Arnold Wolfendale
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox scientist
Sir Arnold Whittaker Wolfendale<ref name="royal">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> (25 June 1927 – 21 December 2020) was a British astronomer who served as the fourteenth Astronomer Royal from 1991<ref>The London Gazette, 8 February 1991, Issue 52444 Page 2061</ref> to 1995. He was Professor of Physics at Durham University from 1965 until 1992<ref name="durhamuni">Template:Cite web</ref> and served as president of the European Physical Society (1999–2001).<ref name="debretts">Prof Sir Arnold Wolfendale, Debretts Biography Template:Webarchive</ref> He was president of the Royal Astronomical Society from 1981 to 1983.<ref>Royal Astronomical Society: Past RAS Presidents</ref>
Education and background
Wolfendale was born in Rugby, Warwickshire on 25 June 1927.<ref name="whoswho">Template:Cite webTemplate:Subscription required</ref><ref name="gro">GRO Register of Births: SEP 1927 6d 1198a RUGBY – Arnold W. Wolfendale, mmn = Hoyle</ref> His family moved to Flixton, Lancashire when he was 18 months. He attended Stretford Grammar School near Manchester. Wolfendale graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of Manchester in 1948, followed by a PhD in 1953<ref name="wolfendalephd">Template:Cite thesisTemplate:Subscription required</ref> and a Doctor of Science in 1970.
Career
During his career he held academic posts at the universities of University of Manchester (1951–6), Durham University (1956–92), the University of Ceylon and the University of Hong Kong. He was Professor of Physics at Durham 1965–92, including a period as head of department, and remained an emeritus professor until his death.
In 1965, he was part of the team that first detected neutrinos at the Kolar Gold Fields.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Publications
- Arnold Wolfendale publications in arxiv.org
- Arnold Wolfendale publications at the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System
- Arnold Wolfendale publications in Google Scholar
- Arnold Wolfendale publications at Scopus (subscription required for more than 10)
- Royal Society
Awards and honours
Wolfendale was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1973, and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1977.<ref name="royal"/> He served as Astronomer Royal from 1991 to 1995. In 1992, Wolfendale retired from teaching, and he was knighted in 1995. In 1996 he became professor of experimental physics with the Royal Institution of Great Britain. A lecture theatre in Durham University's new Calman Learning Centre has been named in his honour. He was an honorary DSc of Bucharest University and foreign member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. His nomination for the Royal Society readsTemplate:Centered pull quote
Other activities
In 1992 Wolfendale became patron of the Society for Popular Astronomy and was a keen supporter of its activities. He opened Kielder Observatory, Northumberland in 2008,<ref>Kielder Observatory: Our Observatory</ref> and was its Patron.<ref>Kielder Observatory: Astrophotography Competition</ref> In 2009 he was the 156th president of the Birmingham and Midland Institute.<ref name="bmi">Template:Citation</ref> From April 2013, he was one of the two honorary vice presidents of the Society for the History of Astronomy.<ref>Society for the History of Astronomy Newsletter [Bulletin], Issue 24, Spring 2015, p50 [pdf]</ref>
Personal life
He married Audrey Darby in 1951. They had twin sons. His wife Audrey died in 2007. He married anthropologist Dorothy Middleton, at Durham Cathedral, on 5 September 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wolfendale died in December 2020 at the age of 93.<ref>Professor Sir Arnold Wolfendale, former Astronomer Royal who probed the source of cosmic rays – obituary</ref><ref name="Times_30_Dec_2020">The Times, 30 December 2020, p49 (Subscription required)</ref>
References
External links
- Portrait of Sir Arnold Wolfendale at pictures.royalsociety.org
- Template:YouTube
- Template:YouTube
- Template:YouTube
- Template:YouTube
- Prof Sir Arnold Wolfendale, Staff profile at Durham University
- 1927 births
- 2020 deaths
- Academics of Durham University
- Alumni of the University of Manchester
- Astronomers Royal
- 20th-century British astronomers
- Cosmic ray physicists
- English atheists
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Foreign fellows of the Indian National Science Academy
- Knights Bachelor
- People educated at Stretford Grammar School
- People from Flixton, Greater Manchester
- People from Rugby, Warwickshire
- Presidents of the Institute of Physics
- Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Presidents of the European Physical Society