Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett
Encyclopedia
Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett OM
CH
FRS (18 November 1897 – 13 July 1974) was an English
experimental
physicist
known for his work on cloud chamber
s, cosmic ray
s, and paleomagnetism
. He also made a major contribution in World War II
advising on military strategy and developing Operational Research. His left-wing views saw an outlet in third world development and in influencing policy in the Labour Government of the 1960s.
, 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 went for interview for entrance to the Royal Naval College, Osborne
, Isle of Wight
, Charles Rolls
had completed his cross-channel flight the previous day and Blackett who had tracked the flight on his crystal set was able to expound lengthily on the subject. He was accepted and spent two years there before moving on to Dartmouth
where he was `usually head of his class'.
In August 1914 on the outbreak of World War I
Blackett was assigned to active service as a midshipman
He was transferred to the Cape Verde
Islands on HMS Carnarvon
and was present at the Battle of the Falkland Islands
. He was then transferred to HMS Barham and saw much action at the Battle of Jutland
. While on HMS Barham, Blackett was co-inventor of a gunnery device on which the Admiralty
took out a patent. In 1916 he applied to join the RNAS but his application was refused. In October that year he became a sub-lieutenant on HMS P17 on Dover
patrol, and in July 1917 he was posted to HMS Sturgeon
in the Harwich Force
under Admiral Tyrwhitt
. Blackett was particularly concerned by the poor quality of gunnery in the force compared with that of the enemy and of his own previous experience, and started to read science textbooks. He was promoted to Lieutenant in May 1918, but had decided to leave the Navy. Then, in January 1919, the Admiralty sent the officers whose training had been interrupted by the war to Cambridge University for a course of general duties. On his first night at Magdalene College, Cambridge
he met Kingsley Martin
and Geoffrey Webb
later recalling that he had never before, in his naval training, heard intellectual conversation. Blackett was impressed by the prestigious Cavendish Laboratory
, and left the Navy to study mathematics and physics at Cambridge.
as an experimental physicist with Professor Rutherford
and in 1923 became a fellow of Kings College, Cambridge, a position he held until 1933. Rutherford had found out that the nucleus of the nitrogen atom could be disintegrated by firing fast alpha particles into nitrogen. He asked Blackett to use a cloud chamber
to find visible tracks of this disintegration, and by 1924, he had taken 23,000 photographs showing 415,000 tracks of ionized particles. Eight of these were forked, and this showed that the nitrogen atom-alpha particle combination had formed an atom of fluorine
, which then disintegrated into an isotope of oxygen and a proton. Blackett spent some time in 1924-1925 at Göttingen
, Germany working with James Franck
on atomic spectra. In 1932, working with Giuseppe Occhialini
, he devised a system of geiger counter
s which only took photographs when a cosmic ray
particle traversed the chamber. They found 500 tracks of high energy cosmic ray particles in 700 automatic expansions. In 1933, Blackett discovered fourteen tracks which confirmed the existence of the positron
and revealed the now instantly recognisable opposing spiral traces of positron/electron pair production
. This work and that on annihilation radiation
made him one of the first and leading experts on anti-matter. That same year he moved to Birkbeck College
, University of London
as Professor of Physics for four years. Then in 1937 he went to the Victoria University of Manchester
where he was elected to the Langworthy Professor
ship and created a major international research laboratory. The Blackett Memorial Hall and Blackett lecture theatre at the University of Manchester were named after him.
In 1947, Blackett introduced a theory to account for the Earth's magnetic field
as a function of its rotation, with the hope that it would unify both the electromagnetic force and the force of gravity. He spent a number of years developing high-quality magnetometer
s to test his theory, and eventually found it to be without merit. His work on the subject, however, led him into the field of geophysics
, where he eventually helped process data relating to paleomagnetism
and helped to provide strong evidence for continental drift
.
In 1948 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics
, for his investigation of cosmic rays using his invention of the counter-controlled cloud chamber
.
