Sir Michael James Lighthill (23 January 1924 – 17 July 1998) was a British

applied mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History One ...

, known for his pioneering work in the field of

aeroacoustics Aeroacoustics is a branch of acoustics that studies noise generation via either turbulent fluid motion or aerodynamic forces interacting with surfaces. Noise generation can also be associated with periodically varying flows. A notable example of t ...

and for writing the

Lighthill report __NOTOC__ ''Artificial Intelligence: A General Survey'', commonly known as the Lighthill report, is a scholarly article by James Lighthill, published in ''Artificial Intelligence: a paper symposium'' in 1973. It was compiled by Lighthill for the ...

in 1973, which pessimistically stated that "In no part of the field (of AI) have the discoveries made so far produced the major impact that was then promised", contributing to the gloomy climate of

AI winter In the history of artificial intelligence (AI), an AI winter is a period of reduced funding and interest in AI research.Alsatian mining engineer who changed his name to Lighthill in 1917, and the daughter of an engineer. The family lived in Paris until 1927, when the father retired and returned to live in England. As a young man, James Lighthill was known as Michael Lighthill. Lighthill was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

, and graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from 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 ...

where he was an undergraduate student of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

in 1943.

Career and research

Lighthill specialised in

fluid dynamics In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in motion ...

, and worked at the National Physical Laboratory at Trinity. Between 1946 and 1959 he was Beyer Professor of Applied Mathematics 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 ...

. Lighthill then moved from Manchester to become director of the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

at Farnborough. There he worked on the development of television and

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

s, and on the development of

crewed spacecraft This is a list of all crewed spacecraft types that have flown into space, including sub-orbital flights above 80 km, space stations that have been visited by at least one crew member, and spacecraft currently planned to operate with crews ...

. This latter work was used in the development of the

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

supersonic airliner. In 1955, together with Gerald B. Whitham, Lighthill set out the first comprehensive theory of

kinematic wave In gravity and pressure driven fluid dynamical and geophysical mass flows such as ocean waves, avalanches, debris flows, mud flows, flash floods, etc., kinematic waves are important mathematical tools to understand the basic features of the associ ...

s (an application of the

method of characteristics Method (, methodos, from μετά/meta "in pursuit or quest of" + ὁδός/hodos "a method, system; a way or manner" of doing, saying, etc.), literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In re ...

), with a multitude of applications, prime among them

fluid flow In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in motion ...

and

traffic flow In transportation engineering, traffic flow is the study of interactions between travellers (including pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, and their vehicles) and infrastructure (including highways, signage, and traffic control devices), with the ai ...

. Lighthill's early work included two-dimensional

aerofoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more lift than drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foils of similar function designed ...

theory, and

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

flow around

solids of revolution In geometry, a solid of revolution is a solid figure obtained by rotating a plane figure around some straight line (the '' axis of revolution''), which may not intersect the generatrix (except at its boundary). The surface created by this re ...

. In addition to the dynamics of gas at high speeds, he studied shock and blast waves and introduced the

squirmer The squirmer is a model for a spherical microswimmer swimming in Stokes flow. The squirmer model was introduced by James Lighthill in 1952 and refined and used to model Paramecium by John Blake in 1971. Blake used the squirmer model to describe ...

model. He is credited with founding the subject of

, a subject vital to the reduction of noise in jet engines. ''Lighthill's eighth power law'' states that the

acoustic power Sound power or acoustic power is the rate at which sound energy is emitted, reflected, transmitted or received, per unit time. It is defined as "through a surface, the product of the sound pressure, and the component of the particle velocity, at ...

radiated by a jet engine is proportional to the eighth

power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

of the jet speed. He also founded

non-linear In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system (or a non-linear system) is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathe ...

acoustics, and showed that the same non-linear differential equations could model both flood waves in rivers and traffic flow in highways. In 1964 he became the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

's resident professor in

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 ...

, before returning to Trinity College, Cambridge, five years later as

Lucasian Professor of Mathematics The Lucasian Chair of Mathematics () is a mathematics professorship in the University of Cambridge, England; its holder is known as the Lucasian Professor. The post was founded in 1663 by Henry Lucas (politician), Henry Lucas, who was Cambridge U ...

, a chair he held until 1979, when he was succeeded by

Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking (8January 194214March 2018) was an English theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between ...

