DOCSLIB.ORG

Science, Scientific Intellectuals and British Culture in the Early Atomic Age, 1945-1956: a Case Study of George Orwell, Jacob Bronowski, J.G

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Science, Scientific Intellectuals and British Culture in the Early Atomic Age, 1945-1956: a Case Study of George Orwell, Jacob Bronowski, J.G Science, Scientific Intellectuals and British Culture in The Early Atomic Age, 1945-1956: A Case Study of George Orwell, Jacob Bronowski, J.G. Crowther and P.M.S. Blackett Ralph John Desmarais A Dissertation Submitted In Fulfilment Of The Requirements For The Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy Imperial College London Centre For The History Of Science, Technology And Medicine 2 Abstract This dissertation proposes a revised understanding of the place of science in British literary and political culture during the early atomic era. It builds on recent scholarship that discards the cultural pessimism and alleged ‘two-cultures’ dichotomy which underlay earlier histories. Countering influential narratives centred on a beleaguered radical scientific Left in decline, this account instead recovers an early postwar Britain whose intellectual milieu was politically heterogeneous and culturally vibrant. It argues for different and unrecognised currents of science and society that informed the debates of the atomic age, most of which remain unknown to historians. Following a contextual overview of British scientific intellectuals active in mid-century, this dissertation then considers four individuals and episodes in greater detail. The first shows how science and scientific intellectuals were intimately bound up with George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four (1949). Contrary to interpretations portraying Orwell as hostile to science, Orwell in fact came to side with the views of the scientific rig h t through his active wartime interest in scientists’ doctrinal disputes; this interest, in turn, contributed to his depiction of Ingsoc, the novel’s central fictional ideology. Jacob Bronowski’s remarkable transition from pre-war academic mathematician and Modernist poet to a leading postwar BBC media don is then traced. A key argument is that rather than publicly engaging with actual relations of science and the British state, Bronowski actively downplayed the perils of nuclear weapons, instead promoting an idealist vision of science through his scientific humanism philosophy. Finally, the political activism of J.G. Crowther and P.M.S. Blackett are analysed, Crowther through his chairmanship of the Communist-linked British Peace Committee, and Blackett through his controversial book Military and Political Consequences of Atomic Energy (1948). In neither case, as might be expected, did their nuclear politics stem from scientific ideology but rather from personal convictions. 3 4 Table Of Contents Page Chapter 1: 7 Rethinking the Place Of ‘Science’ in Early Cold War Britain Chapter 2: 25 Scientific Intellectuals in their Cold War Contexts, 1945-1956 Chapter 3: 45 George Orwell, Science and Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1942-1949 Chapter 4: 63 Jacob Bronowski: A Humanist Intellectual for an Atomic Age, 1946-1956 Chapter 5: 89 Warring for Peace: J.G. Crowther and the British Peace Committee, 1948-1952 Chapter 6: 109 ‘Atomic Heretic’: P.M.S. Blackett, Science and Nuclear Politics, 1945-1950 Conclusion 145 Appendix: 153 Early Cold War Scientific Intellectuals in Britain (1945-1956) Bibliography Primary Sources: Unpublished Collections 157 Primary Sources: Periodicals and Daily Press 160 Primary Sources: Other Published Material 161 Secondary Sources 171 5 Acknowledgements This dissertation benefitted from the help of many individuals and institutions over the past several years. But my greatest appreciation and thanks go to my supervisor David Edgerton whose continuing direction, advice and encouragement were invaluable to helping bring this work to fruition. His patient mentoring, kindness and friendship throughout also served to make this undertaking considerably more enriching and enjoyable than I could have hoped for. I am indebted to Pat Thane for her initial advice and enthusiasm which led to me begin this doctoral research. During my time at Imperial College, I gained immense intellectual support and stimulus from many hours of discussions and shared readings with Andrew Mendelsohn, Jessica Reinisch, Max Stadler, Alex Oikonomou and Waqar Zaidi, which fed into my research in countless ways. I am also very grateful for the time and valuable feedback offered by colleagues and others who read portions of this dissertation during its draft stages, especially Allison Dube, Andrew Mendelsohn, Guy Ortolano, Geert Somsen and Waqar Zaidi. I am grateful for the doctoral funding provided by the AHRC for this project, and for the generous help given me by many archivists. In particular I wish to thank Colin Harris (Bodleian Library), Bridget Gillies (University of East Anglia) and Erin O’Neill (BBC Written Archives Centre) for their continuing assistance. I would also like to thank William Graves and Elizabeth al Qadhi (née Strachey) for access to their fathers’ papers and correspondence, and to Patricia Langdon-Davies for her late husband’s published and unpublished material. I also benefitted enormously from conversations with Peter Davison concerning George Orwell, with John Vice regarding Jacob Bronowski, and with John Maddox on his recollections of science journalism, all of whom I sincerely thank. Lastly I wish to thank my family for their ongoing support. Ellie and Rebecca never wavered in their enthusiastic contributions to dinner conversations which so often turned on the topic of scientific intellectuals and their goings on. But my greatest debt is to my wife