Ernest Geoffrey Cullwick (24 May 1903 – 13 May 1981) was a British pioneer of electromagnetism in relation to its effects upon atomic particles. He served as Director of Electrical Engineering for the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

and Director of the Electrical Research Division of the Defense Research Board of Canada. Cullwick was a critic of the

Special Theory of Relativity In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory of the relationship between space and time. In Albert Einstein's 1905 paper, "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", the theory is presen ...

, and an amateur bookbinder of great skill.

Life

He was born at 14 Snow Hill in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

in 1903, the youngest son of Herbert Ernest Cullwick (1859–1945) and his wife, Edith Ada Ascough. In 1905 his father was Director of Cullwicks Ltd, a company going into liquidation. Ernest attended Wolverhampton Grammar School. He won a place to

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of ...

graduating BA in 1925 and won a Foundation Scholarship leading to an MA in 1929. He studied as a postgraduate at

St Andrews University The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

where he obtained a DSc. He then moved to Canada working as an assistant professor at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. In 1937, he was made Professor of Electrical Engineering at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

. Whilst officially holding this role until 1947, the post was disrupted by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, during which he served as a Technical Director for both the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

and the

. In 1947 he transferred to be Director of the Electrical Research Division of the Defense Research Board of Canada, based in Ottawa. Cullwick was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1946 for his war service. In 1949, he returned to Britain to take on the role of Professor of Electrical Engineering at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

where he also became Dean of the Faculty of Science. In 1967 he transferred to

Dundee University The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

which shared facilities with St Andrews. In 1950, he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were George Dawson Preston, Edward Thomas Copson, John F. Allen, and John Meadows Jackson. Cullwick retired in 1973 and moved to

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

, where he died in 1981.

Publications

*''Fundamentals of Electromagnetism'' (1939) *''Electromagnetism and Relativity'' (1957) *''The Clock Paradox'' (1963) *''Electromagnetic Momentum and Newton’s Third Law''

Family

He married Mamie Ruttan Boucher in 1929. They had one son and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullwick, Ernest Geoffrey 1903 births 1981 deaths Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge British scientists Military personnel from Wolverhampton Burials in Kent Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Canadian Navy personnel of World War II Scientists from Wolverhampton Royal Canadian Navy personnel Royal Canadian Air Force airmen Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire