Dennis "Joe" Lyons (26 August 1916 – 29 March 2011) was a British scientist who researched topics ranging from rockets to

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

s. He led the research of the Blue Streak and

Black Knight The black knight is a literary stock character who masks his identity and that of his liege by not displaying heraldry. Black knights are usually portrayed as villainous figures who use this anonymity for misdeeds. They are often contrasted with ...

rockets that were developed at the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

during the 1950s. In 1965 he became the director of the Road Research Laboratory, overseeing the introduction of the

breathalyser A breathalyzer or breathalyser (a portmanteau of ''breath'' and ''analyzer/analyser''), also called an alcohol meter, is a device for measuring breath alcohol content (BrAC). It is commonly utilized by law enforcement officers whenever they in ...

, motorway

crash barrier Traffic barriers (known in North America as guardrails or guard rails, in Britain as crash barriers, and in auto racing as Armco barriers AK Steel (formerly Armco) genericized trademark) keep vehicles within their roadway and prevent them from co ...

s and compulsory front

seat belt A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...

s. In 2012 his ashes were scattered at

Farnborough Airport Farnborough Airport (previously called: TAG Farnborough Airport, RAE Farnborough, ICAO Code EGLF) is an operational business/executive general aviation airport in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England. The airport covers about 8% of Rus ...

from a

Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

References

British scientists Rocket scientists 1916 births 2011 deaths {{UK-scientist-stub