DOCSLIB.ORG

Lew Kowarski

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Lew Kowarski 1907-1979 Avant-propos ~~~'\ John B. Adams Les textes publies dans le present document sont ceux directeur de son Departement des sciences naturelles. des allocutions prononcees !ors d'une reunion a la me­ Denis de Rougemont, comme Lew Kowarski, a done pris moire de Lew Kowarski, qui s'est tenue au CERN a une grande part a la creation du CERN et s'est trouve en Geneve le 20 decembre 1979. contact avec Kowarski, tant a ce moment-la que pendant Ces allocutions couvrent les differentes phases de la vie Jes annees ou ce dernier a travaille au CERN. Leurs rela­ et de !'oeuvre de Lew Kowarski, et chaque orateur s'est tions se resserrerent encore apres que Kowarski eut pris sa trouve en association etroite avec lui a differentes epoques retraite. de sa carriere. Jean Mussard a egalement concouru a la creation du Jules Gueron a rencontre Kowarski avant la seconde CERN car, a l'epoque ou !'UNESCO entreprenait d'ela­ guerre mondiale alors qu'il travaillait au laboratoire de borer le projet d'un Laboratoire europeen de physique Joliot a Paris. Ensemble, ils entrerent a «Tube Alloys», nucleaire, ii etait directeur adjoint de la Division pour la nom de code pour le projet d'energie nucleaire en Angle­ cooperation scientifique internationale a l'UNESCO et terre, et se rendirent au Canada quand ce projet y fut Pierre Auger le chargea de cette elaboration. C'est ainsi transfere en 1943. Apres la guerre, tous deux devinrent qu'il entra en contact avec Lew Kowarski et ii resta en directeurs au CEA, en France, puis leurs itineraires se rapport etroit avec lui jusqu'au deces de celui-ci. Jean separerent, Kowarski venant au CERN et Gueron entrant Mussard rappelle le role joue par Kowarski dans la a l'EURATOM comme directeur general de la recherche. creation du CERN et ses activites au cours de ses annees Jules Gueron rappelle !es premieres annees des developpe­ ulterieures a Geneve. ments de l'energie nucleaire et le role joue par Kowarski En maniere d'introduction aux quatre evocations consi­ ~I pendant cette periode capitale de l'histoire recente. gnees dans le present document, je voudrais esquisser tres ! Charles Peyrou a travaille avec Lew Kowarski au brievement les evenements survenus au cours des jeunes CERN et rappelle la part qu'il a prise a !'oeuvre du Labo­ annees de Lew Kowarski, avant qu'il devienne une person­ ratoire apres sa creation en 1953. nalite. Denis de Rougemont etait rapporteur general du Ne en 1907 a Saint-Petersbourg, l'actuelle Leningrad, ii Mouvement europeen lorsque l'idee d'un laboratoire euro­ etait le fits d'un homme d'affaires juif et d'une chanteuse peen de physique nucleaire a ete debattue pour la premiere ukrainienne de religion orthodoxe. L'enfant d'une telle fois, !ors de la Conference europeenne de la culture qui union, dans la Russie tsariste d'alors, se heurtait a des pro­ s'est tenue a Lausanne en decembre 1949. A la suite de blemes que Jean Mussard rappelle. Kowarski affirmait cette conference, le Centre europeen de la culture a ete souvent que son interet pour la science remontait a cree a Geneve, en 1950, sous la direction de Denis de 1917, annee du coup d'Etat bolchevique en Russie, alors Rougemont et s'est vu confier, parmi ses premieres qu'age de dix ans ii lisait le roman de H.G. Wells intitule taches, les travaux preparatoires a la creation d'un tel «The World Set Free». A douze ans, on le faisait evader laboratoire europeen. En decembre 1950, cette creation de la Russie en revolution et gagner Vilna, revenue plus etait decidee et !'UNESCO se chargea de la tache en tard a la Pologne, OU son pere l'avait precede de quelques mai 1951, en confiant la responsabilite a Pierre Auger, mois. A vec l'appui financier de ce dernier, ii faisait des 3 etudes, d'abord a Gand (Belgique) puis a !'Ecole de chimie facile a comprendre et qui a ete parfois meconnue. Doue industrielle de Lyon, ou ii recevait en 1928 le diplome d'un brillant esprit d'analyse, ii aimait l'appliquer a une d'ingenieur chimiste. vaste pluralite de sujets. Mais on doit admettre que par­ Son premier emploi etait dans l'industrie ou, tout en tra­ fois, en mettant en cause !es verites etablies, ii ne se faisait vaillant a l'etude de canalisations a gaz, ii s'arrangeait pas toujours apprecier de ceux qu'il attaquait. C'est peut­ pour commencer des recherches scientifiques sur la crois­ etre pourquoi, comme l'ecrit Bruce Atkins dans son sance des cristaux, sous la direction de Jean Perrin, ce qui recent memoire sur Lew Kowarski, C<Sa mort n'a guere Jui valut un doctorat es sciences physiques a l'Universite