Arthur James Cochran Wilson, FRS (28 November 1914 – 1 July 1995) was a Canadian-British

crystallographer A crystallographer is a type of scientist who practices crystallography, in other words, who studies crystals. Career paths The work of crystallographers spans several academic disciplines, including the life sciences, chemistry, physics, and m ...

known for his work on the statistical aspects of X-ray crystallography.

Education and career

He was born in

Springhill, Nova Scotia Springhill is a community located in central Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada. The community was founded as "Springhill Mines". Coal mining led to economic growth, with its incorporation as a town in 1889. T ...

. He was educated at King's Collegiate School,

Windsor, Nova Scotia Windsor is a community located in Hants County, Nova Scotia, Hants County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a service centre for the western part of the county and is situated on Nova Scotia Highway 101, Highway 101. The community has a history d ...

, and

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

, Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he was awarded a BSc in 1934 and an MSc in 1936. He received his first

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1938 from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

on the anomalous thermal behaviour of the ferro-electric

Rochelle salt Potassium sodium tartrate tetrahydrate, also known as Rochelle salt, is a double salt of tartaric acid first prepared (in about 1675) by an apothecary, , of La Rochelle, France. Potassium sodium tartrate and monopotassium phosphate were the fir ...

. After retirement he returned to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

to chair the

International Union of Crystallography The International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) is an organisation devoted to the international promotion and coordination of the science of crystallography. The IUCr is a member of the International Council for Science (ICSU). Objectives T ...

's Commission on International (Crystallographic) Tables, which were in need of updating. He died in Cambridge on 1 July 1995.

Honours and awards

Wilson was elected a

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 ...

in 1963. He was vice-president of the

between 1978 and 1981. He received the Distinguished Fellow Award from the International Centre for Diffraction Data in 1984. He was awarded a honorary doctor degree from

in 1991.

Personal life

Wilson had married Harriett Friedeberg in 1946; they had two sons and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Arthur 1914 births 1995 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Academics of the University of Birmingham People from Cumberland County, Nova Scotia Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Cambridge Canadian crystallographers British crystallographers King's-Edgehill School alumni