Sarah, without whose love I could not have begun or finished this work. This dissertation is dedicated to them. 6 Chapter 1 Rethinking the Place of ‘Science’ in Early Cold War Britain Introduction According to an influential body of historical scholarship, British high culture—especially in relation to literary and scientific intellectuals—was moribund throughout the first decade following the Second World War. Historians were agreed on the main reasons: the creative influence of high modernism was at an ebb; hopes of support for the arts in Britain’s new welfare state had been dashed; the social relations of science movement had come to an abrupt end at the close of the war; and the scientific radical contingent at the forefront of this movement had become politically isolated amidst growing East-West tensions and anti- communist sentiment. Another, and equally striking feature of these historical accounts is the sense that literary and scientific intellectuals occupied separate spheres. On the one hand, literary and general social histories implied that the importance of scientists lay exclusively with their laboratory achievements; scientists, unlike their counterparts in the humanities, were apparently never associated with any public intellectual role in the early postwar era. On the other, historical scholarship dedicated to scientists’ public engagement with social, cultural and political issues saw these scientific intellectuals as a particular product of science, and regarded arts intellectuals as broadly hostile to science. The overall impression was that British postwar culture could indeed be understood through the framework of C.P. Snow’s famous two- cultures dichotomy. The present dissertation re-examines the place of scientific intellectuals during the first postwar decade and argues for the vigour of their activity through the period, and against the two-cultures framing of their story. Through an overview of scientific intellectuals who were active in mid-century, together with several case studies of important individuals and episodes, this study develops five main arguments. The first is that early Cold War conditions led to political engagements by British scientific intellectuals that rivalled the intensity of the preceding so c ia l relations of science era. A second and related argument is that most relevant historiography has overlooked significant continuities between these periods. I show that these intellectuals’ interwar and wartime experiences strongly determined the shape and content of early Cold War scientific intellectual discourse in unexpected ways. Thirdly, I argue that scientific intellectuals tended to act on their prior existing political views rather than on ideas that originated from science. A fourth argument is that scientific intellectuals were both more numerous and ideologically diverse than accounts have suggested. Their presence extended beyond the academic scientist community to include professional administrators, writers and journalists; and few belonged to the radical left-wing political faction which has received most historical attention to date. Finally, I argue that the relationship between scientific and humanities-trained intellectuals during the early Cold War did not conform to Snow’s two- cultures’ theses. The two groups not only exhibited a similar plurality of views in relation to science and to politics, but they also interacted and intersected with one another to a considerable extent. Nonetheless, with the atomic age came profound threats to science’s cultural standing; these in turn served to mark out scientific from non-scientific intellectuals in ways particular to this era. Together, these arguments reflect the importance of taking scientific intellectuals as an object of research to better understand more generally elite culture in Britain. Chapter 1 Rethinking The Place Of ‘Science’ In Early Cold War Britain An important impetus for the present study is the growing body of revisionist historical analyses that have put older accounts of mid-century British intellectuals into question. Two of the most salient works are Absent Minds
Load more

Recommended publications
  • This American Life Pitch
    Pagan Kennedy from The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex, a short, eccentric biography of the man who authored The Joy of Sex One day in 1934, he sequestered himself in his family’s greenhouse in London to perform an experiment. Alex Comfort – then 14 years old – had decided to invent his own fireworks. He ground together sugar, sulfur and saltpeter, an operation so dangerous that most chemists pour water over the ingredients to prevent a blast. Alex neglected to take that precaution. The container exploded. The roof of the greenhouse blew out. A red- tinted vapor hovered in the air before him. Four fingers on his left hand had vanished, leaving a lump of meat with one thumb hanging off it. He felt no pain. Indeed, he found it thrilling to be blown apart. Or, at least, that’s how he told the story later. Alex Comfort loved explosions, even the one that mutilated him. He never would admit any regret at the loss of his four fingers. As a middle-aged physician, he bragged that his stump could be more useful than a conventional hand, particularly when it came to performing certain medical procedures— exploring a woman’s birth canal, for instance. One thing was clear after the accident: Alex should avoid laboratories, at least until he was older. So he set his sights on literary greatness instead. When he was 16, his father took him on a tramp steamer to Buenos Aires and then Senegal; Alex scribbled notes along the way. In 1938, his final year of high school, he published a little gem of travel book, titled The Silver River, billed as the “diary of a schoolboy.” The Glove.
