
Sir Alan Howard Cottrell,
FRS (17 July 1919 – 15 February 2012) was an English
metallurgist
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.
Metallurgy encompasses both the ...
and
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 ...
. He was also former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government and vice-chancellor of Cambridge University 1977–1979.
Early life
Cottrell was educated at
Moseley Grammar School and the
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
, where he gained a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree in 1939 and a PhD for research on
welding
Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, primarily by using high temperature to melting, melt the parts together and allow them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Co ...
in 1942.
Career
Cottrell joined the staff as a lecturer at Birmingham, being made professor in 1949, and transforming the teaching of the department by emphasising modern concepts of
solid state physics
Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as solid-state chemistry, quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state p ...
.
[History of Metallurgy at Birmingham]
Engineering at Birmingham University In 1955 he moved to
A.E.R.E. Harwell, to become Deputy Head of Metallurgy under
Monty Finniston
Sir Harold Montague "Monty" Finniston FRS FRSE (15 August 1912 – 2 February 1991) was a Scottish industrialist.
Life
He was born at 26 Aikenhead Road in Govanhill, Glasgow the son of Robert Finniston. His family were of Russian Jewish ori ...
.
[
From 1958 to 1965 Cottrell was Goldsmiths' Professor of Metallurgy at ]Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, and a fellow of Christ's College. He later worked for the government in various capacities, ultimately as Chief Scientific Adviser from 1971 to 1974, before becoming Master
Master, master's or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
In education:
*Master (college), head of a college
*Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline
*Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...
of Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...
, from 1973 to 1986,[Masters of Jesus College]
and Vice-Chancellor of the university in 1977–1979.
Death
Cottrell died on 15 February 2012 after a brief illness.
Awards and honours
*1955 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
*1961 Hughes Medal
The Hughes Medal is a silver-gilt medal awarded by the Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. T ...
*1962 Francis J. Clamer Medal
*1963 Royal Society Bakerian Medal
The Bakerian Medal is one of the premier medals of the Royal Society that recognizes exceptional and outstanding science. It comes with a medal award and a prize lecture. The medalist is required to give a lecture on any topic related to physical ...
*1965 He was the first to be awarded the A. A. Griffith Medal and Prize.
*1967 James Alfred Ewing Medal This is an award of the Institution of Civil Engineers in memory of James Alfred Ewing made by the Council on the joint nomination of the president and the President of the Royal Society.
It is made to a person, whether a member of the Institution o ...
.
*1969 Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize
The Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize is a major European prize for Physics awarded jointly every year by the British Institute of Physics (IOP) and the Société Française de Physique (SFP). It is one of the four Grand Prix of the SFP and one of ...
*1971 He was knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
.[
*1973 Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) from the ]University of Bath
The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...
.
*1974 James Douglas Gold Medal
*1982 Honorary doctorate from the University of Essex
The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...
*1991 Elected Member of Academia Europaea
The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences.
The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...
*1996 Copley Medal
The Copley Medal is the most prestigious award of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, conferred "for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science". The award alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the bio ...
(the Royal Society's highest award)
He was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...
.
Selected books
* ''Theoretical Structural Metallurgy'' (1948) (E Arnold; 2nd Revised edition (1 January 1955)) ()
* ''Dislocations and Plastic Flows in Crystals'' (1953) ()
* ''Superconductivity'' (1964) (Harwood Academic (Medical, Reference and Social Sc; n edition (December 1964)) ()
* ''An Introduction to Metallurgy'' (1967) ()
* ''Portrait of Nature : the world as seen by modern science'' (1975) ()
* ''How Safe is Nuclear Energy?'' (1982) (Heinemann Educational Publishers (29 June 1981)) ()
* ''Concepts in the Electron Theory of Alloys'' (1998) ()
See also
*Creep (deformation)
In materials science, creep (sometimes called cold flow) is the tendency of a solid material to undergo slow deformation while subject to persistent mechanical stresses. It can occur as a result of long-term exposure to high levels of stress ...
References
External links
The National Archives
lists his reports
Listen to an oral history interview with Sir Alan Cottrell
– a life story interview recorded fo
An Oral History of British Science
at the British Library
Tribute
by Prof Peter Hirsch
Obituary
''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', 19 February 2012
Obituary
by Dr J.A. Charles
AIME James Douglas Gold Medal in 1974
Biography at The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottrell, Alan Howard, Sir
1919 births
2012 deaths
British metallurgists
British physicists
Fellows of the Royal Society
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
Academics of the University of Birmingham
Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge
Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge
Masters of Jesus College, Cambridge
Knights Bachelor
Recipients of the Copley Medal
Chief Scientific Advisers to HM Government
Chief Scientific Advisers to the Ministry of Defence
Vice-chancellors of the University of Cambridge
People educated at Moseley School
Goldsmiths' Professors of Materials Science
Members of Academia Europaea