View source for Patrick Blackett

{{Short description|British experimental physicist (1897–1974)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix  = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name              = The Lord Blackett of Chelsea
| honorific_suffix  = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OM|CH|FRS}}
| image             = Blackett.jpg
| caption           = Blackett in 1948
| order1            = 52nd
| office1           = President of the Royal Society
| term_start1       = 1965
| term_end1         = 1970
| predecessor1      = [[Howard Florey]]
| successor1        = [[Alan Hodgkin]]
| birth_name        = Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1897|11|18|df=yes}}
| birth_place       = [[London]], [[UKGBI]]
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1974|07|13|1897|11|18|df=yes}}
| death_place       = London, UK
| resting_place     = [[Kensal Green Cemetery]], London
| module={{Infobox person|embed=yes
| alma_mater        = {{Plain list|
* [[Royal Naval College, Osborne]]
* [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]]}}
| known_for         = {{Plain list|
* First artificial [[nuclear transmutation]]
* Discovery of the [[positron]]}}
| spouse            = {{Marriage|Costanza Bayon|1924}}
| children          = 2
| relatives         = {{Plain list|
* [[Edmund Blacket]] (great-uncle)
* [[Marion Milner]] (sister)}}
| awards            = {{Plain list|
* [[Royal Medal]] (1940)
* {{No wrap|[[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1948)}}
* [[Copley Medal]] (1956)}}
| module={{Infobox scientist|embed=yes
| fields            = {{Plain list|
* [[Nuclear physics]]
* [[Particle physics]]
}}
| work_institutions = {{Plain list|
* [[King's College, Cambridge]] (1923–1933)
* [[Birkbeck, University of London]] (1933–1937)
* [[Victoria University of Manchester]] (1937–1953)
* [[Imperial College London]] (1953–1963)}}
| academic_advisors = [[Ernest Rutherford]]
| doctoral_students = {{Plain list|
* [[Keith Runcorn]] (1949)<ref name=PhysicsTree>{{Cite web|title=Patrick M.S. Blackett - Physics Tree|url=https://academictree.org/physics/peopleinfo.php?pid=104021|website=academictree.org|access-date=2025-08-08}}</ref>
* [[Arnold Wolfendale]] (1953)<ref name=PhysicsTree/>
* [[Mrinal Kumar Das Gupta]] (1954)<ref name=PhysicsTree/>
* [[Roberto Salmeron]] (1955)<ref name=PhysicsTree/>
* [[Malcolm Haines]] (1960)<ref name=PhysicsTree/>}}
| notable_students = {{Plain list|
* [[Edward Bullard]]
* [[James Hamilton (physicist)|James Hamilton]]<ref name=PhysicsTree/>
* [[Giuseppe Occhialini]]
* [[Robert Oppenheimer]]}}
| signature        = Solvay1933Signature Blackett.jpg
}}
}}
}}

[[File:Giuseppe ('Beppo') P.S. Occhialini (1907–1993) and Patrick M.S. Blackett (1897–1974) in 1932 or 1933.png|thumb|upright|Patrick Blackett (right) and [[Giuseppe Occhialini]] in 1932 or 1933]]

'''Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett of Chelsea''' (18 November 1897 – 13 July 1974), was a British [[experimental physicist]] and [[life peer]] who received the 1948 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Massey |last=H. S. W. |author-link=Harrie Massey|title=Lord Blackett|journal=Physics Today|date=September 1974|volume=27|issue=9|pages=69–71|doi=10.1063/1.3128879|bibcode=1974PhT....27i..69M|doi-access=free}}</ref> In 1925, he was the first person to prove that [[radioactivity]] could cause the [[nuclear transmutation]] of one chemical element to another.<ref name=Proton_ejection_paper>{{cite journal |title=The ejection of protons from nitrogen nuclei, photographed by the Wilson method |date=2 February 1925 |journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society|Proceedings of the Royal Society A]] |volume=107 |issue=742 |pages=349–360 |url=https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1925.0029 |last=Blackett |first=Patrick Maynard Stuart |doi=10.1098/rspa.1925.0029 |bibcode=1925RSPSA.107..349B |doi-access=free }}</ref> He also made major contributions to the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] war effort in [[World War II]], advising on military strategy and developing [[operational research]].