    [Show full text]
  • The Diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev 1973
    The Diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev 1973 Donated by A.S. Chernyaev to The National Security Archive Translated by Anna Melyakova Edited by Svetlana Savranskaya http://www.nsarchive.org Translation © The National Security Archive, 2013 The Diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev, 1973 http://www.nsarchive.org January 6, 1973 Even though it’s Saturday, I spent the whole day at work. We’re preparing yet another report on the International Communist Movement [ICM] for Ponomarev. The only satisfaction I get out of it is seeing how much better I can do the work than the “guys” (consultants), and naturally, they willingly submit to my skill. But you can’t respect a person who hasn’t learned anything after ten years on the job. We’ve got a circus going on with the dual management of the Department by Kuskov and Zagladin. Kuskov is tongue-tied and nonsensical, which is probably a reflection of his dulled intellect and tired brain that was subject to too much alcohol in its day. Plus, Kuskov did not have proper training or develop a good work ethic when he was young. Zagladin is not exactly using him because of this, but he finds his helplessness annoying, because it steals time from his subordinates, not to mention the incomprehensible tasks he gives them. I am reading Bykovsky. January 8, 1973 There is a flu epidemic in Moscow, they say that 70,000 people get sick every day (citing statistics from the city committee). It’s probably a lie. But there are many sick people around. The day before yesterday I met with a delegation from the Austrian Communist Party.
    [Show full text]
  • Stage 2 Physics Sample Examination Questions
    Stage 2 Physics Sample Examination Questions © SACE Board of South Australia 2020 Stage 2 Physics Sample Examination Questions Objective reference: A1013258 1. The photograph below shows a mobile phone connected to a charger. The charger contains a step-down transformer. charger mobile phone The transformer decreases the voltage from 220 V to 5.0 V. The primary coil of the transformer has 3520 turns. Determine the number of turns in the secondary coil of the transformer. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (2 marks) © SACE Board of South Australia 2020 Stage 2 Physics Sample Examination Questions Objective reference: A1013258 2. Two experiments were conducted to determine the wavelength of light from a monochromatic light source.
    [Show full text]
  • Keynes and the Ethics of Socialism Edward W
    THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS VOLUME 22 | No. 2 | 139–180 | SUMMER 2019 WWW.QJAE.ORG Keynes and the Ethics of Socialism Edward W. Fuller* JEL Classification: B22, B24, E12, P20 Abstract: This paper examines John Maynard Keynes’s ethical theory and how it relates to his politico-economic thought. Keynes’s ethical theory represents an attack on all general rules. Since capitalism is a rule-based social system, Keynes’s ethical theory is incompatible with capitalism. And since socialism rejects the general rules of private property, the Keynesian ethical theory is consistent with socialism. The unexplored evidence presented here confirms Keynes advocated a consistent form of non-Marxist socialism from no later than 1907 until his death in 1946. However, Keynes’s ethical theory is flawed because it is based on his defective logical theory of probability. Consequently, Keynes’s ethical theory is not a viable ethical justification for socialism. INTRODUCTION ohn Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) was the most influential Jeconomist of the twentieth century. However, ethics and prob- ability were Keynes’s primary intellectual interests for the first seventeen years of his academic career. In fact, his early ideas on ethics and probability inspired and suffused his politico-economic theory. His biographer, Robert Skidelsky, agrees: “His theories of politics and economics were expressions of his beliefs about ethics * Edward W. Fuller ([email protected]), MBA, is a graduate of the Leavey School of Business. Quart J Austrian Econ (2019) 22.2:139–180 https://qjae.scholasticahq.com/ 139 Creative Commons doi.org/10.35297/qjae.010010 BY-NC-ND 4.0 License 140 Quart J Austrian Econ (2019) 22.2:139–180 and probability” (1991, 104).
