Patrick maynard stuart blackett biography template

Abstract

Patrick M. S. Blackett was a particle physicist at Victoria University, Manchester, United Kingdom. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation."

Important Dates

November 18, Birth, London (England).

– Cadet, Royal Naval College Dartmouth.

Obtained First class honours degree in physics, Cambridge University, Cambridge (England).

– Research student, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge (England).

Fellow, King's College, London (England).

– Visiting Fellow, Universität Göttingen.

Fellow, Royal Society.

– Professor of Physics, Birkbeck College, University of London.

– Member, Committee for the Scientific Survey of Air Defence (the Tizard Committee).

– Chief Scientific Adviser, Great Britain Ministry of Technology.

– Deputy Chairman, Advisory Council on Technology.

– Langworthy Professor of Physics, University of Manchester, Manchester (England).

– Principal Scientific Officer, Royal Aircraft Establishment.

Awarded Royal Medal, Royal Society.

– Head of Operational Research Section, Great Britain Royal Air Force.

Wrote "Military and Political Consequences of Atomic Energy".

– Member, National Research and Development Corporation.

– Professor of Physics and Head of Physics Department (), Imperial College, University of London, London (England).

January 27, Made Life Peer (Baron Blackett).

July 13, Death, London (England).

Occupation

Particle physicist.

Places

Birth

London (Eng

by Luisa Bonolis

Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett

Nobel Prize in Physics 

Cloud chamber and transmutation of nitrogen

Patrick Blackett was a remarkably versatile physicist, whose career touched science, warfare and politics. His major scientific achievements were in the fields of nuclear physics, cosmic rays, particle physics, and geomagnetism, but his activity as a scientist always went hand in hand with his strong commitment to the development of a healthy science policy in his country. His influence for the benefit of science was of major importance after the end of World War II, being largely responsible for the greatly increased level of support for pure scientific research. As a member of many committees and scientific councils he always exerted a strong influence as an advisor to the British as well as to the Indian governments, because he was convinced that rich countries had to increase aid and technical assistance to less wealthy nations. He strongly supported the development of CERN international laboratory in Geneva, a project on a large scale concerned with the most fundamental problems of physics and involving European collaboration. In , when he became President of the Royal Society, he continued to play a significant part as an adviser to the Government.
Patrick Blackett was born in London in After attending a preparatory school he studied at Osborne and Dartmouth Royal Naval Colleges in anticipation of a naval career. When World War I broke out in August , Blackett was not yet He participated in battles and war actions on different ships, but before the Armistice he had already resolved to resign from the Navy. A lucky circumstance determined his future. Four hundred of the young officers whose course had been truncated by the outbreak of war were sent to Cambridge for a six-month course of general studies. In this way, Blackett found himself in Magdalene College in Ja

(Baron Blackett of Chelsea)

(b. Kensington, London, 18 November ; d. London, 13 July ), nuclear physics, cosmic-ray physics, cloud-chamber physics, geomagnetism and geophysics, operational research.

Blackett was one of the most versatile experimental physicists of his generation. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in for his development in the s and s of new methods for using C. T. R. Wilson ’s cloud chamber and for his discoveries which included pair production of electrons and positrons in cosmic radiation. During the s, Blackett undertook magnetic research that provided evidence from paleomagnetism in sedimentary rocks for the much-debated theory of continental drift. Blackett pioneered operational research during the Second World War, and he was an influential voice in government circles from the s to the s on matters of science and technology policy, science education, nuclear armaments, and British technical aid to India.

Nuclear Physics and the Cloud Chamber. Blackett entered Osborne Royal Naval College in and matriculated with other cadets to Dartmouth Royal Naval College in At these two schools, Blackett received what was probably the most intensive physical science and engineering secondary education available in England at the time. When war broke out in August , Blackett and his fellow students were immediately sent into action. He fought in the Battle of Falkland Islands in and the Battle of Jutland in , emerging from the war with the rank of lieutenant. In January , the Admiralty sent him to Cambridge along with other officers whose study had been interrupted in Once he had settled into Magdalene College and visited the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, Blackett found the prospect of studying mathematics and physics so appealing that he resigned from the navy in February

After earning his undergraduate degree in and gaining election to a Bye-Fellowship at Magdalene College, Blackett became a resea

English physicist (–)

Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett (18 November – 13 July ) was an English physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics. In , he was the first person to prove that radioactivity could cause the nuclear transmutation of one chemical element to another. He also made major contributions to the Allied war effort in World War II, advising on military strategy and developing operational research.

In the war's aftermath, Blackett continued his scientific work, but also became outspoken on political matters. He advocated for restraints on the military use of atomic energy. He was a proponent for Third World development and for reducing the gap between rich and poor. In the s and '60s, he was a key advisor to the Labour Party on science and technology policy. By the time of his death in , Blackett had become controversial to the point that the Times obituary referred to him as the "Radical Nobel-Prize Winning Physicist".

Early life and education

Blackett was born in Kensington, London, the son of Arthur Stuart Blackett, a stockbroker, and his wife Caroline Maynard. His younger sister was the psychoanalyst Marion Milner. His paternal grandfather Rev. Henry Blackett, brother of Edmund Blacket the Australian architect, was for many years vicar of Croydon. His maternal grandfather Charles Maynard was an officer in the Royal Artillery at the time of the Indian Mutiny. The Blackett family lived successively at Kensington, Kenley, Woking and Guildford, Surrey, where Blackett went to preparatory school. His main hobbies were model aeroplanes and crystal radio. When he interviewed for entrance to the Royal Naval College, Osborne, Isle of Wight, Charles Rolls had just completed his cross-channel flight the previous day and Blackett, who had tracked the flight on his crystal set, was able to expound leng