In the war's aftermath, Blackett continued his scientific work, but also became outspoken on political matters. He advocated for restraints on the military use of atomic energy. He was a proponent for [[Third World]] development and for reducing the [[gap between rich and poor]].<ref name=Nye_Blackett_lecture>{{cite web |last=Nye |first=Mary Jo |date=26 January 2005 |url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/natural-sciences/departments/physics/about-us/department-history/professor-blackett-lecture/ |title=Professor Blackett Lecture: 'Blackett as Scientific Leader: Physics, War and Politics in the Twentieth Century' |publisher=Imperial College London}}</ref><ref name=Blackett_in_India>{{Cite journal | last1 = Anderson | first1 = R. S. | title = Patrick Blackett in India: Military consultant and scientific intervenor, 1947-72. Part one | doi = 10.1098/rsnr.1999.0079 | journal = Notes and Records of the Royal Society | volume = 53 | issue = 2 | pages = 253–273| year = 1999 | s2cid = 144374364 }}</ref> In the 1950s and '60s, he was a key advisor to the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] on science and technology policy.<ref name=Computing_advocate>{{cite journal | last1 = Anderson | first1 = D. | year = 2007 | title = Patrick Blackett: Physicist, Radical, and Chief Architect of the Manchester Computing Phenomenon | journal = IEEE Annals of the History of Computing | volume = 29 | issue = 3 | pages = 82–85 | doi = 10.1109/mahc.2007.4338448 | bibcode = 2007IAHC...29c..82A }}</ref><ref name="odnb">{{Cite ODNB|first = Mary Jo| last = Nye|title = Blackett, Patrick Maynard Stuart, Baron Blackett (1897–1974)|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/30822|year = 2004}}</ref> By the time of his death in 1974, Blackett had become controversial to the point that the ''[[The Times|Times]]'' obituary referred to him as the "Radical Nobel-Prize Winning Physicist."<ref>{{cite news |title=Lord Blackett: Radical Nobel-Prize Winning Physicist |newspaper=[[The Times]] |location=London |date=15 July 1974}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett was born on 18 November 1897 in [[Kensington]], [[London]], the son of Arthur Stuart Blackett, a stockbroker, and Caroline Maynard.<ref name="kirby">{{Cite book|last1 = Kirby |first1 = M. W.|last2 = Rosenhead|first2 = J.|chapter = Patrick Blackett|doi = 10.1007/978-1-4419-6281-2_1|title = Profiles in Operations Research|series = International Series in Operations Research & Management Science|volume = 147|pages = 1–29|year = 2011|isbn = 978-1-4419-6280-5}}</ref> His younger sister was [[Marion Milner]], a noted psychoanalyst. His paternal grandfather, the Rev. Henry Blackett, brother of Australian architect [[Edmund Blacket]], was for many years Vicar of [[Croydon]]. His maternal grandfather, Charles Maynard, was an officer in the [[Royal Artillery]] at the time of the [[Indian Mutiny]]. The Blackett family lived successively in Kensington, [[Kenley]], [[Woking]] and [[Guildford]], and [[Surrey]], where he went to [[Preparatory school (UK)|preparatory school]]. His main hobbies were [[model aeroplanes]] and [[crystal radio]]. When he interviewed for entrance to the [[Royal Naval College, Osborne]], Isle of Wight, [[Charles Rolls]] had just completed his cross-channel flight the previous day and Patrick, who had tracked the flight on his crystal set, was able to expound lengthily on the subject. He was accepted and spent two years there before moving on to [[Britannia Royal Naval College|Dartmouth]] where he was "usually head of his class."<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Bernard Lovell |first=Bernard |last=Lovell |title=P. M. S. Blackett: A Biographical Memoir |publisher=John Wright & Sons |year=1976 |isbn=0854030778 |pages=1–3 }}</ref>

