Henry Tizard
Encyclopedia
Sir Henry Thomas Tizard FRS (23 August 1885 in Gillingham, Kent
– 9 October 1959 in Fareham
, Hampshire
) was an English
chemist
and inventor and past Rector of Imperial College
.
Tizard's ambition to join the navy was thwarted by poor eyesight and he instead studied at Westminster School
and Magdalen College, Oxford
where he concentrated on mathematics
and chemistry
, doing work on indicators and the motions of ions in gases in 1911.
in the scientific world." Tizard's chosen problem became aeronautics. At the outbreak of the First World War he joined first the Royal Garrison Artillery (where his training methods were famously bizarre) and then experimental equipment officer to the Royal Flying Corps
and learned to fly planes - seemingly his eyesight had improved - acting as his own test pilot for making aerodynamical observations. When his superior Bertram Hopkinson
was moved to the Ministry of Munitions, Tizard went with him. When Hopkinson died in 1918 Tizard took over his post. Tizard served in the Royal Air Force
from 1918 to 1919.
After the war he was made Reader in Chemical Thermodynamics at Oxford where he experimented in the composition of fuel trying to find compounds which were resistant to freezing and less volatile, devising the concept of "toluene
numbers" - now referred to as octane numbers. After this work (largely for Shell
) he took up again a government post as assistant secretary to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
. His successes in this post (and after promotions to permanent secretary) included the establishment of the post of the Chemical Research Laboratory in Teddington, the appointment of a Director of Scientific Research to the Air Force (H. E. Wimperis) and finally the decision to leave to become the Rector of Imperial College
, London, in 1929, a position he held until 1942. In May 1926 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society He was awarded CB
in 1927, KCB
in 1937 and GCB
in 1949.
In 1933 Tizard was appointed as chairman of the Aeronautical Research Committee
and served in this post for most of the Second World War. He supervised and championed the development of RDF (radio-direction finding, later to become more familiarly known as radar) in the run-up to the war.
In 1940, after a top secret landmark conference with Winston Churchill
at which his opposition to R.V. Jones
' view that the Germans
had established a system of radio-beam bombing aids (Battle of the Beams) over the UK had been overruled, Tizard led what became known as the Tizard Mission
to the United States
, which introduced to the US, amongst others, the newly invented resonant-cavity magnetron and other British radar developments, the Whittle
gas turbine, and the British Tube Alloys
(nuclear weapons) project.
, a post that he held until 1952. The Ministry of Defence
's Nick Pope
states thathttp://www.nickpope.net/latest_news.htm http://www.nickpope.net/Selected_Documents.htm
Tizard had followed the official debate about ghost rockets with interest and was intrigued by the increasing media coverage of UFO sightings in the United Kingdom
, America and other parts of the world. Using his authority as Chief Scientific Adviser at the MOD he decided that the subject should not be dismissed without some proper, official investigation. Accordingly, he agreed that a small Directorate of Scientific Intelligence/Joint Technical Intelligence Committee (DSI/JTIC) working party should be set up to investigate the phenomenon. This was dubbed the Flying Saucer Working Party. The DSI/JTIC minutes recording this historic development read as follows:
“The Chairman said that Sir Henry Tizard felt that reports of flying saucers ought not to be dismissed without some investigation and he had, therefore, agreed that a small DSI/JTIC Working Party should be set up under the chairmanship of Mr Turney to investigate future reports.
After discussion it was agreed that the membership of the Working Party should comprise representatives of DSI1, ADNI(Tech), MI10 and ADI(Tech). It was also agreed that it would probably be necessary at some time to consult the Meteorological Department and ORS Fighter Command but that these two bodies should not at present be asked to nominate representatives”.
After the war Tizard served as chairman of the Defence Research Policy Committee and president of the British Association. One of the most controversial meetings he had to attend in his capacity as chair of the Defence Research Policy Committee would only emerge many years later with the declassification of CIA documents, namely a meeting on June 1, 1951, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel
in Montreal
, Canada
, between Tizard, Omond Solandt
(chairman of Defence Research and Development Canada
) and representatives of the CIA, to discuss "brainwashing."
