Samuel Lilley (25 June 1914, Belfast – 11 November 1987,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

) was an educationalist, historian of science and broadcaster active in the United Kingdom following 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 ...

. Lilley attended the

Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today ...

followed by

Queen's University, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

, where in 1935 he gained a first class honours degree in mathematics and mathematical physics. He remained there to study for an M.Sc. in

algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which uses abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, to solve geometry, geometrical problems. Classically, it studies zero of a function, zeros of multivariate polynomials; th ...

, before moving to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, where he gained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1939. Lilley's specialisation was the history of science and technology. From 1938 to 1939, he was an assistant lecturer in mathematics at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. During the

, he worked as an experimental officer in the Armaments Research Department of the

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 ...

. In 1940, he was awarded a three-year Fellowship in mathematics at St. John's, but deferred until 1945 when he changed his subject to the history of science and technology. Unable to secure a permanent role in mainstream academia thereafter, he was an extramural tutor at

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

from 1950 to 1956, and then moved to a similar position at

Nottingham University The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

, where he remained until his death. Throughout almost his entire adult life Lilley was a member of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

, having been introduced to the party by his then partner, Pearl Brammar. He was also involved with the

Communist Party Historians Group The Communist Party Historians' Group (CPHG) was a subdivision of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) that formed a highly influential cluster of United Kingdom, British Marxist historiography, Marxist historians. The Historians' Group de ...

. Hobsbawm, Eric
"The Historians' Group of the Communist Party"
footnote 11. ''Verso Books''. 9 June 2023. Originally published in Cornforth, Maurice (ed.). ''Rebels and Their Causes: Essays in Honour of A. L. Morton'' (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1978). Retrieved 3 March 2024.

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Further reading