In August 1914 at the outbreak of [[World War I]], Blackett was assigned to active service as a [[midshipman]]. He was transferred to the [[Cape Verde]] Islands on [[HMS Carnarvon (1903)|HMS ''Carnarvon'']] and was present at the [[Battle of the Falkland Islands]]. He was then transferred to [[HMS Barham (04)|HMS ''Barham'']] and saw much action at the [[Battle of Jutland]]. While on the ''Barham'', Blackett was co-inventor of a gunnery device on which the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] took out a patent. In 1916, he applied to join the [[RNAS]] but his application was refused. In October of that year, he became a sub-lieutenant on HMS ''P17'' on [[Dover]] patrol, and in July 1917 he was posted to [[HMS Sturgeon|HMS ''Sturgeon'']] in the [[Harwich Force]] under [[Reginald Tyrwhitt|Admiral Tyrwhitt]].<ref name="Nye">{{cite book |last=Nye |first=Mary |date=2004 |title=Blackett. Physics, War, and Politics in the Twentieth Century |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=23 |isbn=9780674015487}}</ref> Blackett was concerned by the poor quality of British gunnery in the Harwich Force when compared with that of the enemy.{{sfn|Hore|2002|pp=9–11}} In May 1918, he was promoted to lieutenant, but by then had decided to leave the Navy. He started to read science textbooks as he planned his post-war career.{{sfn|Lovell|1976|p=5}}

In January 1919, the Admiralty sent the officers whose training had been interrupted by the war to the [[University of Cambridge]] for a course of general duties. On his first night at [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]], he met [[Kingsley Martin]] and [[Geoffrey Webb]], later recalling that he had never before, in his naval training, heard intellectual conversation. Blackett was impressed by the prestigious [[Cavendish Laboratory]], and left the Navy to study mathematics and physics at Cambridge.<ref>{{harvnb|Lovell|1976|pp=3–5.}}</ref>

== Career and research ==
After graduating from Magdalene College in 1921, Blackett spent ten years working in the [[Cavendish Laboratory]] as an experimental physicist with [[Ernest Rutherford]], and in 1923 became a Fellow of [[King's College, Cambridge]], a position he held until 1933.

Rutherford had discovered that the nucleus of the [[nitrogen]] atom could be disintegrated by firing fast [[alpha particles]] into nitrogen. He asked Blackett to use a [[cloud chamber]] to find visible tracks of this disintegration, and by 1925, Blackett had taken 23,000 photographs showing 415,000 tracks of ionized particles. Eight of these were forked, and this showed that the nitrogen atom-alpha particle combination had formed an atom of [[fluorine]], which then disintegrated into an isotope of [[oxygen]] 17 and a proton. Blackett published the results of his experiments in 1925.<ref name=Proton_ejection_paper/> He thus became the first person to deliberately transmute one [[chemical element|element]] into another.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Atop the Physics Wave: Rutherford Back in Cambridge, 1919-1937 |series=Rutherford's Nuclear World: The Story of the Discovery of the Nucleus |page=4 |url=https://history.aip.org/exhibits/rutherford/sections/atop-physics-wave.html |publisher=[[American Institute of Physics]]}}</ref>

During his time at Cambridge, Blackett was the head tutor of the young American graduate student, [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]]. The latter's desire to study [[theoretical physics]] rather than focus on lab work brought him into conflict with Blackett. The commonly told story of Oppenheimer's retaliatory attempt to poison Blackett is likely fictional and has been directly disputed by Oppenheimer's grandson. Additionally, Cambridge has no record of any attempted poisoning.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-15 |title=Oppenheimer and the poisoned apple – Cambridge University Library Special Collections |url=https://specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=26027 |access-date=2025-08-26 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bird |first1=Kai |author-link=Kai Bird |first2=Martin J. |last2=Sherwin |author-link2=Martin J. Sherwin |title=American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer|location=New York|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-375-41202-8 |oclc=56753298 |title-link=American Prometheus | page=46 }}</ref>