Tizard married, on 24 April 1915, Kathleen Eleanor (d. 1968), daughter of Arthur Prangley Wilson, a mining engineer. There were three sons: (John) Peter Mills Tizard, who became a professor of paediatrics at the University of London
; Richard Henry Tizard
(b. 1917), an engineer and senior tutor at Churchill College, Cambridge
; and David (b. 1922), a general practitioner in London
.
He was awarded the Franklin Medal
in 1946.
Tizard died in 1959. His papers are kept at the Imperial War Museum
, London.
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
– 9 October 1959 in Fareham
Fareham
The market town of Fareham lies in the south east of Hampshire, England, between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, roughly in the centre of the South Hampshire conurbation.It gives its name to the borough comprising the town and the surrounding area...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
and inventor and past Rector of Imperial College
Rector of Imperial College
The Rector of Imperial College is the highest academic official of Imperial College London. The Rector is the chief executive, elected by the Council of the college and Chairman of the Senate. The position is currently head on an interim basis by Keith O'Nions after the resignation of Roy Anderson...
.
Tizard's ambition to join the navy was thwarted by poor eyesight and he instead studied at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
and Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
where he concentrated on mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, doing work on indicators and the motions of ions in gases in 1911.
Overview
"The secret of science" he once said "is to ask the right question, and it is the choice of problem more than anything else that marks the man of geniusGenius
Genius is something or someone embodying exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, or originality, typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of unprecedented insight....
in the scientific world." Tizard's chosen problem became aeronautics. At the outbreak of the First World War he joined first the Royal Garrison Artillery (where his training methods were famously bizarre) and then experimental equipment officer to the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
and learned to fly planes - seemingly his eyesight had improved - acting as his own test pilot for making aerodynamical observations. When his superior Bertram Hopkinson
Bertram Hopkinson
Bertram Hopkinson, CMG, FRS, was a patent lawyer and Professor of Mechanism and Applied Mechanics at Cambridge University. In this position he researched flames, explosions and metallurgy and became a pioneer designer of the internal combustion engine.Hopkinson was born in Birmingham, in 1874, the...
was moved to the Ministry of Munitions, Tizard went with him. When Hopkinson died in 1918 Tizard took over his post. Tizard served in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
from 1918 to 1919.
After the war he was made Reader in Chemical Thermodynamics at Oxford where he experimented in the composition of fuel trying to find compounds which were resistant to freezing and less volatile, devising the concept of "toluene
Toluene
Toluene, formerly known as toluol, is a clear, water-insoluble liquid with the typical smell of paint thinners. It is a mono-substituted benzene derivative, i.e., one in which a single hydrogen atom from the benzene molecule has been replaced by a univalent group, in this case CH3.It is an aromatic...
numbers" - now referred to as octane numbers. After this work (largely for Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
) he took up again a government post as assistant secretary to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Several countries have organizations called the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR.-United Kingdom:...
. His successes in this post (and after promotions to permanent secretary) included the establishment of the post of the Chemical Research Laboratory in Teddington, the appointment of a Director of Scientific Research to the Air Force (H. E. Wimperis) and finally the decision to leave to become the Rector of Imperial College
Rector of Imperial College
The Rector of Imperial College is the highest academic official of Imperial College London. The Rector is the chief executive, elected by the Council of the college and Chairman of the Senate. The position is currently head on an interim basis by Keith O'Nions after the resignation of Roy Anderson...
, London, in 1929, a position he held until 1942. In May 1926 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society He was awarded CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
in 1927, KCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
in 1937 and GCB
GCB
GCB may stand for:* Gaming Control Board, any governmental body that regulates gambling in its jurisdiction* Generator circuit-breaker, a special circuit breaker in the high-current connection between generator and generator transformer...
in 1949.