Professor Blackett was appointed Head of the Physics Department of Imperial College London
in 1953 and retired in July, 1963. The current Physics department building of Imperial College is named the 'Blackett Laboratory'.
chaired by Sir Henry Tizard
. The committee was effective pressing for the early installation of Radar
for air defence
. In the early part of World War II
, Blackett served on various committees and spent time at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
(RAE) Farnborough
, where he made a major contribution to the design of the Mark XIV bomb sight
which allowed bombs to be released without a level bombing run beforehand. In 1940-41 Blackett served on the MAUD Committee
which concluded that an atomic bomb was feasible. He disagreed with the Committee's conclusion that Britain could produce an atomic bomb by 1943, and recommended that the project should be discussed with the Americans. He was awarded the Royal Medal
of the Royal Society
in 1940.
In August 1940 Blackett became scientific adviser to Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Pile, Commander in Chief of Anti-Aircraft Command
and thus began the work that resulted in the field of study known as operational research (OR). He was Director of Operational Research with the Admiralty
from 1942 to 1945, and his work improved the survival odds of convoy
s, presented counter-intuitive but correct recommendations for the armour-plating of aircraft and achieved many other successes. His aim, he said, was to find numbers on which to base strategy, not gusts of emotion. During the war he criticised the assumptions in Lord Cherwell's dehousing
paper and sided with Tizard who argued that less resources should go to RAF Bomber Command
for the area bombing offensive and more to the other armed forces. In this opinion he chafed against the existing military authority and was cut out of various circles of communications; after the war, the Allied Strategic Bombing Survey
proved Blackett correct, however.
, later editor of the New Statesman
, while an undergraduate and became committed to the left. Politically he identified himself as a socialist
, and often campaigned on behalf of the Labour Party
. In the late 1940s, Blackett became known for his radical political opinions, which included his belief that Britain ought not develop atomic weapons. He was considered too far to the left for the Labour Government 1945-1951
to employ, and he returned to academic life. His internationalism found expression in his strong support for India. There in 1947 he met Jawaharlal Nehru
, who sought his advice on the research and development needs of the Indian armed forces
and for the next 20 years he was a frequent visitor and advisor on military and civil science. These visits deepened his concern for the underprivileged and the poor. He was convinced that the problem could be solved by applying science and technology and he used his scientific prestige to try and persuade scientists that one of their first duties was to use their skill to ensure a decent life for all mankind. Before underdevelopment became a popular issue he proposed in a presidential address to the British Association that Britain should devote 1% of its national income to the economic improvement of the third world
and he was later one of the prime movers in the foundation of the Overseas Development Institute
. He was the senior member of a group of scientists which met regularly to discuss scientific and technological policy during the 13 years when the Labour Party
was out of office, and this group became influential when Harold Wilson
became leader of the Party. Blackett's ideas led directly to the creation of the Ministry of Technology
as soon as the Wilson government
was formed and he insisted that the first priority was revival of the computer industry
. He did not enter open politics, but worked for a year as a civil servant. He remained deputy chairman of the Minister's Advisory Council throughout the administration's life, and was also personal scientific adviser to the Minister.
in 1965, and was appointed to the Order of Merit
in 1967. He was created a life peer
in 1969 as Baron Blackett, of Chelsea
in Greater London
. However, the greatest honour of all for him was when he was made President of the Royal Society
in 1965. The crater Blackett
on the Moon
is named after him.
Blackett married Constanza Bayon in 1924. They had one son and one daughter.
Bernard Lovell
wrote of Blackett "Those who worked with Blackett in the laboratory were dominated by his immensely powerful personality, and those who knew him elsewhere soon discovered that the public image thinly veiled a sensitive and humane spirit".
Edward Bullard
said that he was the most versatile and best loved physicist of his generation and that his achievement was also without rival - "he was wonderfully intelligent, charming, fun to be with, dignified and handsome".
author James Blish
who cited the Blackett effect
as the theoretical 'basis' behind his 'spindizzy
' antigravity drive.
In his close friend C.P. Snow's novel sequence Strangers and Brothers
, aspects of Blackett's personality are drawn upon for the left-wing physicist Francis Getliffe.