. Lighthill then became

Provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

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 ...

(UCL) – a post he held until 1989. Lighthill founded the

Institute of Mathematics and its Applications The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) is the UK's chartered professional body for mathematicians and one of the UK's learned societies for mathematics (another being the London Mathematical Society). The IMA aims to advance ...

(IMA) in 1964, alongside Professor Sir

Bryan Thwaites Sir Bryan Thwaites, FIMA, FRSA (born 6 December 1923) is an English applied mathematician, educationalist and administrator. Early life Bryan Thwaites was born on 6 December 1923, the eldest son of Ernest and Dorothy Thwaites. He was educated ...

. In 1968, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

. In 1972 he was invited to deliver the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the

Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland The Institution of Engineers in Scotland (IES) is a multi-disciplinary professional body and learned society, founded in Scotland, for professional engineers in all disciplines and for those associated with or taking an interest in their work. I ...

. He chose the subject "Aquatic Animal Locomotion". In the early 1970s, partly in reaction to significant internal discord within that field, the Science Research Council (SRC), as it was then known, asked Lighthill to compile a review of academic research in

Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

. Lighthill's report, which was published in 1973 and became known as the "

," was highly critical of basic research in foundational areas such as

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

and

language processing In psycholinguistics, language processing refers to the way humans use words to communicate ideas and feelings, and how such communications are processed and understood. Language processing is considered to be a uniquely human ability that is ...

, and "formed the basis for the decision by the British government to end support for AI research in all but two universities", starting what is sometimes referred to as the "

AI winter In the history of artificial intelligence (AI), an AI winter is a period of reduced funding and interest in AI research.Alan B. Tayler were jointly awarded the first ever

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

of the

in recognition of their "outstanding contributions to mathematics and its applications over a period of years". In 1983 Lighthill was awarded the

Ludwig Prandtl Ring The Ludwig Prandtl Ring is the highest award of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics), awarded "for outstanding contribution in the field of aerospace engineering". The award is named ...

from the

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics (DGLR; ) is a German Council of European Aerospace Societies, aerospace society. It was founded in 1912 under the name of ''Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Flugtechnik'' (WGF). It is the second ...

(German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics) for "outstanding contribution in the field of aerospace engineering". His former students include Gerald B. Whitham and

Steve Furber Stephen Byram Furber (born 21 March 1953) is a British computer scientist, mathematician and hardware engineer, and Emeritus ICL Professor of Computer Engineering in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, UK. Afte ...

Publications

* * * * * * * * *

Awards and honours

Lighthill was elected FRS in 1953 and FRAS in 1961. He was awarded the

Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society. Two are given for "the mo ...

of the

in 1964, and the

Copley Medal The Copley Medal is the most prestigious award of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, conferred "for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science". The award alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the bio ...

, also of the Royal Society, posthumously, in 1998. In 1958, Lightill was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. The James Lighthill building at the University of Manchester and James Lighthill House are named in his honour. Lighthill was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1970. In 1971 Lighthill was made knight in the New Year's Honours. In 1976, Lighthill was elected a

Member of the National Academy of Sciences Membership of the National Academy of Sciences is an award granted to scientists that the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of the United States judges to have made “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research”. Membership ...

, one of at least nine such foreign academies to elect him, including the French and Russian. Lighthill was also made an honorary member of many bodies, and received twenty-four honorary doctorates. He was invited to give, and delivered, many prize and plenary lectures.

Personal life

His hobby was open-water swimming. He died in the water in 1998 when the

mitral valve The mitral valve ( ), also known as the bicuspid valve or left atrioventricular valve, is one of the four heart valves. It has two Cusps of heart valves, cusps or flaps and lies between the atrium (heart), left atrium and the ventricle (heart), ...

in his heart ruptured while he was swimming round the island of

Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...

, a feat which he had accomplished many times before.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lighthill, James 1924 births 1998 deaths Academics of Imperial College London Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 20th-century British mathematicians Donegall Lecturers of Mathematics at Trinity College Dublin Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Knights Bachelor Lucasian Professors of Mathematics Royal Medal winners Recipients of the Copley Medal British fluid dynamicists British people of German descent Members of the French Academy of Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Provosts of University College London Ludwig-Prandtl-Ring recipients People educated at Winchester College Scientists of the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) Academics of University College London Members of the American Philosophical Society