In 1933 Tizard was appointed as chairman of the Aeronautical Research Committee
Aeronautical Research Committee
The Aeronautical Research Committee was a UK government committee established in 1919 in order to coordinate aeronautical research and education following World War I...
and served in this post for most of the Second World War. He supervised and championed the development of RDF (radio-direction finding, later to become more familiarly known as radar) in the run-up to the war.
In 1940, after a top secret landmark conference with Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
at which his opposition to R.V. Jones
Reginald Victor Jones
Reginald Victor Jones, CH CB CBE FRS, was a British physicist and scientific military intelligence expert who played an important role in the defence of Britain in -Education:...
' view that the Germans
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
had established a system of radio-beam bombing aids (Battle of the Beams) over the UK had been overruled, Tizard led what became known as the Tizard Mission
Tizard Mission
The Tizard Mission officially the British Technical and Scientific Mission was a British delegation that visited the United States during the Second World War in order to obtain the industrial resources to exploit the military potential of the research and development work completed by the UK up...
to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which introduced to the US, amongst others, the newly invented resonant-cavity magnetron and other British radar developments, the Whittle
Frank Whittle
Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE, CB, FRS, Hon FRAeS was a British Royal Air Force engineer officer. He is credited with independently inventing the turbojet engine Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE, CB, FRS, Hon FRAeS (1 June 1907 – 9 August 1996) was a British Royal Air...
gas turbine, and the British Tube Alloys
Tube Alloys
Tube Alloys was the code-name for the British nuclear weapon directorate during World War II, when the development of nuclear weapons was kept at such a high level of secrecy that it had to be referred to by code even in the highest circles of government...
(nuclear weapons) project.
Post war
He returned to the Ministry of Defence in 1948 as Chief Scientific AdviserMoD Chief Scientific Adviser
The Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK's Ministry of Defence is responsible for providing strategic management of science and technology issues in the MoD, most directly through the MoD research budget of well over £1 billion, and sits as a full member of the Defence Management Board and the...
, a post that he held until 1952. The Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
's Nick Pope
Nick Pope
Nick Pope worked for 21 years at the British Government's Ministry of Defence from 1985 to 2006. He is best-known for a job that he did from 1991 to 1994, where his duties included investigating reports of UFO sightings, to see if they had any defence significance...
states thathttp://www.nickpope.net/latest_news.htm http://www.nickpope.net/Selected_Documents.htm
The Ministry of DefenceMinistry of Defence (United Kingdom)The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
’s UFO Project has its roots in a study commissioned in 1950 by the MOD’s then Chief Scientific Adviser, the great radar scientist Sir Henry Tizard. As a result of his insistence that UFO sightings should not be dismissed without some form of proper scientific study, the Department set up arguably the most marvellously-named committee in the history of the civil serviceCivil serviceThe term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
, the Flying Saucer Working PartyFlying Saucer Working PartyFlying Saucer Working Party was the name of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence’s first "official study into UFOs" which has its roots in a study commissioned in 1950 by the MOD’s then Chief Scientific Adviser, the great radar scientist Sir Henry Tizard...
(FSWP).
Tizard had followed the official debate about ghost rockets with interest and was intrigued by the increasing media coverage of UFO sightings in the United Kingdom
UFO sightings in the United Kingdom
This is a list of notable alleged sightings of unidentified flying objects or UFOs in the United Kingdom. Many more sightings became known since 2008, when the National Archives have gradually released MoD UFO sighting reports...
, America and other parts of the world. Using his authority as Chief Scientific Adviser at the MOD he decided that the subject should not be dismissed without some proper, official investigation. Accordingly, he agreed that a small Directorate of Scientific Intelligence/Joint Technical Intelligence Committee (DSI/JTIC) working party should be set up to investigate the phenomenon. This was dubbed the Flying Saucer Working Party. The DSI/JTIC minutes recording this historic development read as follows:
“The Chairman said that Sir Henry Tizard felt that reports of flying saucers ought not to be dismissed without some investigation and he had, therefore, agreed that a small DSI/JTIC Working Party should be set up under the chairmanship of Mr Turney to investigate future reports.
