(Hans) Peter Israel Jost,

CBE 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 ...

(25 January 1921 – 7 June 2016) was a British

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

. He was the founder of the discipline of

tribology Tribology is the science and engineering of understanding friction, lubrication and wear phenomena for interacting surfaces in relative Motion (physics), motion. It is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on many academic fields, including physics, c ...

, the science and engineering of interacting surfaces in relative motion. In 1966, Jost published a report which highlighted the cost of

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. Types of friction include dry, fluid, lubricated, skin, and internal -- an incomplete list. The study of t ...

wear Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion). The study of wear and related processes is referred to as tribology. Wear in ...

and

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...

to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

economy (1.1-1.4% of

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

). It was in this eponymous report that he coined the term

, which has now been widely adopted.

Early life and education

Jost was born in Berlin, son of merchant Leo Jost, and Margot (née Jacoby), both of Jewish descent. He was educated at

Liverpool Technical College The College of Technology and Museum Extension on Byrom Street in Liverpool, England, was built between 1896 and 1909, the architect was Edward William Mountford. The building was constructed to provide a new College of Technology and an exten ...

and Manchester College of Technology.

Career

Jost was an apprentice at Associated Metal Works, Glasgow, then at Napier and Sons in Liverpool, where he won the Sir John Larking medal for a paper on measurement of surface finish. At 29, he became general manager of Trier Brothers, an international lubricants company, of which he subsequently became director. Here he developed an innovative method of lubricating steam machinery, which saved energy and water by preventing scaling of boiler tubes. By 1960, he was lubrication consultant to iron, steel and

tinplate Tinplate consists of sheet metal, sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin to impede rust, rusting. Before the advent of cheap mild steel, the backing metal (known as "") was wrought iron. While once more widely used, the primary use of tinp ...

producers

Richard Thomas and Baldwins Richard Thomas and Baldwins Ltd (RTB) was a major iron, steel and tinplate producer, primarily based in Wales and formed in 1948 by the merger of Richard Thomas & Co Ltd with Baldwins Ltd. It was absorbed into British Steel Corporation in 1967. The ...

; he went on to serve as a director and chairman of several technology and engineering companies, including K. S. Paul Ltd, producers of solid lubricants, and Engineering & General Equipment Ltd. He served on numerous industry councils, and until his death was president of the International Tribology Council and a life member of the council of the

Parliamentary and Scientific Committee The UK Parliamentary and Scientific Committee (P&SC) is a United Kingdom parliamentary organization established in 1939. It is an all-party parliamentary group. Overview The P&SC provides a forum for scientific and technological issues in the UK. ...

Awards and recognition

The

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

noted that "there can hardly be another British engineer with more worldwide honours and decorations". He was appointed a

in 1969, and was also honoured by the heads of state of France, Germany, Poland, Austria and Japan, and in 1992 became the first honorary foreign member of the Russia Academy of Engineering. He received the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon honour from Japan in 2011, the

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science and Art" was established by the National Co ...

, First Class in 2001, and the Order of Merit Cross, First Class from Germany. He held two honorary professorships and 11 honorary doctorates including, in January 2000, the first Millennium honorary science doctorate. He was an honorary fellow of the

Institution of Engineering and Technology The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871,Engin ...

, the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 110,000 member ...

and of the Institute of Materials. He was awarded the International Award from the

Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers The Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) is an American non-profit technical society for the tribology and lubrication engineering sectors worldwide. Its offices are in Park Ridge, Illinois. Established in 1944 as the Americ ...

in 1997. Shortly before his death, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the

but he died before the Academy's AGM at which this was announced. He established The Peter Jost Charitable Foundation which promotes the advancement of public education in science and technology through teaching and research, particularly the increase of public knowledge in tribology. In 2020, the International Tribology Council established the Peter Jost Tribology Award for mid-career tribologists. The inaugural winner of the award was Professor

Daniele Dini Daniele Dini is an Italian/British Mechanical Engineer. He is a Professor of Tribology at Imperial College London, where he is Head of the Tribology Group. Tribology is the science and engineering of friction, lubrication and wear. Education Di ...

from

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 ...

, who will be presented the award at the 7th World Tribology Congress in 2022.

Personal life

In 1948, Jost married Margaret Josephine, daughter of Michael Kadesh. They had two daughters.Debrett's People of Today, Debrett's Ltd, 2000, p. 879

References

1921 births 2016 deaths 20th-century British engineers British mechanical engineers Tribologists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-engineer-stub