Brian Flowers, Baron Flowers

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Brian Hilton Flowers, Baron Flowers FRS (born September 13, 1924 - † June 25, 2010 ) was a British physicist who studied nuclear physics .

Life

Brian Hilton Flowers is the son of the Reverend Harold Joseph Flowers, he attended the Bishop Gore Grammar School in Swansea and the Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge, which he graduated with a Master of Arts (Oxbridge). He continued his studies at the University of Birmingham , where he completed his Doctor of Science degree .

Flowers worked from 1944 to 1946 on the British-Canadian nuclear project code-named Tube Alloys in Chalk River, Ontario , for which John Cockcroft recruited him. From 1946 to 1950 he conducted research on nuclear physics and atomic energy at the British atomic research center Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) near Harwell in Oxfordshire . There he worked first in Otto Frisch's group and then in Klaus Fuchs' theory group . After his arrest in 1950 as a spy, Flowers went to Rudolf Peierls at the University of Birmingham. In 1952 he was appointed head of the department for theoretical physics at AERE as successor to Fuchs. He held this position until 1958. From 1958 to 1961 he was Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Manchester , from 1961 to 1972 he was Langworthy Professor of Physics, from 1967 to 1973 also Chairman of the Science Research Council . He was Rector of Imperial College London from 1973 to 1985 and Vice Chancellor from 1985 to 1990. From 1994 to 2001 he was Chancellor of the University of Manchester.

As a physicist, he mainly dealt with the theory of nuclear structure and nuclear spectroscopy. As head of the theory group in Harwell, he ensured close collaboration with experimenters and, in collaboration with Phil Elliott and others, contributed to reconciling competing core structure models (shell model, collective model). From 1978 to 1981 he was chairman of the Commission on Energy and the Environment , which in its 1976 report spoke out against extensive expansion of nuclear energy as long as the problem of nuclear waste was not resolved.

From 1966 to 1970 he was chairman of the Computer Board for Universities and Research Council , from 1971 to 1981 he was a member of the British Atomic Energy Authority . From 1972 to 1974 he was President of the Institute of Physics . From 1973 to 1976 he was Chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution , from 1974 to 1980 President of the European Science Foundation , from 1977 to 1979 President of the National Society for Clean Air . From 1979 to 1980 he headed the Working Group on Future Medical and Dental Education Opportunities at the University of London. From 1983 to 1985 he was chairman of the commission of vice chancellors and university director . From 1988 to 1991 he was a member of the assembly of the Academia Europaea , from 1992 to 2001 he was governor of the University of Middlesex . In 1992 and 1993 he was chairman of the examination committee for the academic year. From 1990 to 1997 he was on the Council of the Royal Postgraduate Medical School as its vice-chair. From 1991 to 1995 he was a member of the management board of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine , from 1994 and 1995 as its chairman. From 1982 to 1998 he was a trustee of the Nuffield Foundation , from 1987 as its chairman. Since 1998 he has been Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST).

Flowers had been a Life Peer ( Crossbencher ) in the House of Lords since February 20, 1979 .

Honors

Since 1961 he was a Fellow of the Royal Society . In 1969 he was promoted to a Knight Bachelor , on February 20, 1979 he was promoted to Life Peer with the title Baron Flowers , of Queen's Gate in the City of Westminster . Since 1981 he was an officer in the French Legion of Honor .

family

He was married to Mary Frances Behrens since 1951 and had two step-sons.

Works (selection)

  • Properties of Matter (1970)
  • An Introduction to Numerical Methods C ++ (1995)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Flowers, Brian, Baron Flowers
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Flowers, Brian Hilton Flowers Baron (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British physicist
DATE OF BIRTH September 13, 1924
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 2010