Charles Findlay Davidson OBE

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". ...

FGS MIMM (16 July 1911 - 1 November 1967) was a Scottish geologist. He served as Vice President 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 ...

. He was Assistant Curator to the Museum of Practical Geology in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and Chief Geologist of the

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance Earth science, geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. ...

Life

He was born in

Monifieth Monifieth () is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. In , the population of Monifieth was estimated at , making it the fifth largest town ...

in northern

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 16 July 1911, the son of John Davidson. His early education was at

Morgan Academy Morgan Academy is a Secondary School, secondary school in the Stobswell area of Dundee, Scotland. Morgan Academy was founded in 1889 and is the second oldest state school in Dundee behind Harris Academy. History The building was designed in 18 ...

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. He studied Geology and Mineralogy at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, graduating with a

first-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

BSc in 1933. The university later awarded him an honorary doctorate (DSc) in 1942. In 1934 he got a post as Assistant Curator within the Geology Section of the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

. In 1935 he was elected a Fellow of the

. His proposers were

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson CB FRS FRSE (2 May 1860 – 21 June 1948) was a Scottish biologist, mathematician and classics scholar. He was a pioneer of mathematical and theoretical biology, travelled on expeditions to the Bering Strait ...

, Sir John S Flett, A.D.Peacock, John Pringle, James Alexander Richey and Douglas Alexander Allan. He served as their vice president from 1963 to 1966. 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 ...

he was the official geological advisor to British Intelligence. He was appointed Chief Geologist to the government in 1944 and was tasked with sourcing Uranium for the British atomic aims. From 1946 to 1954 he was entitled Chief Geologist of the UK’s Atomic Energy Division. As a result, he was discoverer of major uranium deposits in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

(assisted by local geologist,

Franc Joubin Franc Renault Joubin, (November 15, 1911 – January 1, 1997) was an American prospector and geologist best known for a huge uranium discovery in northeastern Ontario, Canada in 1953. Born in San Francisco, California to parents of French d ...

). During this period he was one of the world’s most travelled persons, covering an estimated 50,000 miles per annum. He was jointly responsible for identifying

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand (, ; ; locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, w ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

as one of the world’s primary sources of Uranium. Whilst in the UK he was based at the

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

. He was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 1953 New Years Honours List. In 1955 he was appointed Professor of Geology at

St Andrews University The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

. He was awarded the

Lyell Medal The Lyell Medal is a prestigious annual scientific medal given by the Geological Society of London, equal in status to the Murchison Medal. This medal is awarded based on one Earth Scientist's exceptional contribution of research to the scientific ...

by the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

in 1965 and given honorary membership of the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hi ...

in 1966. He died of a heart attack at his home, Gowan Park on the outskirts of

Cupar Cupar ( ; ) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fife, and the ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

on 1 November 1967. He was posthumously awarded the Neill Prize by the

Family

In 1938 he married Helen McLean Wallace. They had four sons.

Publications

SeeBibliography and Index of Literature on Uranium and Thorium, by Margaret Cooper *''Prospector’s Handbook to Radioactive Mineral Deposits'' (1949) *''The Distribution of Radioactivity'' (1951) *''On the Impersistence of Uranite as a Detrital Mineral'' (1953) *''On the Occurrence of Uranium in Ancient Conglomerates'' (1959) *''Geology in the Service of Mankind'' (1962)

Other Positions Held

see *Member of the Raw Materials Panel *Secretary of the Cabinet Advisory Committee on Atomic Energy (1946-7) *Member of the Strategic Materials Committee,

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

(1947-8) *Associate Editor of Economic Geology (1953) *Member of the Geochemical Society’s Book Translation Committee (1961) *Member of the American Geological Institute’s Translation Committee (1961) *Vice President for Europe of the Society of Economic Geologists (1955–58) *Council Member of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1942–54) *Fellow of the Geological Society of London (1934 onwards) *Member of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (1955 onwards) *Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America (1949 onwards)

References

External links

Obituaries of IMM Members (Northern Mine Research Society)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Charles Findlay 1911 births 1967 deaths Alumni of the University of St Andrews 20th-century British geologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People from Monifieth People educated at Morgan Academy Academics of the University of St Andrews Officers of the Order of the British Empire Lyell Medal winners