Arnold Beck
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Arnold Hugh William Beck (7 August 1916 – 11 October 1997) was a British scientist and electrical engineer, a specialist in plasma and
microwaves Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than other radio waves but longer than infrared waves. Its wavelength ranges from about one meter to one millimeter, corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz an ...
, Professor of Engineering in the
University of Cambridge 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 ...
.


Early life and education

The younger son of Major Hugh Beck and Diana L. Beck, the young Beck was educated at
Gresham's School Gresham's School is a private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Baccalaureate schools in England. The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a f ...
, Holt, and
University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
, where he graduated ''BSc Eng''. His old college elected him to a Fellowship in 1979.'BECK, Prof. Arnold Hugh William', in '' Who's Who 1997'' (London: A. & C. Black, 1997)


Career

In 1937, after graduation, Beck became a research engineer with Henry Hughes & Sons, remaining with the firm until 1941. Then, with 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 ...
in progress, he was seconded to the Admiralty Signal Establishment until 1945. From 1947 he was an engineer with
Standard Telephones and Cables Standard Telephones and Cables Ltd (later STC public limited company, plc) was a British manufacturer of telephone, telegraph, radio, telecommunications, and related equipment. During its history, STC invented and developed several groundbreakin ...
, ultimately as head of the Valve Research Division. In 1958 he was appointed a Lecturer in Electrical Engineering at Cambridge, where he led a group researching new ways to generate very high frequency
radio waves Radio waves (formerly called Hertzian waves) are a type of electromagnetic radiation with the lowest frequencies and the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, typically with frequencies below 300 gigahertz (GHz) and wavelengths ...
.'CONTRIBUTORS: Arnold Hugh William Beck' in ''
New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...
'', issue dated 19 September 1963 (Vol. 19, no. 357)
627
/ref> In 1964 he was promoted to Reader and in 1966 was elected to one of the three Professorships of Engineering established that year. He was also Head of the University's Electrical Division from 1971 to 1981, and when he retired in 1983 he was given the title of Emeritus Professor and was elected a Life Fellow of Corpus Christi, where he had been a Fellow since 1962.


Personal life

In 1947, Beck married Monica, a daughter of Samuel K Ratcliffe, they had no children, but raised her son
Nicolas Walter Nicolas Hardy Walter (22 November 1934 – 7 March 2000) was a British anarchist and atheist writer, speaker and activist. He was a member of the Committee of 100 and Spies for Peace, and wrote on topics of anarchism and humanism. Backgroun ...
from her previous marriage to
William Grey Walter William Grey Walter (February 19, 1910 – May 6, 1977) was an United States, American-born United Kingdom, British neurophysiologist, cybernetician and robotician. Early life and education Walter was born in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City ...
. In 1959, he was elected a Fellow of the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office ...
.


Publications

*''Velocity Modulated Thermionic Tubes'' (1948) *''Thermionic Valves'' (1953) *''Space-charge Waves'' (1958) *''Words and Waves'' (1967) *''Introduction to Physical Electronics'' (with H. Ahmed) (1968) *''Handbook of Vacuum Physics'', Vol. 2, Parts 5 and 6, 1968 *''Statistical Mechanics, Fluctuations and Noise'' (1976)


See also

* Sukumar Brahma * Johan H. Enslin


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Arnold Hugh William 1916 births 1997 deaths Alumni of University College London Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge People educated at Gresham's School Professors of engineering (Cambridge) British electrical engineers Fellows of the IEEE Admiralty personnel of World War II