Brian Hilton Flowers, Baron Flowers FRS (13 September 1924 – 25 June 2010) was a British physicist, academician, and public servant.

Early life and studies

The son of the Rev. Harold Joseph Flowers and Mrs Marian Flowers, Brian Hilton Flowers was born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. He was educated in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

at Bishop Gore School, where a teacher, Mr Foukes, encouraged his interest in physics. He went on to study at

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

, where he graduated in physics and electronics.

Career

Flowers worked on the Anglo-Canadian Atomic Energy Project

Tube Alloys Tube Alloys was the research and development programme authorised by the United Kingdom, with participation from Canada, to develop nuclear weapons during the Second World War. Starting before the Manhattan Project in the United States, the Bri ...

Chalk River Chalk River (2016 population: 1029) is a community located within the town of Laurentian Hills in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Upper Ottawa Valley along Highway 17 (Ontario), Highway 17 (Trans-Canada Highway), inland ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

from 1944 to 1946, then joined the

Atomic Energy Research Establishment The Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE), also known as Harwell Laboratory, was the main Headquarters, centre for nuclear power, atomic energy research and development in the United Kingdom from 1946 to the 1990s. It was created, owned ...

(AERE) at

Harwell, Oxfordshire Harwell is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse about west of Didcot, east of Wantage and south of Oxford, England. The parish measures about north – south, and almost east – west at its widest point. In 1923, its area ...

until 1950 when he moved to the department of

mathematical physics Mathematical physics is the development of mathematics, mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the de ...

at 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 ...

. In 1952, he became the head of the Theoretical physics division at AERE, holding this post until 1958. 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 ...

, he was Professor of theoretical physics from 1958 to 1961, Langworthy Professor of physics from 1961 to 1972 as well as chairman of the

Science Research Council The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) and its predecessor the Science Research Council (SRC) were the United Kingdom, UK agencies in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities, including astronomy, biote ...

from 1967 to 1973. At the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, he was Rector of

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

from 1973 to 1985 and finally vice-chancellor of the university from 1985 to 1990. Between 1994 and 2001, he was

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the University of Manchester. Flowers was chair of the Computer Board for Universities and Research Council from 1966 to 1970, member of the Atomic Energy Authority from 1971 to 1981, and president of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

from 1972 to 1974. He was further chair of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution from 1973 to 1976, president of the

European Science Foundation The European Science Foundation (ESF) is an association of 11 member organizations devoted to scientific research in 8 European countries. ESF is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organization that promotes science in Europe. It was e ...

from 1974 to 1980, and president of the National Society for Clean Air from 1977 to 1979. Between 1978 and 1981, Flowers was chair of the

Commission on Energy and the Environment In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

; between 1979 and 1980, he was also chair of the University of London Working Party on future of medical and dental teaching resources; and between 1983 and 1985, he was chair of the

Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

. He was also a member of the council of the

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 ...

from 1988 to 1991, governor of

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

from 1992 to 2001 and chair of the Committee of Enquiry into the Academic Year in 1992 and 1993. For the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, he was member of the council and vice-chairman from 1990 to 1997. Between 1991 and 1995, Flowers was member of the Management Board of the

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public university, public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London that specialises in public hea ...

, and between 1994 and 1995, its chairman. For the

Nuffield Foundation The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust established in 1943 by William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the founder of Morris Motors Ltd. It aims to improve social well-being by funding research and innovation projects in education and social pol ...

he was managing trustee from 1982 to 1998 and chairman from 1987 to 1998. During his chairmanship of the Nuffield Foundation, he played a significant role in the establishment by the Foundation of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in 1991. From 1998, he was vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). He was also a Founding Fellow of the

Learned Society of Wales The Learned Society of Wales () is a national academy, learned society and Charitable organization, charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the W ...

Honours and awards

*1961: 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 ...

*1968: Institute of Physics Ernest Rutherford Medal and Prize *1969: Knighted *1979: Made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

with the title Baron Flowers, of Queen's Gate in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

on 20 February 1979. *1981: Made an Officer of the French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. *1984: Imperial College commissioned his portrait from the painter, Kyffin Williams. *1987: Awarded the

Glazebrook Medal The Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize is awarded annually by the Institute of Physics to recognise leadership in the field of physics. It was established in 1966 and named in honour of Richard Glazebrook, Sir Richard T. Glazebrook, the first pre ...

by the

Personal life

From 1951 until his death he was married to Mary Frances Behrens, and had two stepsons, Peter and Michael. Lady Flowers died in January 2016 at the age of 94.

Selected works

*1970: ''Properties of Matter''. Chichester: Wiley (with Eric Mendoza) *1995: ''An Introduction to Numerical Methods in C++'', Oxford: Clarendon Press

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flowers, Brian 1924 births 2010 deaths British physicists Scientists from Swansea People educated at Bishop Gore School Academics of Imperial College London Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Birmingham Crossbench life peers Fellows of the Institute of Physics Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Bachelor Members of Academia Europaea Officers of the Legion of Honour People associated with Middlesex University People associated with the Victoria University of Manchester People associated with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Rectors of Imperial College London Presidents of the Institute of Physics Social Democratic Party (UK) life peers Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988–1990) peers Vice-chancellors of the University of London Life peers created by Elizabeth II