Blackett spent one year (1924–1925) in [[Göttingen]], Germany, working with [[James Franck]] on [[atomic spectra]]. In 1932, Blackett partnered with [[Giuseppe Occhialini]] to devise a system of [[Geiger counter]]s which took photographs only when a [[cosmic ray]] particle traversed the chamber. They found 500 tracks of high energy cosmic ray particles in 700 automatic exposures. In 1933, Blackett discovered fourteen tracks which confirmed the existence of the [[positron]] and revealed the now instantly recognisable opposing spiral traces of positron/electron [[pair production]]. He and Occhialini published their findings in a landmark 1933 paper in ''[[Proceedings of the Royal Society|Proceedings of the Royal Society A]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Some photographs of the tracks of penetrating radiation |date=3 March 1933 |journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society|Proceedings of the Royal Society A]] |url=https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1933.0048 |volume=139 |issue=839 |last1=Blackett |first1=Patrick Maynard Stuart |last2=Occhialini |first2=Giuseppe Paolo Stanislao |pages=699–726 |doi=10.1098/rspa.1933.0048 |bibcode=1933RSPSA.139..699B |doi-access=free }} Blackett's contribution to this discovery was a key reason he was later awarded the Nobel Prize.</ref> This work, combined with his research on [[annihilation radiation]], made Blackett a leading expert in the new theory of [[antimatter]].

In 1933, Blackett moved to [[Birkbeck, University of London]], as Professor of Physics, and stayed for four years. In 1937, he went to the [[Victoria University of Manchester]], where he was elected to the [[Langworthy Professor]]ship and created a major international research laboratory. The Blackett Memorial Hall and Blackett Lecture Theatre at the University of Manchester were subsequently named after him.

In 1947, Blackett introduced [[Blackett effect|a theory]] to account for the [[Earth's magnetic field]] as a function of its rotation, with the hope that it would unify both the [[electromagnetic force]] and the force of [[gravity]]. He spent a number of years developing high-quality [[magnetometer]]s to test his theory, but eventually found it to be without merit. However, his work on the subject led him into [[geophysics]], where he later helped process data relating to [[paleomagnetism]], and also provided strong evidence for [[continental drift]].

[[File:Blackett-large.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Blackett ca. 1950]]

In 1953, Blackett was appointed head of the Physics Department at [[Imperial College London]], and retired from there in July 1963. The Physics department building of Imperial College, the [[Blackett Laboratory]], is named in his honour.

In 1957, Blackett gave the presidential address ("Technology and World Advancement") to the [[British Science Association|British Association]] meeting in Dublin<ref>{{cite journal |last=Blackett |first=P. M. S. |title=Technology and World Advancement |date=1957 |journal=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]] |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00963402.1957.11457591 |volume=13 |issue=9 |pages=323–326 |doi=10.1080/00963402.1957.11457591 |bibcode=1957BuAtS..13i.323B |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 1965, he delivered the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the [[Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland]]. He chose the subject "Continental Drift".<ref name="MacmillanLecture">{{cite web |url=https://engineers.scot/history/macmillan-lectures |title=Hugh Miller Macmillan |work=Macmillan Memorial Lectures |publisher=The Institution of Engineers in Scotland |access-date=16 July 2014 }}</ref>

=== World War II and operational research ===
In 1935, Blackett was invited to join the [[Aeronautical Research Committee]] chaired by [[Henry Tizard|Sir Henry Tizard]]. The committee was effective in advocating for the early installation of [[Radar]] for [[Anti-aircraft warfare|air defence]]. At the beginning of [[World War II]], Blackett served on various committees and spent time at the [[Royal Aircraft Establishment]] (RAE) [[Farnborough Airfield|Farnborough]], where he made a major contribution to the design of the [[Mark XIV bomb sight]], which allowed bombs to be released without a level bombing run beforehand. In 1940–41, he served on the [[MAUD Committee]] which concluded that an [[atomic bomb]] was feasible. He disagreed with the committee's conclusion that Britain could produce an atomic bomb by 1943, and he recommended that the project should be discussed with the Americans.