After discussion it was agreed that the membership of the Working Party should comprise representatives of DSI1, ADNI(Tech), MI10 and ADI(Tech). It was also agreed that it would probably be necessary at some time to consult the Meteorological Department and ORS Fighter Command but that these two bodies should not at present be asked to nominate representatives”.
After the war Tizard served as chairman of the Defence Research Policy Committee and president of the British Association. One of the most controversial meetings he had to attend in his capacity as chair of the Defence Research Policy Committee would only emerge many years later with the declassification of CIA documents, namely a meeting on June 1, 1951, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel
Ritz-Carlton Montreal
The Ritz-Carlton Montréal is a 229 room luxury hotel situated at 1228 Sherbrooke Street West in Montréal, Quebec. This Montreal property is not part of the widely-known Ritz-Carlton hotel chain. It has forty-eight suites including a "Royal Suite" and a "Presidential Suite"...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, between Tizard, Omond Solandt
Omond Solandt
Omond McKillop Solandt, CC, OBE, CD, FRSC was an important Canadian scientist who was the first Chairman of the Canadian Defence Research Board.-Career:...
(chairman of Defence Research and Development Canada
Defence Research and Development Canada
Defence Research and Development Canada, also Defence R&D Canada or DRDC , is an agency of the Department of National Defence , whose purpose is to respond to the scientific and technological needs of the Canadian Forces...
) and representatives of the CIA, to discuss "brainwashing."
Tizard married, on 24 April 1915, Kathleen Eleanor (d. 1968), daughter of Arthur Prangley Wilson, a mining engineer. There were three sons: (John) Peter Mills Tizard, who became a professor of paediatrics at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
; Richard Henry Tizard
Richard Henry Tizard
Richard Henry Tizard was a distinguished engineer and founding Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge.The Sixties were a period of turbulence in academic governance, and Cambridge...
(b. 1917), an engineer and senior tutor at Churchill College, Cambridge
Churchill College, Cambridge
Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.In 1958, a Trust was established with Sir Winston Churchill as its Chairman of Trustees, to build and endow a college for 60 fellows and 540 Students as a national and Commonwealth memorial to Winston Churchill; its...
; and David (b. 1922), a general practitioner in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
He was awarded the Franklin Medal
Franklin Medal
The Franklin Medal was a science and engineering award presented by the Franklin Institute, of Philadelphia, PA, USA.-Laureates:*1915 - Thomas Alva Edison *1915 - Heike Kamerlingh Onnes *1916 - John J...
in 1946.
Tizard died in 1959. His papers are kept at the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
, London.
See also
- DehousingDehousingOn 30 March 1942 Professor Frederick Lindemann, Baron Cherwell, the British government's chief scientific adviser, sent to the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a memorandum which after it had become accepted by the Cabinet became known as the dehousing paper.Also known as the "dehousing...
- Tizard's briefcase
- Richard Henry TizardRichard Henry TizardRichard Henry Tizard was a distinguished engineer and founding Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge.The Sixties were a period of turbulence in academic governance, and Cambridge...
- Thomas Henry TizardThomas Henry TizardThomas Henry Tizard C.B, F.R.S, R.N , was an English oceanographer, hydrographic surveyor, and navigator.He was born at Weymouth, Dorset and educated at the Royal Hospital School, Greenwich, at that time noted for its advanced mathematical training...
External links
- The Royal Air Force Air Defence Radar Museum at RAF NeatisheadRAF NeatisheadRRH Neatishead, is a Royal Air Force military radar station in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, and was established during the Second World War. It consists of the main technical site, and a number of remote, and sometimes unmanned sites....
, NorfolkNorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county... - Ronald Clark, Tizard (London, 1965). A biography written at the request of the subject's son. ISBN 0262030101