    [Show full text]
  • London Calling: BBC External Services, Whitehall and the Cold War 1944- 57
    London calling: BBC external services, Whitehall and the cold war 1944- 57. Webb, Alban The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author For additional information about this publication click this link. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/jspui/handle/123456789/1577 Information about this research object was correct at the time of download; we occasionally make corrections to records, please therefore check the published record when citing. For more information contact [email protected] LONDON CALLING: SSC EXTERNAL SERVICES, WHITEHALL AND THE COLD WAR, 1944-57 ALBAN WEBB Queen Mary College, University of London A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) 1 Declaration: The work presented in this thesis is my own. Signed: '~"\ ~~Ue6b Alban Webb Declaration: The work presented in this thesis is my own. Signed: Alban Webb ABSTRACT The Second World War had radically changed the focus of the BBC's overseas operation from providing an imperial service in English only, to that of a global broadcaster speaking to the world in over forty different languages. The end of that conflict saw the BBC's External Services, as they became known, re-engineered for a world at peace, but it was not long before splits in the international community caused the postwar geopolitical landscape to shift, plunging the world into a cold war. At the British government's insistence a re-calibration of the External Services' broadcasting remit was undertaken, particularly in its broadcasts to Central and Eastern Europe, to adapt its output to this new and emerging world order.
    [Show full text]
  • “Rule Number Two Is Doctors Can't Change Rule Numb-1 REFORMAT
    Britain’s Television Act of 1954: One Medium’s Effect on a Society Joshua Altman Professor Dane Kennedy 20 th Century Britain May 5, 2008 Joshua Altman Britain’s Television Act of 1954 May 5, 2008 INTRODUCTION When television came to the British masses it signaled the beginnings of a metamorphosis that was beyond suppression. Decades of a BBC monopoly provided a culturally unifying factor in both television and radio, but the Television Act of 1954 ended that monopoly, thus ending the unifying force 1. While debating the Act in Parliament, Ian Harvey MP said “Television is an instrument of communication and I am amongst those who believe that an instrument of such power of communication should not be vested in one single authority 2” The nature of British television changed with the Television Act of 1954. For the first time British broadcasting was open to competition and entities other than the BBC were able to produce content to air on channels other than the BBC 3. One condition of open broadcasting was that content had to be monitored, as it was no longer all created by the government. Created by the Television Act of 1954, the Independent Television Authority [ITA] took television one step further away from government regulation by functioning as an oversight body for Independent Television [ITV]. The ITA was responsible for licensing stations [franchises] and providing closer monitoring of content to ensure that it was appropriate for broadcast. Primarily, Members of Parliament concerned themselves with two major questions, the first being how television programming would be supported financially.
    [Show full text]
  • JANNEY CYLINDER COMPANY Subsidiary of Pittsburgh Forgings Co
    People and things Michael Crowley-Milling of CERN, winner J. Pniewski of this year's Glazebrook Prize from the UK Institute of Physics. (Photo K Kilian) On People Eric Burhop, well-known high energy physicist from University College London, died on 22 January. He was particularly associated with the nuclear emulsion technique both in its heyday of cosmic ray research and early accelerator experiments and in its revived role in hybrid sys­ tems for the observation of charmed particle tracks, where he played a pioneering role. The Swedish physicist Erik Rudberg died on 2 January. He was Presi­ dent of the European Physical So­ ciety from 1970 to 1972 and in that office wrote for CERN COU­ RIER (February issue 1971 ) a mes­ sage of welcome on the decision to build the SPS. Gale Pewitt has been named Deputy Director for Operations at the Ar­ tation in music and recently com­ the National Medal of Science, one gonne Laboratory. In the 1960s he posed a song to celebrate CERN's of the highest US awards, to 20 em­ led the design and construction of 25th Anniversary (see November, inent researchers. Among those the 12 foot hydrogen bubble cham­ 1979 issue, page 369). who received the award this year <^ ber with its pioneering use of a were Richard Feynman and Victor large superconducting magnet. He Weisskopf. subsequently became Director of Among the award winners of the the High Energy Facilities Division. UK Institute of Physics for 1980 were Michael Crowley-Milling of PETRA and DORIS CERN (Glazebrook Medal and Prize) The Polish physicist J.