In August 1940, Blackett became scientific adviser to Lieutenant General [[Sir Frederick Pile]], Commander in Chief of [[Anti-Aircraft Command]] and thus began the work that resulted in the field of study known as [[operational research]] (OR). He was director of Operational Research with the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] from 1942 to 1945, and his work with [[Evan James Williams|E. J. Williams]] improved the survival odds of [[convoy]]s, presented counter-intuitive but correct recommendations for the armour-plating of aircraft, and achieved many other successes. His aim, he said, was to base military strategy on numbers, not "gusts of emotions."{{sfn|Hore|2002|p=127}} During the war he criticised the assumptions in [[Lord Cherwell]]'s [[dehousing]] paper and sided with Tizard who argued that fewer resources should go to [[RAF Bomber Command]] for the [[area bombing]] offensive and more to the other armed forces. Blackett's studies had shown the ineffectiveness of the area bombing strategies, as opposed to the importance of fighting off the [[Germany|German]] [[U-boats]], which were heavily affecting the war effort with their [[Battle of the Atlantic|sinkings of merchant ships]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Norman |last=Longmate |title=The bombers: the RAF offensive against Germany, 1939–1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gvRmAAAAMAAJ |year=1983 |publisher=Hutchinson |isbn=978-0-09-151580-5 |page=132}}</ref><ref name=PH-181>{{cite book |editor-first=Peter |editor-last=Hore |title=Patrick Blackett: Sailor, Scientist, Socialist |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5jW14KVeYU0C&pg=PA181 |year=2002 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-7146-5317-4 |page=181}}</ref> In this opinion, he chafed against the existing military authority and was cut out of various circles of communications. However, after the war, the Allied [[Strategic Bombing Survey]] proved Blackett correct.

=== Politics ===
While an undergraduate, Blackett befriended [[Kingsley Martin]], the future editor of the ''[[New Statesman]]''; their talks on politics contributed to Blackett's move to the left. He later identified himself as a socialist, and often campaigned on behalf of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]. In the aftermath of [[World War II]], Blackett became known for his radical political opinions, which included a belief that Britain ought not to develop atomic weapons. His biographer [[Mary Jo Nye]] noted:{{blockquote|Blackett became the first person to openly argue that the United States had used the atomic bomb in Japan "not so much as the last military act of the Second World War, as the first act of the cold diplomatic war with Russia."  Outraged Americans characterized Blackett's statements and his opposition to their development of atomic weapons as a Stalinist apology full of political prejudices. [[George Orwell]] in 1949 included Blackett on a blacklist of thirty-eight crypto-communists or fellow-travellers that Orwell drew up for the British Foreign Office.<ref name=Nye_Blackett_lecture/>}} 
It was subsequently revealed that Blackett was under [[MI5]] investigation during this time.<ref>{{cite web |first=Camille |last=Rebouillat-Sarti |title=MI5 and Atomic Scientists (1945–1958): The Case of Patrick Blackett |url=https://www.byarcadia.org/post/mi5-and-atomic-scientists-1945-1958-the-case-of-patrick-blackett |date=September 11, 2022 |website=By Arcadia}}</ref> As a result of his political controversies, he was considered too far left for the [[Labour Government 1945–1951|post-war Labour Government]] to employ, and he returned to academic life.