paru recevoir du public !'attention qu'on aurait pu attendre de Paris. II entrait ensuite dans le groupe de Joliot-Curie, pour l'un des peres de l'energie nucleaire». J'espere tres comme son secretaire a temps partiel, pour devenir en vivement que Jes discours consignes ici feront mieux 193 7 chercheur a part entiere avec Joliot et von Hal ban. comprendre sa vie et !'importance de son oeuvre. Ainsi, a trente ans enfin, apres une enfance extraordinaire Que sa vie fut si remplie est du a son extraordinaire et une adolescence qui eut brise un moins fort caractere, puissance intellectuelle et au profond interet qu'il portait ii entrait, pour ainsi dire par la petite porte, dans le monde aux grandes questions scientifiques de son temps. Qu'il de la science. supporta si longtemps sa maladie est le fruit de son Etant donne rinsecurite de son enfance, ses luttes de extreme volonte (qui Jui donna encore la force d'assister jeune homme et son entree peu commune dans le monde a la celebration du 25e anniversaire du CERN en 1979) et de la science, ii n'est guere surprenant que sa personnalite des soins devoues de Kate, sa sereine et douce epouse. prit une forme assez complexe, qui n'etait pas toujours J.B.A. 4 Lew Kowarski et le developpement de 1' energie nucleaire Jules Gueron Nous sommes reunis en memoire d'un homme excep­ aussi il y a peu de mois et qui devait devenir un des prin­ tionnel. La vie et les oeuvres de Lew Kowarski sont large­ cipaux acteurs du CEA avant d'y succeder, comme haut ment connues, car elles sont au coeur d'evenements qui commissaire, a Francis Perrin. dominent non seulement la science et la technique de notre Je passai les premiers mois de la guerre au College de generation mais aussi l'histoire de notre temps. 11 serait France, dans le laboratoire de Marcel Delepine, mais sans trop long d'enumerer les articles et les livres, qu'il s'agisse entendre un traitre mot de ce qui se passait a quelque de traites historiques OU de recits personnels, OU sont cent metres de la, chez Joliot, et sans meme croiser une decrits la personne et !'action de Kowarski. Laissez-moi fois Kowarski. cependant citer le livre recent de Spencer Weart ( «Scien­ C'est le 22 ou le 23 juin 1940 que je tombai sur lui et tists in power») et, parmi les notices necrologiques, celle sur Laugier, en sortant de la gare de Paddington, a qu'a ecrite O.R. Frisch, lui-meme disparu peu de se­ Londres, apres trois jours sur un cargo charge de poussier maines apres son ami. de charbon, vingt heures dans un cinema de Falmouth Tous ici, nous avons connu Kowarski. Mais ce fut a des transforme en centre d'hebergement de refugies, et une moments divers. De sorte que chacun ne peut avoir de lui nuit dans un train bonde! Laugier me reconnut cependant qu'une image personnelle partielle, associee a une phase et m'invita pour le lendemain a une reunion OU l'on devait particuliere de sa multiple carriere. Aussi devons-nous examiner l'emploi de scientifiques fran9ais. 11 s'avera tres remercier le CERN qui permet aujourd'hui a divers vite qu'elle etait reservee au groupe amene par Lord temoins de contribuer a !'evocation d'un portrait plus Suffolk, qui ressemblait a un boucanier d'operette, et je complet. sortis de la salle, tot apres y etre entre, sans avoir rien J'ai rencontre Kowarski pour la premiere fois en 1937, appris des sujets al'ordre dujour. avant la decouverte de la fission; nous avions a peine Un an plus tard a peine, au debut de l'automne 1941, depasse notre trentieme annee. Henri Laugier, premier Kowarski reprit contact avec moi. 11 ne pouvait parler directeur du tout jeune CNRS, m'avait promis une mo­ qu'a mots couverts. Des progres importants avaient ete deste subvention d'appareillage, ajoutant toutefois: «11 accomplis par une toute petite equipe, mais il n'avait pas le faut une decision de commission; allez done raconter votre droit d'en dire plus. Le travail devait s'amplifier; il se pour­ affaire a Joliot!» Rendez-vous pris, Joliot ne me re9ut pas suivrait en Angleterre ou aux Etats-Unis - qui n'etaient U'etais sans doute trop menu fretin) mais un jeune geant a pas encore en guerre. 11 fallait quelques physico-chimistes cheveux blancs excusa son patron, ecouta mon histoire, en renfort. Etais-je disponible? Mes questions portaient puis m'aiguilla vers une longue discussion de thermo­ sur la situation technique, sur !es chances d'aboutir a quoi dynamique. Ma subvention fut accordee, contribuant a me que ce soit contribuant a !'effort de guerre, sur Jes risques laisser un hon souvenir de mon interlocuteur inattendu.
Recommended publications
  • Prehistory of CERN: the First Suggestions (1949-Jun 1950)