    [Show full text]
  • Read the Full PDF
    en Books published to date in the continuing series o .:: -m -I J> SOVIET ADVANCES IN THE MIDDLE EAST, George Lenczowski, 1971. 176 C pages, $4.00 ;; Explores and analyzes recent Soviet policies in the Middle East in terms of their historical background, ideological foundations and pragmatic application in the 2 political, economic and military sectors. n PRIVATE ENTERPRISE AND SOCIALISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST, Howard S. Ellis, m 1970. 123 pages, $3.00 en Summarizes recent economic developments in the Middle East. Discusses the 2- significance of Soviet economic relations with countries in the area and suggests new approaches for American economic assistance. -I :::I: TRADE PATTERNS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, Lee E. Preston in association with m Karim A. Nashashibi, 1970. 93 pages, $3.00 3: Analyzes trade flows within the Middle East and between that area and other areas of the world. Describes special trade relationships between individual -C Middle Eastern countries and certain others, such as Lebanon-France, U.S .S.R.­ C Egypt, and U.S.-Israel. r­ m THE DILEMMA OF ISRAEL, Harry B. Ellis, 1970. 107 pages, $3.00 m Traces the history of modern Israel. Analyzes Israel 's internal political, eco­ J> nomic, and social structure and its relationships with the Arabs, the United en Nations, and the United States. -I JERUSALEM: KEYSTONE OF AN ARAB-ISRAELI SETTLEMENT, Richard H. Pfaff, 1969. 54 pages, $2.00 Suggests and analyzes seven policy choices for the United States. Discusses the religious significance of Jerusalem to Christians, Jews, and Moslems, and points out the cultural gulf between the Arabs of the Old City and the Western­ r oriented Israelis of West Jerusalem.
    [Show full text]
  • Full List of Files Released L C P First Date Last Date Scope/Content
    Full list of files released L C P First Date Last Date Scope/Content Former Ref Note KV 2 WORLD WAR II KV 2 German Intelligence Agents and Suspected Agents KV 2 3386 06/03/1935 18/08/1953 Greta Lydia OSWALD: Swiss. Imprisoned in PF 45034 France on grounds of spying for Germany in 1935, OSWALD was said to be working for the Gestapo in 1941 KV 2 3387 12/11/1929 12/01/1939 Oscar Vladimirovich GILINSKY alias PF 46098 JILINSKY, GILINTSIS: Latvian. An arms dealer VOL 1 in Paris, in 1937 GILINSKY was purchasing arms for the Spanish Popular Front on behalf of the Soviet Government. In November 1940 he was arrested by the Germans in Paris but managed to obtain an exit permit. He claimed he achieved this by bribing individual Germans but, after ISOS material showed he was regarded as an Abwehr agent, he was removed in Trinidad from a ship bound for Buenos Aires and brought to Camp 020 for interrogation. He was deported in 1946 KV 2 3388 13/01/1939 16/02/1942 Oscar Vladimirovich GILINSKY alias PF 46098 JILINSKY, GILINTSIS: Latvian. An arms dealer VOL 2 in Paris, in 1937 GILINSKY was purchasing arms for the Spanish Popular Front on behalf of the Soviet Government. In November 1940 he was arrested by the Germans in Paris but managed to obtain an exit permit. He claimed he achieved this by bribing individual Germans but, after ISOS material showed he was regarded as an Abwehr agent, he was removed in Trinidad from a ship bound for Buenos Aires and brought to Camp 020 for interrogation.
    [Show full text]
  • Appeal from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation to End the Nuclear Weapons Threat to Humanity (2003)………………………………………..……...26
    Relevant Appeals against War and for Nuclear Disarmament from Scientific Networks 1945- 2010 Reiner Braun/ Manuel Müller/ Magdalena Polakowski Russell-Einstein-Manifesto (1955)……………..…..1 The first Pugwash Conferenec (1957)………..……4 The Letter from Bertrand Russell to Joseph Rotblat (1956)………………………………..……...6 „Göttinger 18“ (1957)…………………………..…..8 Hiroshima Appeal (1959)………………………..…9 Linus Pauling (1961)…………………………..…..10 The Call to Halt the Nuclear Arms Race (1980)………………..…..11 The Göttingen Draft Treaty to Ban Space Weapons (1984)…………………………………………….....15 Appeal by American Scientists to Ban Space Weapons (1985)………………………………..…..16 The Hamburg Disarmament Proposals (1986)…………………………………………..…...17 Hans A. Bethe to Mr. President (1997)………..…18 Appeal from Scientists in Japan (1998)……….....20 U.S.Nobel laureates object to preventive attack on Iraq (2003)……………………………………...….25 Appeal from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation to end the nuclear weapons threat to humanity (2003)………………………………………..……...26 Appeal to support an International Einstein Year (2004)……………………………………………….28 Scientists for a Nuclear Weapons Free World, INES (2009)…………………………..……………31 Milan Document on Nuclear Disarmament (2010)……………………..34 Russell-Einstein-Manifesto (1955) 1 Russell-Einstein-Manifesto (1955) In the tragic situation which confronts humanity, we feel that scientists should assemble in conference to appraise the perils that have arisen as a result of the development of weapons of mass destruction, and to discuss a resolution in the spirit of the appended draft. We are speaking on this occasion, not as members of this or that nation, continent, or creed, but as human beings, members of the species Man, whose continued existence is in doubt. The world is full of conflicts; and, overshadowing all minor conflicts, the titanic struggle between Communism and anti-Communism.