Blackett's internationalism found expression in his strong support for India. In 1947 he met [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], who sought the scientist's advice on the research and development needs of the [[Indian armed forces]]. For the next 20 years, Blackett was a frequent visitor and advisor to India on military and civil science.<ref name=Blackett_in_India/> These visits deepened his concern for the underprivileged and the poor. He was convinced that their problems could be overcome by applying science and technology. He used his prestige in the scientific community to try to persuade fellow scientists that one of their first duties should be to help ensure a decent life for all mankind.<ref name=Versatile_article>{{cite magazine |last=Nye |first=Mary Jo |title='The Most Versatile Physicist of His Generation' |date=5 April 2002 |magazine=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1069837 |volume=296 |issue=5565 |doi=10.1126/science.1069837 }}</ref> Before underdevelopment became a popular issue, Blackett proposed in a 1957 presidential address to the [[British Science Association|British Association for the Advancement of Science]] that his country should devote 1% of its national income to the [[Development aid|economic improvement of the Third World]], and he was later one of the prime movers in the founding of the [[Overseas Development Institute]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Memorial Meeting for Lord Blackett, O.M., C.H., F.R.S. at the Royal Society on 31 October 1974 |journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London |volume=29 |number=2 |date=March 1975 |pages=135–162 |last1=Hodgkin |first1=Alan |last2=Massey |first2=Harrie |last3=Martin |first3=David |last4=Occhialini |first4=G.P.S. |last5=Lovell |first5=Bernard |last6=Waddington |first6=C.H. |last7=Butler |first7=C.C. |last8=Runcorn |first8=S.K. |last9=Menon |first9=M.G.K. |doi=10.1098/rsnr.1975.0012 }}</ref>

During the 13 years when the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] was out of office, Blackett was the senior member of a group of scientists who met regularly to discuss scientific and technological policy. This group grew in influence when [[Harold Wilson]] assumed leadership of the Party.<ref name=Nye_Blackett_lecture/> Blackett's suggestions directly led to the creation of the [[Minister of Technology|Ministry of Technology]] as soon as the [[Labour Government 1964–1970|Wilson government]] was formed,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kirby |first=M. W. |title=Blackett in the 'White Heat' of the Scientific Revolution: Industrial Modernisation under the Labour Governments, 1964-1970 |journal=The Journal of the Operational Research Society |volume=50 |number=10 |date=1999 |pages=985–993 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3009923 |jstor=3009923 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> and he insisted that a top priority should be revival of Britain's [[computer industry]].<ref name=Computing_advocate/> Blackett did not enter open politics, but worked for a year as a civil servant. He remained deputy chairman of the Minister's Advisory Council throughout the administration's life, and was also personal scientific adviser to the Minister.

=== Publications ===
* {{cite book |title=Military and Political Consequences of Atomic Energy |year=1948 |location=London |publisher=Turnstile Press |lccn=48010864}} Published the following year in the U.S. under the title ''Fear, War, and the Bomb''.
* {{cite book |title=Atomic Weapons and East/West Relations |year=1956 |lccn=57013509 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
* {{cite book |title=Studies of War: Nuclear and Conventional |year=1962 |location=New York |publisher=Hill and Wang |lccn=62019962}}

=== Influence in fiction ===
* Blackett's theories of planetary magnetism and gravity were taken up by the science fiction author [[James Blish]], who cited the [[Blackett effect]] as the theoretical "basis" behind his "[[Spindizzy (Cities in Flight)|spindizzy]]" [[antigravity]] drive.
* In his close friend [[C. P. Snow]]'s [[novel sequence]] ''[[Strangers and Brothers]]'' (1940–1974), aspects of Blackett's personality are drawn upon for the left-wing physicist Francis Getliffe.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Nye | first1 = M. J. | title = A Physicist in the Corridors of Power: P. M. S. Blackett's Opposition to Atomic Weapons Following the War | doi = 10.1007/s000160050013 | journal = Physics in Perspective | volume = 1 | issue = 2 | pages = 136–156 | year = 1999 |bibcode = 1999PhP.....1..136N | s2cid = 122615883 }}.</ref>
* Blackett and his dictum, "You can't run a war on gusts of emotion", appear in the 'alternative' WWII novel, ''[[Gravity's Rainbow]]''.<ref>[[Thomas Pynchon]], ''Gravity's Rainbow'' (Picador 1973) p. 12</ref>