    Prehistory of CERN: the First Suggestions (1949-Jun 1950)

    CHS-3 March 1984 STUDIES IN CERN HISTORY Prehistory of CERN : the first suggestions (1949 - June 1950) Dominique Pestre GENEVA 1984 The Study of CERN History is a project financed by Institutions in several CERN Member Countries. This report presents preliminary findings. and is intended for incorporation into a more comprehensive study of CERN's history. It is distributed primarily to historians and scientists to provoke discussion, and no part of it should be cited or reproduced without written permission from the Team Leacier. Comments are welcome and should be sent to: Study Team for CERN History c/oCERN CH-1211 GENEVE23 Switzerland © Copyright Study Team for CERN History, Geneva 1984 CERN-Service d'information scientifique - 300 - mars 1984 PREHISTORY OF CERN THE FIRST SUGGESTIONS (1949 - June 1950) I The years following the war II Two proposals of European collaboration in November 1949 III The European Cultural Conference, Lausanne, December 8-12, 1949 IV Attempts to implement the suggestions a - The European Movement initiative b - The French attempts V The fifth General Conference of UNESCO, Florence, June 1950 PREHISTORY OF CERN: THE FIRST SUGGESTIONS (1949-June 1950) 1 The official date of the foundation of CERN is easily established. The convention setting up CERN, signed on July 1, 1953 was ratified by France and Germany on September 29, 1954. By then nine States had signed, and CERN came officially into being. However, the interest of this date is rather limited. It ended a process initiated several years before and understanding this process is far more interesting than having a date of birth.