    [Show full text]
  • Orme) Wilberforce (Albert) Raymond Blackburn (Alexander Bell
    Copyrights sought (Albert) Basil (Orme) Wilberforce (Albert) Raymond Blackburn (Alexander Bell) Filson Young (Alexander) Forbes Hendry (Alexander) Frederick Whyte (Alfred Hubert) Roy Fedden (Alfred) Alistair Cooke (Alfred) Guy Garrod (Alfred) James Hawkey (Archibald) Berkeley Milne (Archibald) David Stirling (Archibald) Havergal Downes-Shaw (Arthur) Berriedale Keith (Arthur) Beverley Baxter (Arthur) Cecil Tyrrell Beck (Arthur) Clive Morrison-Bell (Arthur) Hugh (Elsdale) Molson (Arthur) Mervyn Stockwood (Arthur) Paul Boissier, Harrow Heraldry Committee & Harrow School (Arthur) Trevor Dawson (Arwyn) Lynn Ungoed-Thomas (Basil Arthur) John Peto (Basil) Kingsley Martin (Basil) Kingsley Martin (Basil) Kingsley Martin & New Statesman (Borlasse Elward) Wyndham Childs (Cecil Frederick) Nevil Macready (Cecil George) Graham Hayman (Charles Edward) Howard Vincent (Charles Henry) Collins Baker (Charles) Alexander Harris (Charles) Cyril Clarke (Charles) Edgar Wood (Charles) Edward Troup (Charles) Frederick (Howard) Gough (Charles) Michael Duff (Charles) Philip Fothergill (Charles) Philip Fothergill, Liberal National Organisation, N-E Warwickshire Liberal Association & Rt Hon Charles Albert McCurdy (Charles) Vernon (Oldfield) Bartlett (Charles) Vernon (Oldfield) Bartlett & World Review of Reviews (Claude) Nigel (Byam) Davies (Claude) Nigel (Byam) Davies (Colin) Mark Patrick (Crwfurd) Wilfrid Griffin Eady (Cyril) Berkeley Ormerod (Cyril) Desmond Keeling (Cyril) George Toogood (Cyril) Kenneth Bird (David) Euan Wallace (Davies) Evan Bedford (Denis Duncan)
    [Show full text]
  • Notes to Robert Curtis's Presentation at WL2018
    Notes to Robert Curtis's presentation at WL2018 R. T. Curtis Some students of H.F. Baker Henry Frederick Baker was a hugely influential Cambridge geometer in the late 19th and early 20th century. His students included Coxeter who went on to become one of the most important geometers in the 20C; du Val and Edge, who were distinguished algebraic ge- ometers; and Todd of the Todd-Coxeter coset enumeration algorithm. The eminent number theorist Mordell was another student, as was Jacob Bronowski who wrote and presented The Ascent of Man which in the 1960s was a popular television series about the rise of civilization. Bronowski's daughter Lisa (later Lisa Jardine) also studied Mathematics at Cambridge in the year above me but changed to English in her third year and went on to become Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London. This talk will begin with the contribution of Todd. The synthematic totals preserved by the symmetric group S6 The 15 partitions of six letters into pairs are known as synthemes; a set of five synthemes such that every pair appears is a synthematic total; there are just 6 of these totals, and so the symmetric group S6 permutes both the original 6 letters and the 6 totals. Todd wrote the totals on the board in his 1967 Cambridge Part III course which I attended, and demonstrated important properties of these two non-permutation identical actions. From S6 to M12 to M24 Todd's lectures demonstrated an important method of constructing groups: Use a well- known group to construct a new combinatorial or geometric structure; observe that the new structure possesses more symmetries than just the group you used in its construction.
    [Show full text]