Articles
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit is a British dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
CH
Order of the Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
FRS (18 November 1897 – 13 July 1974) 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...
experimental
Experimental physics
Within the field of physics, experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines concerned with the observation of physical phenomena in order to gather data about the universe...
physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
known for his work on cloud chamber
Cloud chamber
The cloud chamber, also known as the Wilson chamber, is a particle detector used for detecting ionizing radiation. In its most basic form, a cloud chamber is a sealed environment containing a supersaturated vapor of water or alcohol. When a charged particle interacts with the mixture, it ionizes it...
s, cosmic ray
Cosmic ray
Cosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The term ray is historical as cosmic rays were thought to be electromagnetic radiation...
s, and paleomagnetism
Paleomagnetism
Paleomagnetism is the study of the record of the Earth's magnetic field in rocks. Certain minerals in rocks lock-in a record of the direction and intensity of the magnetic field when they form. This record provides information on the past behavior of Earth's magnetic field and the past location of...
. He also made a major contribution in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
advising on military strategy and developing Operational Research. His left-wing views saw an outlet in third world development and in influencing policy in the Labour Government of the 1960s.
Early years
Blackett was born in KensingtonKensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
, 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...
, the son of Arthur Stuart Blackett
Blackett
Blackett or Blacket is a surname of English derivation.Blackett is an English surname that originated in England and is found throughout the English speaking world. The name is a corruption of Black Head, and in early times had various spellings as Blakehed, Blackheved, Blackved and Blackett...
, a stockbroker, and his wife Caroline Maynard. His younger sister was the psychoanalyst Marion Milner
Marion Milner
Marion Milner , sometimes known as Marion Blackett-Milner, was a British author and psychoanalyst. Outside psychotherapeutic circles, she is better known by her pseudonym, Joanna Field, as a pioneer of introspective journaling.-Biography:...
. His paternal grandfather Rev. Henry Blackett, brother of Edmund Blacket
Edmund Blacket
Edmund Thomas Blacket was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St...
the Australian architect, was for many years Vicar of Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
. 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
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
, Kenley
Kenley
Kenley is a district in the south of the London Borough of Croydon. It borders Purley, Coulsdon, Riddlesdown, Caterham and Whyteleafe. Kenley is situated 13 miles south of Charing Cross. The 2001 census showed Kenley having a population of 13,525....
, Woking
Woking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
and Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
, Surrey, where Blackett went to preparatory school
Preparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
. His main hobbies were model aeroplanes and crystal radio. When he went for interview for entrance to the Royal Naval College, Osborne
Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat....
, Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, Charles Rolls
Charles Rolls
Charles Stewart Rolls was a motoring and aviation pioneer. Together with Frederick Henry Royce he co-founded the Rolls-Royce car manufacturing firm. He was the first Briton to be killed in a flying accident, when the tail of his Wright Flyer broke off during a flying display near Bournemouth,...
had completed his cross-channel flight the previous day and Blackett who had tracked the flight on his crystal set was able to expound lengthily on the subject. He was accepted and spent two years there before moving on to Dartmouth
Britannia Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...
where he was `usually head of his class'.
In August 1914 on the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Blackett was assigned to active service as a midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
He was transferred to the Cape Verde
Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
Islands on HMS Carnarvon
HMS Carnarvon (1903)
HMS Carnarvon was a Devonshire-class armoured cruiser of the Royal Navy. She has been the only ship of the navy to be named after the town of Caernarfon in Wales. Launched in 1903, she served with the Mediterranean Fleet in the 3rd Cruiser Squadron until March 1907, and then joined the 2nd Cruiser...
and was present at the Battle of the Falkland Islands
Battle of the Falkland Islands
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a British naval victory over the Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 during the First World War in the South Atlantic...
. He was then transferred to HMS Barham and saw much action at the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
. While on HMS Barham, Blackett was co-inventor of a gunnery device on which the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
took out a patent. In 1916 he applied to join the RNAS but his application was refused. In October that year he became a sub-lieutenant on HMS P17 on Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
patrol, and in July 1917 he was posted to HMS Sturgeon
HMS Sturgeon
Three ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Sturgeon, after the Sturgeon, a freshwater fish:*HMS Sturgeon was an A class destroyer of the Sturgeon subgroup launched in 1894 and sold in 1910....
in the Harwich Force
Harwich Force
The Harwich Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War, that went on to play a significant role in the war.-History:...
under Admiral Tyrwhitt
Reginald Tyrwhitt
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Reginald Yorke Tyrwhitt, 1st Baronet, GCB, DSO was a senior officer of the Royal Navy in World War I who commanded light forces stationed at Harwich on the east coast of England during the first part of the war.-Naval career:Tyrwhitt entered the Navy as a cadet in July, 1885...
