Cornforth] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215220920/http://www.biotechnology-innovation.com.au/scientists/john_cornforth.html |date=15 February 2011 }}, biotechnology-innovation.com.au</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=II |first=Thomas H. Maugh |date=2013-12-28 |title=John Cornforth dies at 96; Nobel Prize-winning chemist |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-john-cornforth-20131229-story.html |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> In an interview with [[Harry Kroto|Sir Harry Kroto]] for the [[Vega Science Trust]], Cornforth explained:<blockquote>I had to find something in which the loss of hearing would not be too severe a handicap...I chose chemistry...The most liberating thing was the realization that the literature wasn't entirely correct. It gave me quite a shock at first, and then a thrill. Because I can set this right! And always, and ever since, I've relied upon the primary literature exclusively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cornforth |first=John |date=January 2002 |title=Sir John Cornforth: An Interview by Bob Thomas and Sir Harry Kroto |url=http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/130 |access-date=April 11, 2023}}</ref></blockquote>