  • Des Origines Du Programme Nucléaire Français À Nos Jours

    Résistance et Dissuasion Des originesRésistance du programme et nucléaire Dissuasion français à nos jours Des originesRésistance du programme et nucléaire Dissuasion français à nos jours Des origines du programme nucléaire français à nos jours EXPOSITION Résistance et Dissuasion Des origines du programme nucléaire français à nos jours © D.R. – ECPAD/Défense / Archives historiques CEA / Archives © D.R. – ECPAD/Défense Résistance et Dissuasion Des origines du programme nucléaire français à nos jours LE RÔLE PIONNIER DE LA FRANCE DANS LE DOMAINE DE L’éNERGIE NUCLÉAIRE De la découverte de la radioactivité naturelle à celle de la radioactivité artificielle Extrait du discours de réception du prix Nobel de physique, le 6 juin 1905, par Pierre Curie « (…) On peut concevoir encore que dans des mains criminelles le radium puisse devenir très dangereux, ès la fin du XIXe siècle, la France exerce un rôle majeur dans la Ci-dessus : Henri Becquerel dans son laboratoire, 1903 – D.R. et ici on peut se demander si l’humanité a avantage découverte de l’énergie atomique. C’est ainsi que le physicien Henri à connaître les secrets de la nature, si elle est mûre Becquerel découvre en 1896 le rayonnement émis par les sels À gauche : Pierre et Marie Curie dans leur laboratoire, vers 1898 pour en profiter ou si cette connaissance ne lui sera D Musée Curie (coll. ACJC) d’uranium ; c’est une découverte considérable car il vient de mettre en pas nuisible. Ci-dessous : Frédéric Joliot et Irène Curie dans leur laboratoire, évidence le phénomène de la radioactivité naturelle. L’étape suivante vers 1934 – Musée Curie (coll.
  • HEAVY WATER and NONPROLIFERATION Topical Report

    HEAVY WATER and NONPROLIFERATION Topical Report

    HEAVY WATER AND NONPROLIFERATION Topical Report by MARVIN M. MILLER MIT Energy Laboratory Report No. MIT-EL 80-009 May 1980 COO-4571-6 MIT-EL 80-009 HEAVY WATER AND NONPROLIFERATION Topical Report Marvin M. Miller Energy Laboratory and Department of Nuclear Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 May 1980 Prepared For THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY UNDER CONTRACT NO. EN-77-S-02-4571.A000 NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States Government. Neither the United States nor the United States Department of Energy, nor any of their employees, nor any of their contractors, subcontractors, or their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or useful- ness of any information, apparatus, product or process disclosed or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. A B S T R A C T The following report is a study of various aspects of the relationship between heavy water and the development of the civilian and military uses of atomic energy. It begins with a historical sketch which traces the heavy water storyfrom its discovery by Harold Urey in 1932 through its coming of age from scientific curiosity to strategic nuclear material at the eve of World War II and finally into the post-war period, where the military and civilian strands have some- times seemed inextricably entangled. The report next assesses the nonproliferation implications of the use of heavy water- moderated power reactors; several different reactor types are discussed, but the focus in on the natural uranium, on- power fueled, pressure tube reactor developed in Canada, the CANDU.
  • Former Fellows Biographical Index Part

    Former Fellows Biographical Index Part

    Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002 Biographical Index Part Two ISBN 0 902198 84 X Published July 2006 © The Royal Society of Edinburgh 22-26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF FORMER FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 1783 – 2002 PART II K-Z C D Waterston and A Macmillan Shearer This is a print-out of the biographical index of over 4000 former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh as held on the Society’s computer system in October 2005. It lists former Fellows from the foundation of the Society in 1783 to October 2002. Most are deceased Fellows up to and including the list given in the RSE Directory 2003 (Session 2002-3) but some former Fellows who left the Society by resignation or were removed from the roll are still living. HISTORY OF THE PROJECT Information on the Fellowship has been kept by the Society in many ways – unpublished sources include Council and Committee Minutes, Card Indices, and correspondence; published sources such as Transactions, Proceedings, Year Books, Billets, Candidates Lists, etc. All have been examined by the compilers, who have found the Minutes, particularly Committee Minutes, to be of variable quality, and it is to be regretted that the Society’s holdings of published billets and candidates lists are incomplete. The late Professor Neil Campbell prepared from these sources a loose-leaf list of some 1500 Ordinary Fellows elected during the Society’s first hundred years. He listed name and forenames, title where applicable and national honours, profession or discipline, position held, some information on membership of the other societies, dates of birth, election to the Society and death or resignation from the Society and reference to a printed biography.
  • David Olive: His Life and Work