. Blackett was particularly concerned by the poor quality of gunnery in the force compared with that of the enemy and of his own previous experience, and started to read science textbooks. He was promoted to Lieutenant in May 1918, but had decided to leave the Navy. Then, in January 1919, the Admiralty sent the officers whose training had been interrupted by the war to Cambridge University for a course of general duties. On his first night at Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene...
he met Kingsley Martin
Kingsley Martin
Basil Kingsley Martin was a British journalist who edited the left-leaning political magazine the New Statesman from 1930 to 1960....
and Geoffrey Webb
Geoffrey Webb
Geoffrey Fairbank Webb was a British art historian, Slade Professor of Fine Art and head of the Monuments and Fine Arts section of the Control Commission during World War II....
later recalling that he had never before, in his naval training, heard intellectual conversation. Blackett was impressed by the prestigious Cavendish Laboratory
Cavendish Laboratory
The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the university's School of Physical Sciences. It was opened in 1874 as a teaching laboratory....
, and left the Navy to study mathematics and physics at Cambridge.
Academia and research
After graduating from Magdalene College in 1921, Blackett spent ten years working at the Cavendish LaboratoryCavendish Laboratory
The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the university's School of Physical Sciences. It was opened in 1874 as a teaching laboratory....
as an experimental physicist with Professor Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson OM, FRS was a New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics...
and in 1923 became a fellow of Kings College, Cambridge, a position he held until 1933. Rutherford had found out that the nucleus of the nitrogen atom could be disintegrated by firing fast alpha particles into nitrogen. He asked Blackett to use a cloud chamber
Cloud chamber
The cloud chamber, also known as the Wilson chamber, is a particle detector used for detecting ionizing radiation. In its most basic form, a cloud chamber is a sealed environment containing a supersaturated vapor of water or alcohol. When a charged particle interacts with the mixture, it ionizes it...
to find visible tracks of this disintegration, and by 1924, he had taken 23,000 photographs showing 415,000 tracks of ionized particles. Eight of these were forked, and this showed that the nitrogen atom-alpha particle combination had formed an atom of fluorine
Fluorine
Fluorine is the chemical element with atomic number 9, represented by the symbol F. It is the lightest element of the halogen column of the periodic table and has a single stable isotope, fluorine-19. At standard pressure and temperature, fluorine is a pale yellow gas composed of diatomic...
, which then disintegrated into an isotope of oxygen and a proton. Blackett spent some time in 1924-1925 at Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, Germany working with James Franck
James Franck
James Franck was a German Jewish physicist and Nobel laureate.-Biography:Franck was born to Jacob Franck and Rebecca Nachum Drucker. Franck completed his Ph.D...
on atomic spectra. In 1932, working with Giuseppe Occhialini
Giuseppe Occhialini
Giuseppe Paolo Stanislao "Beppo" Occhialini ForMemRS was an Italian physicist, who contributed to the discovery of the pion or pi-meson decay in 1947, with César Lattes and Cecil Frank Powell . At the time of this discovery, they were all working at the H. H...
, he devised a system of geiger counter
Geiger counter
A Geiger counter, also called a Geiger–Müller counter, is a type of particle detector that measures ionizing radiation. They detect the emission of nuclear radiation: alpha particles, beta particles or gamma rays. A Geiger counter detects radiation by ionization produced in a low-pressure gas in a...
s which only took photographs when a cosmic ray
Cosmic ray
Cosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The term ray is historical as cosmic rays were thought to be electromagnetic radiation...
particle traversed the chamber. They found 500 tracks of high energy cosmic ray particles in 700 automatic expansions. In 1933, Blackett discovered fourteen tracks which confirmed the existence of the positron
Positron
The positron or antielectron is the antiparticle or the antimatter counterpart of the electron. The positron has an electric charge of +1e, a spin of ½, and has the same mass as an electron...
and revealed the now instantly recognisable opposing spiral traces of positron/electron pair production
Pair production
Pair production refers to the creation of an elementary particle and its antiparticle, usually from a photon . For example an electron and its antiparticle, the positron, may be created...
