Prof Maurice George Say

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 letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This so ...

(1902–1992) was a 20th-century British electrical engineer who served as the head of electrical engineering at Heriot-Watt College for 30 years. Friends knew him as Dick Say and in authorship he is M. G. Say.

Life

He was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 8 June 1902 the son of Henry Robert Say and his wife, Elizabeth Sarah Eckersall. He was educated at Colfe's Grammar School in Horn Park east of London. He then studied electrical engineering at

Imperial College, London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

under Prof T Mather, G W O Howe and Parker Smith, graduating BSc in 1921. Continuing as a postgraduate he studied commutator machines and gained an MSc before gaining a doctorate (PhD) on the topic of railway electrification (assisted by Sir Philip Dawson). After a brief spell in industry he joined the Royal Technical College in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

in 1926. In 1933 he received a professorship from Heriot-Watt in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, remaining there for the remainder of his career. In 1935 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 established i ...

. His proposers were James Cameron Smail,

Alexander Robert Horne Prof Alexander Robert Horne FRSE OBE MIME PRSSA (1881–1953) was a Scottish engineer and author. Life He was born in Leven, Fife in 1881. He was educated at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. He was apprenticed as an engineer to James Milne ...

, Sir Thomas Hudson Beare, and John Brown Clark. In 1960/61 he presented the Faraday Lectures to the Institute of Electrical Engineers. In 1960 he also presented the Bernard Price Memorial Lecture in South Africa. He retired in 1963 just before Heriot Watt was given university status. They awarded him an honorary doctorate (DSc) in 1985.

Death

He died on 14 November 1992.

Family

In 1926, he married Eileen Mary Ashworth. They had a daughter, Monica Ashworth Say (born on 5 November 1927 in Glasgow), and a son, David Giles Ashworth Say (born on 11 May 1939 in Glasgow).

Publications

*''Performance and Design of A/C Machines'' (1936) *''Electrical Engineers Reference Book'' (1945) and many later editions *''Analogue and Digital Computers'' (1960) *''Unified Theory of Electromagnetic Machines'' (1971) *''A/C Machines'' (1983) *''D/C Machines'' (1986) (co-written with Eric Openshaw Taylor)

References

1902 births 1992 deaths Engineers from London People educated at Colfe's School British electrical engineers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{UK-engineer-stub