    David Olive: His Life and Work

    David Olive his life and work Edward Corrigan Department of Mathematics, University of York, YO10 5DD, UK Peter Goddard Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA St John's College, Cambridge, CB2 1TP, UK Abstract David Olive, who died in Barton, Cambridgeshire, on 7 November 2012, aged 75, was a theoretical physicist who made seminal contributions to the development of string theory and to our understanding of the structure of quantum field theory. In early work on S-matrix theory, he helped to provide the conceptual framework within which string theory was initially formulated. His work, with Gliozzi and Scherk, on supersymmetry in string theory made possible the whole idea of superstrings, now understood as the natural framework for string theory. Olive's pioneering insights about the duality between electric and magnetic objects in gauge theories were way ahead of their time; it took two decades before his bold and courageous duality conjectures began to be understood. Although somewhat quiet and reserved, he took delight in the company of others, generously sharing his emerging understanding of new ideas with students and colleagues. He was widely influential, not only through the depth and vision of his original work, but also because the clarity, simplicity and elegance of his expositions of new and difficult ideas and theories provided routes into emerging areas of research, both for students and for the theoretical physics community more generally. arXiv:2009.05849v1 [physics.hist-ph] 12 Sep 2020 [A version of section I Biography is to be published in the Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society.] I Biography Childhood David Olive was born on 16 April, 1937, somewhat prematurely, in a nursing home in Staines, near the family home in Scotts Avenue, Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey.
  • ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: the PRINCIPAL UNCERTAINTY: U.S

    ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: the PRINCIPAL UNCERTAINTY: U.S

    ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE PRINCIPAL UNCERTAINTY: U.S. ATOMIC INTELLIGENCE, 1942-1949 Vincent Jonathan Houghton, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Dissertation directed by: Professor Jon T. Sumida Department of History The subject of this dissertation is the U. S. atomic intelligence effort against both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in the period 1942-1949. Both of these intelligence efforts operated within the framework of an entirely new field of intelligence: scientific intelligence. Because of the atomic bomb, for the first time in history a nation’s scientific resources – the abilities of its scientists, the state of its research institutions and laboratories, its scientific educational system – became a key consideration in assessing a potential national security threat. Considering how successfully the United States conducted the atomic intelligence effort against the Germans in the Second World War, why was the United States Government unable to create an effective atomic intelligence apparatus to monitor Soviet scientific and nuclear capabilities? Put another way, why did the effort against the Soviet Union fail so badly, so completely, in all potential metrics – collection, analysis, and dissemination? In addition, did the general assessment of German and Soviet science lead to particular assumptions about their abilities to produce nuclear weapons? How did this assessment affect American presuppositions regarding the German and Soviet strategic threats? Despite extensive historical work on atomic intelligence, the current historiography has not adequately addressed these questions. THE PRINCIPAL UNCERTAINTY: U.S. ATOMIC INTELLIGENCE, 1942-1949 By Vincent Jonathan Houghton Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2013 Advisory Committee: Professor Jon T.
  • Churchill Was Not As Short Sighted As Hitler and Saw the Danger Of

    Churchill Was Not As Short Sighted As Hitler and Saw the Danger Of

    Britain and the atomic bomb: MAUD to Nagasaki. Item Type Thesis Authors Gorman, Claire L. Rights <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by- nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. Download date 25/09/2021 12:38:38 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10454/4332 Chapter Three: The Allies and the bomb, August 1943 to August 1945 1. Germany Churchill realised a German nuclear weapon could threaten London. If Germany had a nuclear reactor it would be possible to launch a radioactive strike on the British capital. Accordingly, the British planned an audacious raid on the German heavy water supply in Norway. An attack squad was parachuted into the Norsk Hydro plant on 16th February 1943. This attack was „completely successful.‟1 The attack party planted explosives in the factory, causing extensive damage „and over 4 months‟ stock of “heavy water” were destroyed.‟2 Later that year, the British were dismayed to learn via the Norwegian underground that the Norsk Hydro plant had not in fact been put out of action. By August 1943 it had resumed production. The fact that the Germans had rebuilt the High Concentration Plant so rapidly was taken by the Allies as „a clear indication that the uranium project had a high priority in the German war effort.‟3 John Anderson decided prompt action was essential and the plant should be attacked once again.
  • “YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS” Abraham (“Abe”) Edel