. This work and that on annihilation radiation
Annihilation radiation
Annihilation radiation is a term used in Gamma spectroscopy for the gamma radiation produced when a particle and Antiparticle collide. Most commonly, this refers to 511-keV gamma rays produced by an normal electron and a positron colliding.Annihilation radiation is not monoenergetic, unlike...
made him one of the first and leading experts on anti-matter. That same year he moved to Birkbeck College
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
, 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...
as Professor of Physics for four years. Then in 1937 he went to the Victoria University of Manchester
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
where he was elected to the Langworthy Professor
Langworthy Professor
The Langworthy Professor is the holder of an endowed chair at in the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester. It was founded by a bequest of £10,000 for the purpose of endowing a professorship of experimental physics by E. R. Langworthy in 1874...
ship and created a major international research laboratory. The Blackett Memorial Hall and Blackett lecture theatre at the University of Manchester were named after him.
In 1947, Blackett introduced a theory to account for the Earth's magnetic field
Earth's magnetic field
Earth's magnetic field is the magnetic field that extends from the Earth's inner core to where it meets the solar wind, a stream of energetic particles emanating from the Sun...
as a function of its rotation, with the hope that it would unify both the electromagnetic force and the force of gravity. He spent a number of years developing high-quality magnetometer
Magnetometer
A magnetometer is a measuring instrument used to measure the strength or direction of a magnetic field either produced in the laboratory or existing in nature...
s to test his theory, and eventually found it to be without merit. His work on the subject, however, led him into the field of geophysics
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
, where he eventually helped process data relating to paleomagnetism
Paleomagnetism
Paleomagnetism is the study of the record of the Earth's magnetic field in rocks. Certain minerals in rocks lock-in a record of the direction and intensity of the magnetic field when they form. This record provides information on the past behavior of Earth's magnetic field and the past location of...
and helped to provide strong evidence for continental drift
Continental drift
Continental drift is the movement of the Earth's continents relative to each other. The hypothesis that continents 'drift' was first put forward by Abraham Ortelius in 1596 and was fully developed by Alfred Wegener in 1912...
.
In 1948 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
, for his investigation of cosmic rays using his invention of the counter-controlled cloud chamber
Cloud chamber
The cloud chamber, also known as the Wilson chamber, is a particle detector used for detecting ionizing radiation. In its most basic form, a cloud chamber is a sealed environment containing a supersaturated vapor of water or alcohol. When a charged particle interacts with the mixture, it ionizes it...
.
Professor Blackett was appointed Head of the Physics Department of Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
in 1953 and retired in July, 1963. The current Physics department building of Imperial College is named the 'Blackett Laboratory'.
World War II and operational research
In 1935 Blackett was invited to join the Aeronautical Research CommitteeAeronautical 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...
chaired by Sir Henry Tizard
Henry Tizard
Sir Henry Thomas Tizard FRS was an English chemist and inventor and past Rector of Imperial College....
. The committee was effective pressing for the early installation of Radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
for air defence
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
. In the early part of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Blackett served on various committees and spent time at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...
(RAE) Farnborough
Farnborough Airfield
Farnborough Airport or TAG London Farnborough Airport is an airport situated in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England...
, where he made a major contribution to the design of the Mark XIV bomb sight
Mark XIV bomb sight
The Mark XIV Computing Bomb Sight is a vector bombsight developed and used by the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command during World War II. The bombsight was also known as the Blackett sight after its primary inventor, P.M.S. Blackett...
which allowed bombs to be released without a level bombing run beforehand. In 1940-41 Blackett served on the MAUD Committee
MAUD Committee
The MAUD Committee was the beginning of the British atomic bomb project, before the United Kingdom joined forces with the United States in the Manhattan Project.-Frisch & Peierls:...
which concluded that an atomic bomb was feasible. He disagreed with the Committee's conclusion that Britain could produce an atomic bomb by 1943, and recommended that the project should be discussed with the Americans. He was awarded the Royal Medal
Royal Medal
The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal, is a silver-gilt medal awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important contributions to the advancement of natural knowledge" and one for "distinguished contributions in the applied sciences" made within the Commonwealth of...
of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1940.
