He was born in Renfrew on 8 October 1900, the only son of John Stevens and his wife, Jane Irving.
His father was a design engineer and Production Director of William Simons & Co. shipbuilders in Renfrew.
[1] He studied Science at Glasgow University under a Taylor Open Bursary, graduating BSc in 1921.
In 1923 he went to Oxford University to study under Prof William Henry Perkin Jr, gaining his first doctorate (PhD) in 1925.
His proposers were Peter Pauson, James Bell, Ian Dawson and John Monteath Robertson.