    “YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS” Abraham (“Abe”) Edel

    MATERIAL FOR “YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS” Abraham (“Abe”) Edel (6 December 1908 – 22 June 2007) “Twenty-Seven Uses of Science in Ethics,” 7/2/67 Abraham Edel, In Memoriam, by Peter Hare and Guy Stroh Abraham Edel, 1908-2007 Abraham Edel was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 6, 1908. Raised in Yorkton, Canada with his older brother Leon who would become a biographer of Henry James, Edel studied Classics and Philosophy at McGill University, earning a BA in 1927 and an MA in 1928. He continued his education at Oxford where, as he recalled, “W.D. Ross and H.A. Prichard were lecturing in ethics, H.W.B. Joseph on Plato, and the influence of G. E. Moore and Bertrand Russell extended from Cambridge. Controversy on moral theory was high. The same was true of epistemology, where Prichard posed realistic epistemology against Harold Joachim who was defending Bradley and Bosanquet against the metaphysical realism of Cook Wilson.” He received a BA in Litterae Humaniores from Oxford in 1930. In that year he moved to New York City for doctoral studies at Columbia University, and in 1931 began teaching at City College, first as an assistant to Morris Raphael Cohen. F.J.E. Woodbridge directed his Columbia dissertation, Aristotle’s Theory of the Infinite (1934). This monograph and two subsequent books on Aristotle were influenced by Woodbridge’s interpretation of Aristotle as a philosophical naturalist. Although his dissertation concerned ancient Greek philosophy, he was much impressed by research in the social sciences at Columbia, and the teaching of Cohen at City College showed him how philosophical issues lay at the root of the disciplines of psychology, sociology, history, as well as the natural sciences.
  • 7546K Pdf File

    7546K Pdf File

    FEATURE ARTICLE POWDER NEUTRON DIFFRACTION AND MATERIALS CHEMISTRY/PHYSICS RESEARCH IN CANADA (1949-2017) BY JOHN E. GREEDAN, CHRISTOPHER R. WIEBE, AND DOMINIC H. RYAN INTRODUCTION: THE EARLY DAYS (PND) studies of materials was not developed as a broader OF DIFFRACTION AT CHALK RIVER technique outside of solid state physics until much later. (1949-1969) In PND, the entire contents of reciprocal space are mapped onto one dimension, the Bragg angle, 2θ (or the momen- The story of powder neutron diffraction at Chalk River is tum transfer, Q = 4πsinθ/λ). Prior to 1970 or so, PND was inextricably linked to the history of neutron science at restricted to very high symmetry materials, say cubic or Chalk River itself. Canada’s interest in nuclear research perhaps tetragonal, due to severe Bragg peak overlap grew out of our involvement in World War II and the race since early instruments had at best moderate Δd/d resolu- to harness the power of the atom. In 1942, a joint tion and experiments were time consuming due to the use Canadian-British laboratory was built in Montreal to of “single” or point detectors. One notable interdiscipli- assist in the war effort under the leadership of the National nary pioneer of PND at NRU was Professor Osvald Knop Research Council of Canada (NRC) [1]. There were many of Dalhousie University (chemistry) [6]. Osvald, a con- Europeans working in Canada at the time, including the summate crystallographer (partially trained under Linus UK’s John Cockcroft and France’s Lew Kowarski and Pauling), completed many experiments at Chalk River Hans von Halban.
  • Former Fellows Biographical Index Part

