Marion Amelia Spence Ross

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(9 April 1903 – 3 January 1994) was a Scottish

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

noted for her work in

x-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science of determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to Diffraction, diffract in specific directions. By measuring th ...

and

fluid dynamics In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in motion ...

Life

Ross was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, one of the five daughters of William Baird Ross, organist, composer and founder of The Edinburgh Society of Organists (ESO). The family lived at 22 Royal Crescent in

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original Neoclassicism, neo-classical and Georgian architecture, Georgian period architecture. Its ...

. After being educated at Edinburgh Ladies' College, Marion Ross studied

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. It was dominant before the develop ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, receiving prestigious bursaries in mathematics, and graduating with honours. Ross then studied at teacher training college in Cambridge for one year and taught mathematics in a secondary school in Woking, Surrey for two years. In 1928, she took up a post as Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of Edinburgh, and instigated a course in

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

for music students. In 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 ...

she was a rare example of a female scientist working for the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

. Based at

Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...

docks she led a team involved in underwater acoustics and

hydrodynamics In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in ...

. Her work with Professor C. G. Barkla resulted in her being awarded a PhD in 1943. For one year, she worked under the direction of

William Lawrence Bragg Sir William Lawrence Bragg (31 March 1890 – 1 July 1971) was an Australian-born British physicist who shared the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics with his father William Henry Bragg "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by ...

at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, and together with

Arnold Beevers Cecil Arnold Beevers (27 May 1908 – 16 January 2001) was a British crystallographer, known for Beevers–Lipson strips, a computational aid for calculating Fourier transforms to determine the structure of crystals from crystallographic data ...

, explored the structure of the crystal

Beta Alumina Beta-alumina solid electrolyte (BASE) is a fast-ion conductor material used as a membrane A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. ...

. They noted there were 'problem' sites in the areas occupied by mobile sodium ions. Subsequently, the presence of these ions was discovered to make this crystal an efficient superconductor. As a tribute to their discovery, the locations of these ions are now known as ''Beevers–Ross'' and ''anti-Beevers–Ross sites''. After the war she returned to the University of Edinburgh as a lecturer, studying high-energy particle spectra. She was the first Director of the University's Fluid Dynamics Unit. Some of her work was published in the journal ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

''. In 1951 she became a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

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 ...

, two years after the first female Fellows were admitted. Her proposers were

Norman Feather Norman Feather FRS FRSE PRSE (16 November 1904 – 14 August 1978), was an English nuclear physicist. Feather and Egon Bretscher were working at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge in 1940, when they proposed that the 239 isotope of element 9 ...

Max Born Max Born (; 11 December 1882 – 5 January 1970) was a German-British theoretical physicist who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics, and supervised the work of a ...

Alexander Aitken Alexander Craig "Alec" Aitken (1 April 1895 – 3 November 1967) was one of New Zealand's most eminent mathematicians. In a 1935 paper he introduced the concept of generalized least squares, along with now standard vector/matrix notation ...

and Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker. She was the first female Secretary to the Society (1993/4). Her interest in

fluid flow In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in motion ...

s led to Ross setting up a

Unit within the Department of Physics. Many students were attracted to this field of study, supervised by Ross. Ross was elected to University Court for session 1967-68, one of the first non-Professorial members of staff to serve. Her contributions to the University were rewarded with a Readership, and her success was particularly notable given the male-dominated nature of the profession. On her retirement, the annually awarded ''Marion A S Ross Prize'' was founded in her name. In 2014 a street at the University's

Kings Buildings The King's Buildings (colloquially known as just King's or KB) is a campus of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Located in the suburb of Blackford, the site contains most of the schools within the College of Science and Engineering, ex ...

campus was named in her honour.

Personal life

Outside her professional life, Ross had a wide range of interests, including literature, art, music, and politics. She was particularly interested in the

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

that her father had designed for the Holy Rude Church, Stirling, where he was the organist, and where Ross sang in the choir. Ross died on 3 January 1994. Her obituary describes her as "an enthusiast and a person of high ideals and purpose. The type of person who looked for work that needed doing and got on and did it voluntarily. Her research in nuclear and X-ray physics, and in fluid dynamics, is internationally recognised and has inspired others to follow in her footsteps. She will be remembered with affection and gratitude by her students, her colleagues and by her family."

Recognition

Marion Ross Road within Edinburgh University's

King's Buildings The King's Buildings (colloquially known as just King's or KB) is a campus of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Located in the suburb of Blackford, Edinburgh, Blackford, the site contains most of the schools within the University of Edin ...

complex is named in her honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Marion 1903 births 1994 deaths Scientists from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of Edinburgh Scottish physicists Scottish women physicists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 20th-century British women scientists Scottish women academics