In August 1940 Blackett became scientific adviser to Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Pile, Commander in Chief of Anti-Aircraft Command
Anti-Aircraft Command
Anti-Aircraft Command was a British Army command of the Second World War that controlled the anti-aircraft artillery units of the British Isles.-History:...
and thus began the work that resulted in the field of study known as operational research (OR). He was Director of Operational Research with the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
from 1942 to 1945, and his work improved the survival odds of convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
s, presented counter-intuitive but correct recommendations for the armour-plating of aircraft and achieved many other successes. His aim, he said, was to find numbers on which to base strategy, not gusts of emotion. During the war he criticised the assumptions in Lord Cherwell's dehousing
Dehousing
On 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...
paper and sided with Tizard who argued that less resources should go to RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
for the area bombing offensive and more to the other armed forces. In this opinion he chafed against the existing military authority and was cut out of various circles of communications; after the war, the Allied Strategic Bombing Survey
Strategic bombing survey
The United States Strategic Bombing Survey was a board tasked with examination and analysis of the United States' involvement in the World War II. Its primary purpose was to determine the effectiveness of Allied, and more specifically American, strategic bombing campaigns in Europe and in Asia...
proved Blackett correct, however.
Politics
Blackett became friends with Kingsley MartinKingsley Martin
Basil Kingsley Martin was a British journalist who edited the left-leaning political magazine the New Statesman from 1930 to 1960....
, later editor of the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
, while an undergraduate and became committed to the left. Politically he identified himself as a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, and often campaigned on behalf of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. In the late 1940s, Blackett became known for his radical political opinions, which included his belief that Britain ought not develop atomic weapons. He was considered too far to the left for the Labour Government 1945-1951
Labour Government 1945-1951
The Labour Party came to power in the United Kingdom after their unexpected victory in the July 1945 general elections. Party leader Clement Attlee became Prime Minister and hastily replaced his predecessor Winston Churchill at the Potsdam Conference in late July. Ernest Bevin was Foreign Secretary...
to employ, and he returned to academic life. His internationalism found expression in his strong support for India. There in 1947 he met Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
, who sought his advice on the research and development needs of the Indian armed forces
Indian Armed Forces
The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. They consist of the Army, Navy and Air Force, supported by three paramilitary forces and various inter-service institutions such as the Strategic Forces Command.The President of India is...
and for the next 20 years he was a frequent visitor and advisor on military and civil science. These visits deepened his concern for the underprivileged and the poor. He was convinced that the problem could be solved by applying science and technology and he used his scientific prestige to try and persuade scientists that one of their first duties was to use their skill to ensure a decent life for all mankind. Before underdevelopment became a popular issue he proposed in a presidential address to the British Association that Britain should devote 1% of its national income to the economic improvement of the third world
Development aid
Development aid or development cooperation is aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social and political development of developing countries.It is distinguished...
and he was later one of the prime movers in the foundation of the Overseas Development Institute
Overseas Development Institute
The Overseas Development Institute is one of the leading independent think tanks on international development and humanitarian issues. Based in London, its mission is "to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievement...
. He was the senior member of a group of scientists which met regularly to discuss scientific and technological policy during the 13 years when the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
was out of office, and this group became influential when Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
became leader of the Party. Blackett's ideas led directly to the creation of the Ministry of Technology
Minister of Technology
The Minister of Technology was a position in the government of the United Kingdom, sometimes abbreviated as "MinTech". The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of Harold Wilson in October 1964 as part of Wilson's ambition to modernise the state for what he perceived to...
as soon as the Wilson government
Labour Government 1964-1970
The Labour Government 1964–1970 was led by Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The Labour Party had won the 1964 general election by a majority of 4 seats. The Profumo affair had seriously damaged the previous Conservatives government, meaning Alec Douglas-Home's Premiership lasted only 363 days...
was formed and he insisted that the first priority was revival of the computer industry
Computer industry
Computer industry is a collective term used to describe the whole range of businesses involved in developing computer software, designing computer hardware and computer networking infrastructures, the manufacture of computer components and the provision of information technology services.-See...