    Former Fellows Biographical Index Part

    Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002 Biographical Index Part One ISBN 0 902 198 84 X Published July 2006 © The Royal Society of Edinburgh 22-26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF FORMER FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 1783 – 2002 PART I A-J C D Waterston and A Macmillan Shearer This is a print-out of the biographical index of over 4000 former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh as held on the Society’s computer system in October 2005. It lists former Fellows from the foundation of the Society in 1783 to October 2002. Most are deceased Fellows up to and including the list given in the RSE Directory 2003 (Session 2002-3) but some former Fellows who left the Society by resignation or were removed from the roll are still living. HISTORY OF THE PROJECT Information on the Fellowship has been kept by the Society in many ways – unpublished sources include Council and Committee Minutes, Card Indices, and correspondence; published sources such as Transactions, Proceedings, Year Books, Billets, Candidates Lists, etc. All have been examined by the compilers, who have found the Minutes, particularly Committee Minutes, to be of variable quality, and it is to be regretted that the Society’s holdings of published billets and candidates lists are incomplete. The late Professor Neil Campbell prepared from these sources a loose-leaf list of some 1500 Ordinary Fellows elected during the Society’s first hundred years. He listed name and forenames, title where applicable and national honours, profession or discipline, position held, some information on membership of the other societies, dates of birth, election to the Society and death or resignation from the Society and reference to a printed biography.
  • The Nuclear Engineer, C1940-1965

    The Nuclear Engineer, C1940-1965

    Johnston, S.F. (2009) Creating a Canadian profession: the nuclear engineer, c. 1940-1968. Canadian Journal of History / Annales Canadiennes d'Histoire, 44 (3). pp. 435-466. ISSN 0008-4107 http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/24891/ Deposited on: 11 February 2010 Enlighten – Research publications by members of the University of Glasgow http://eprints.gla.ac.uk Abstract/Résumé analytique Creating a Canadian Profession: The Nuclear Engineer, c. 1940-1968 Sean F. Johnston Canada, as one of the three Allied nations collaborating on atomic energy development during the Second World War, had an early start in applying its new knowledge and defining a new profession. Owing to postwar secrecy and distinct national aims for the field, nuclear engineering was shaped uniquely by the Canadian context. Alone among the postwar powers, Canadian exploration of atomic energy eschewed military applications; the occupation emerged within a governmental monopoly; the intellectual content of the discipline was influenced by its early practitioners, administrators, scarce resources, and university niches; and a self-recognized profession coalesced later than did its American and British counterparts. This paper argues that the history of the emergence of Canadian nuclear engineers exemplifies unusually strong shaping of technical expertise by political and cultural context. Le Canada, une des trois nations Alliées collaborant au développement de l’énergie atomique durant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale connut une avance précoce dans la mise en application de cette nouvelle connaissance et dans la définition de cette nouvelle profession. À cause du secret de l’aprèsguerre et des buts nationaux très nets, l’industrie nucléaire fut modelée uniquement par le contexte canadien.
  • Physics 1978 PETER LEONIDOVITCH KAPITZA ARNO a PENZIAS And

    Physics 1978 PETER LEONIDOVITCH KAPITZA ARNO a PENZIAS And

    Physics 1978 PETER LEONIDOVITCH KAPITZA for his basic inventions and discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics ARNO A PENZIAS and ROBERT W WILSON for their discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation 417 THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR PHYSICS Speech by Professor LAMEK HULTHÉN of the Royal Academy of Sci- ences. Translation from the Swedish text Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen, This year’s prize is shared between Peter Leonidovitj Kapitza, Moscow, “for his basic inventions and discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics” and Arno A. Penzias and Robert W. Wilson, Holmdel, New Jersey, USA, “for their discovery of cosmic microwave background radi- ation”. By low temperatures we mean temperatures just above the absolute zero, -273”C, where all heat motion ceases and no gases can exist. It is handy to count degrees from this zero point: “degrees Kelvin” (after the British physicist Lord Kelvin) E.g. 3 K (K = Kelvin) means the same as -270°C. Seventy years ago the Dutch physicist Kamerlingh-Onnes succeeded in liquefying helium, starting a development that revealed many new and unexpected phenomena. In 19 11 he discovered superconductivity in mer- cury: the electric resistance disappeared completely at about 4 K. 1913 Kamerlingh-Onnes received the Nobel prize in physics for his discoveries, and his laboratory in Leiden ranked for many years as the Mekka of low temperature physics, to which also many Swedish scholars went on pilgrim- age. In the late twenties the Leiden workers got a worthy competitor in the young Russian Kapitza, then working with Rutherford in Cambridge, England.