IOP Groups
History of Physics Group Latest News 2007
6 Nov 2007
Access to our Web pages is now easier via the address: http://hp.iop.org
9 August 2007
Death of Durward Cruickshank FRS
The Times published an obituary on Thursday 9th August 2007 of Professor Durward Cruickshank a crystallographer who pioneered the use of computers in structural analysis. He was born 7th MArch 1924 and died on 13th July 2007 aged 83. Further information can be found on the website of the British Crystallographic Association.
3 August 2007
New Blue Plaques
- Hertha Ayton 1854 - 1923
The IOP Interactions July 2007 carried news that English Heritage has commemmorated her work with a blue plaque to mark her home at 41 Norfold Square, London W2 where she lived for 20 years and worked in a laboratory on the first floor.She read mathematics at Cambridge but later became interested in electricity While working in her laboratory in Norfolk Square she invented the Ayrton fan, a hand operated device for dispersing poisonous gases which was said to have saved more than 100,000 lives during the first World War. It was based on her earlier research into the effects of currents and vortices in water on the formation of sand ripples. A room in the Institute's conference centre is named after her.
- John Desmond Bernal 1901 - 1971
This plaque is at 44 Albert Street, London NW1 where he lived for many years.
A review of a biography 'J.D.Bernal the sage of science' was published in the January 2007 newsletter. members may also be interested in the proceedings of a Conference held in in Limerick in June 2006 and published by the IOP at the URL: http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/57/1
3 April 2007
A new page has been started for obituaries of contemporary scientists, which contains a short summary of their achievements, links and references to further printed obituaries. This page lists only the date of their death, click on their name for further details.
Recent deaths of scientists
- John Backus died March 17, 2007
- Alan MacDiarmid died February 7, 2007
- Gareth Roberts died February 6, 2007
- Roger Blin-Stoyle died January 31, 2007
- Donald Osterbrock died January 11, 2007
- James Johnston died December 28, 2006
- Geoff Manning died December 21, 2006
- Samuel Devons died December 6, 2006
- Brebis Bleaney died November 4, 2006
- Joseph Rotblat died August 31, 2005
- Bas Pease died October 17, 2004
- Nevill Mott died August 8, 1996
Book Reviews and Feature Articles in Physics World
- April 2007
Feature Article: page 35 Scientist of the century, Leonhard Euler was born 300 years ago this month. He laid the foundations of mechanics, fluid flow, number theory and even marine engineering describes Ed Sandifer. He wrote over 800 books and papers 60% were in mathematics, the rest in physics, engineering and astronomy.
Book review: page 40 Measuring the World a novel by Daniel Kehlmann, translated from the German by Carol brown Janaway pub 2006 by Pantheon pages 272 price £ 10.99 hardback.
This novel describes the activities of Alexander von Humboldt, the traveller and naturalist and compares them with those of Carl Friedrich Gauss. The novel has been a best seller in Germany - January 2007
Book Review: page 38 Richter's Scale: Measure of an Earthquake, Measure of a Man by Susan Elizabeth Hough pub 2007 Princeton University Press pages 336 price £17.95 p38
Book Review: page 39 Giant Leaps by Jack Challoner and John Perry pub 2006 by Boxtree (Macmillan) A4 pages 144 £12.99 paperback it contains 60 newspaper front page science stories as they might appear in The Sun with a facing page explaining the science in more a more conventional way.
Another review was in IOP 'Interactions' February 2007 page 8 - September 2006
Feature Article: page 34 Ludwig Boltzmann: atomic genius
On the centenary of the death of Ludwig Boltzmann Carlo Cercignani examines the immense contributions of the man who pioneered our understanding of the atomic nature of matter
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