Michael John Pentz (30 November 1924 – 29 May 1995) was a

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

, activist in the

peace movement A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world pe ...

, and an influential pioneer of teaching science to university students by

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

. Pentz was born in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa, and died in France.

Life

Pentz was educated in South Africa at St Aidan's College,

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

, and went on to attend the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

. He came to

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

in London in 1948 to work on microwave spectrometry and nuclear physics. Nine years later he joined

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, where he was appointed leader of a large group of scientists developing the CESAR accelerator facility. Throughout his life, Pentz was a prominent member and activist in a number of highly committed political bodies. In 1965, while working at CERN, he became the first president of the newly founded Mouvement Anti-Apartheid Suisse. From 1981 to 1984, he was Vice-Chair of the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucl ...

(CND). Together with fellow Open University academic

Steven Rose Steven Peter Russell Rose (born 4 July 1938) is an English neuroscientist, author, and social commentator. He is an emeritus professor of biology and neurobiology at the Open University and Gresham College, London. Early life Born in London, U ...

, Pentz was instrumental in the movement Scientists against Nuclear Arms (SANA), which he set up in 1981; SANA was one of the forerunner organisations of Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR). Pentz was described as a charismatic, larger-than-life character, who was committed to the cause of

nuclear disarmament Nuclear disarmament is the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons. Its end state can also be a nuclear-weapons-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated. The term ''denuclearization'' is also used to describe the pro ...

. For health reasons, Pentz retired to Bonnieux, near

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

, in France. He died of

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

in 1995.

Career

* Student of physics and electrical engineering at

earning a BSc (Hons) degree (1944); this was followed by an MSc in physics (1945). * 1948–49 Research assistant; 1949 assistant lecturer; 1949–57 lecturer, Department of Physics,

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 ...

* 1957–58 Research fellow; 1958–68 senior physicist,

, Geneva * 1969–85 Founding dean and director of studies, Faculty of Science,

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

* In 1987, the Open University conferred the title emeritus professor onto Pentz.

Open University

Since his early days in South Africa, where in 1943 he helped found the Adult African Night Schools Association, Rose, Steven. "The physicist who preached peace", The Guardian, 31 May 1995, Features, p. 14. to his time at CERN where he threw himself into extramural activities aimed at broadening educational opportunities and spreading scientific knowledge, Pentz had a passionate commitment to the

public understanding of science ''Public Understanding of Science'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1992 and published by SAGE Publications. It covers topics in the popular perception of science, the role of science in society, philosophy of scienc ...

. In 1969 he was invited by Walter Perry, the first vice-chancellor of the Open University, to become the founding dean and director of studies of the science faculty. He pioneered the teaching of science at a distance, overcoming not only a variety of practical difficulties, but also many prejudices against the notion that science could be taught by correspondence and television. Writing in 2006, Steven Rose described the immense challenge: Led by newest research in

educational technology Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning and teaching. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech" ...

, they overcame the difficulties by developing a multi-media approach, using printed texts, radio and television broadcasts, support from tutors in face-to-face tutorials, residential schools, and by the innovative use of home experiment kits.Video clip from the Open University Archive on OpenLearn, The Open University . Retrieved on 28 July 2012. Pentz appeared in various

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television programmes himself, for example talking to a cat breeder about genetics, or demonstrating, with the use of a huge pendulum bob suspended from the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, that the plane in which the pendulum swung actually rotated relative to the cathedral, because of the daily rotation of the Earth. Having built on Pentz's work in establishing science education by distance teaching, the OU's Science Faculty today supports a large proportion of all the part-time science degree studies in the UK: as of 2012, there are about 48,000 (mainly UK-based) students studying OU undergraduate and postgraduate science modules. Pentz's passion to inform and his belief that science could be taught to anyone who wanted to learn it also inspired many distance educators in other countries and continents to follow his example.Durham, Tony, "First chance for many, last chance for Earth", THE, 14 November 199

Retrieved 28 July 2012.

Peace work

In Pentz's obituary, Labour politician

Tam Dalyell Sir Thomas Dalyell, 11th Baronet ( ; 9 August 1932 – 26 January 2017), known as Tam Dalyell, was a Scottish politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Linlithgow (formerly West Lothian) from 1962 to 2005. A member of the Labour ...

wrote: " ..''no activist bestowed greater scientific respectability on, or devoted more energy to, the crusade against

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

s than did Pentz. No big anti-nuclear weapons demonstration in the 1980s was complete without Pentz's large, lumberjacketed presence, leading a march or gracing a platform.''" As an opponent of

nuclear deterrence Deterrence theory refers to the scholarship and practice of how threats of using force by one party can convince another party to refrain from initiating some other course of action. The topic gained increased prominence as a military strategy d ...

and of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

's doctrine of flexible response, Pentz believed that a

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...

could not in any way remain limited, and would inevitably lead to widespread destruction. Consequently, Pentz became a vocal activist for

, joining many significant peace marches of the 1970s and 1980s. "500 at Hertfordshire Peace Festival", Hertfordshire Mercury, 20 May 198

Retrieved 17 June 2014. Pentz never sought to conceal controversial affiliations: Julian Lewis (politician), Lewis, Julian

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, 12 June 1995. Retrieved 24 November 2011. he was, for example, a sponsor of the British arm of the leading

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

front body, the

World Peace Council The World Peace Council (WPC) is an international organization created in 1949 by the Cominform and propped up by the Soviet Union. Throughout the Cold War, WPC engaged in propaganda efforts on behalf of the Soviet Union, whereby it criticize ...

(WPC). In May 1984, he went to Moscow at the invitation of the official Soviet Peace Committee to establish links with the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

's "Scientific Research Council on Problems of Peace and Disarmament".

Legacy

The

named a building on its campus in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

after Pentz.'Walton Hall Campus Map', Estates, The Open Universit

Retrieved 7 May 2014.

Publications

* Pentz, Michael J., ''Towards a final abyss? The state of the nuclear arms race''.

J.D. Bernal John Desmond Bernal (; 10 May 1901 – 15 September 1971) was an Irish scientist who pioneered the use of X-ray crystallography in molecular biology. He published extensively on the history of science. In addition, Bernal wrote popular boo ...

Peace Library, 1981, 16 pp. ASIN B0007AWP4M. * Pentz, Michael J., ''Accelerator research at CERN 1956–1967'', CERN 1967, Volume 68, Issue 9 of CERN (Series), 22 pp. * Pentz, Michael J., ''British Peace Committee, The nuclear arms race: new dangers, new possibilities of disarmament'', 1976. , . * Mike Pentz, Milo Shott, Francis Aprahamian (editor), ''Handling Experimental Data''.

Open University Press McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...

, 1988, 96 pp. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pentz, Mike 1924 births 1995 deaths Scientists from Cape Town Activists from Cape Town University of Cape Town alumni 20th-century South African physicists South African activists South African emigrants to the United Kingdom Academics of the Open University Academics of Imperial College London British physicists British anti–nuclear weapons activists Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament activists Deaths from leukemia in France People associated with CERN British expatriates in France