. He did not enter open politics, but worked for a year as a civil servant. He remained deputy chairman of the Minister's Advisory Council throughout the administration's life, and was also personal scientific adviser to the Minister.
Personal life
Blackett had refused many honours in the manner of a radical of the twenties but accepted a Companion of HonourOrder of the Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
in 1965, and was appointed to the Order of Merit
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit is a British dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
in 1967. He was created a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
in 1969 as Baron Blackett, of Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
in Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
. However, the greatest honour of all for him was when he was made President of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1965. The crater Blackett
Blackett (crater)
Blackett is a lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon, behind the southwest limb. It lies beyond the southeast outer ring of the immense Mare Orientale basin. The formation of that major feature has left Blackett deeply marked with groove-like features running from the northwest...
on the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
is named after him.
Blackett married Constanza Bayon in 1924. They had one son and one daughter.
Bernard Lovell
Bernard Lovell
Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell OBE, FRS is an English physicist and radio astronomer. He was the first Director of Jodrell Bank Observatory, from 1945 to 1980.-Early Life:...
wrote of Blackett "Those who worked with Blackett in the laboratory were dominated by his immensely powerful personality, and those who knew him elsewhere soon discovered that the public image thinly veiled a sensitive and humane spirit".
Edward Bullard
Edward Bullard
Sir Edward "Teddy" Crisp Bullard FRS was a geophysicist who is considered, along with Maurice Ewing, to have founded the discipline of marine geophysics...
said that he was the most versatile and best loved physicist of his generation and that his achievement was also without rival - "he was wonderfully intelligent, charming, fun to be with, dignified and handsome".
Publications
- Fear, War, and the Bomb: The Military and Political Consequences of Atomic Energy (1948)
- Atomic Weapons and East-West Relations (1956)
Influence in fiction
Blackett's theory of planetary magnetism and gravity were taken up by the science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
author James Blish
James Blish
James Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling, Jr.-Biography:...
who cited the Blackett effect
Blackett effect
The Blackett effect, also called gravitational magnetism, is the hypothetical generation of a magnetic field by an uncharged, rotating body. This effect has never been observed.-History:...
as the theoretical 'basis' behind his 'spindizzy
Spindizzy
The Dillon-Wagoner Graviton Polarity Generator, known colloquially as the spindizzy is a fictitious anti-gravity device imagined by James Blish for his series Cities in Flight...
' antigravity drive.
In his close friend C.P. Snow's novel sequence Strangers and Brothers
Strangers and Brothers
Strangers and Brothers is a series of novels by C. P. Snow, published between 1940 and 1974. They deal with – amongst other things – questions of political and personal integrity, and the mechanics of exercising power....
, aspects of Blackett's personality are drawn upon for the left-wing physicist Francis Getliffe.
External links
- Oral History interview transcript with Patrick Blackett 17 December 1962, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives
- Nobelprize.org Biography
Further reading
Books- Mary Jo NyeMary Jo NyeMary Jo Nye is an American historian of science and retired faculty member of the History Department at Oregon State University.-Career:...
, Blackett: Physics, War, and Politics in the Twentieth Century (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University PressHarvard University PressHarvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
, 2004).
Articles
- Times Obituary July 1974
- Anderson, Robert. Patrick Blackett in India: Military consultant and scientific intervenor, 1947–72. Part one Notes and Records of the Royal Society ISSN: 0035-9149 (Paper) 1743-0178 (Online) Issue: Volume 53, Number 2 / May 22, 1999 Pages: 253 - 273
- Staff. Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett website of www.nobel-winners.com
- Staff. Patrick M.S. Blackett - Biography website of the Nobel FoundationNobel FoundationThe Nobel Foundation is a private institution founded on 29 June 1900 to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. The Foundation is based on the last will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite....
1948 - Blog, Patrick M.S. Blackett – Biography about his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation.
- Staff. The Imperial College Physics Department (the 'Blackett Lab') website of Imperial College LondonImperial College LondonImperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...