== Personal life ==
Blackett married Costanza Bayon (1899–1986) in March 1924. They had a son and a daughter. 

Blackett was an agnostic or atheist.<ref>{{cite dictionary |dictionary=Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography |author=Nye |first=Mary Jo |title=Blackett, Patrick Maynard Stuart |volume=19 |page=293 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=2008 |quote=The grandson of a vicar on his father’s side, Blackett respected religious observances that were established social customs, but described himself as agnostic or atheist.}}</ref>

Blackett died on 13 July 1974 in [[London]] at the age of 76. His ashes are buried at the [[Kensal Green Cemetery]] in London.

[[Bernard Lovell]] wrote of Blackett: "Those who worked with Blackett in the laboratory were dominated by his immensely powerful personality, and those who knew him elsewhere soon discovered that the public image thinly veiled a sensitive and humane spirit."<ref name=frs>{{Cite journal | last1 = Lovell | first1 = Bernard | author-link = Bernard Lovell| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1975.0001 | title = Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett, of Chelsea. 18 November 1897 – 13 July 1974 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 21 | pages = 1–115| year = 1975 | s2cid = 74674634 }}</ref>

[[Edward Bullard]] said that he was the most versatile and best loved physicist of his generation and that his achievement was also without rival: "he was wonderfully intelligent, charming, fun to be with, dignified and handsome."<ref>{{Cite journal|last = Bullard|first = Edward|author-link = Edward Bullard|doi = 10.1038/250370a0| title = Patrick Blackett: An appreciation|journal = Nature|volume = 250|issue = 5465|pages = 370|year = 1974|bibcode = 1974Natur.250..370B|s2cid = 4275713|doi-access = free}}</ref>

== Recognition ==
=== Memberships ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Country
! Year
! Institute
! Type
! {{Reference column heading}}
|-
| {{Flag|United Kingdom}}
| 1933
| [[Royal Society]]
| [[Fellow of the Royal Society|Fellow]]
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Search past Fellows|url=https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8131&pos=1|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|access-date=2025-11-16}}</ref>
|-
| {{Flag|United States}}
| 1966
| [[National Academy of Sciences]]
| International Member
| <ref>{{Cite web
|title=P. M S. Blackett|url=https://www.nasonline.org/directory-entry/p-m-s-blackett-lgivx6/|publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]]|access-date=2025-11-16}}</ref>
|}

=== Awards ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Country
! Year
! Institute
! Award
! Citation
! {{Reference column heading}}
|-
| {{Flag|United Kingdom}}
| 1940
| [[Royal Society]]
| [[Royal Medal]]
| "For his studies of cosmic rays and the showers of particles which they produce, his share in the discovery of the positive electron, and his work on mesons and many other experimental achievements"
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Royal Medal|url=https://royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/royal-medals/|url-status=live|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925080312/https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/awards/royal-medal/|archive-date=2015-09-25}}</ref>
|-
| {{Flag|Sweden}}
| 1948
| [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]
| [[Nobel Prize in Physics]]
| "For his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation"
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 1948|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1948/summary/|url-status=live|publisher=[[Nobel Foundation]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210174412/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1948/index.html |archive-date=2008-12-10|access-date=2008-10-09}}</ref>
|-
| {{Flag|United Kingdom}}
| 1956
| [[Royal Society]]
| [[Copley Medal]]
| "In recognition of his outstanding studies of cosmic ray showers and heavy mesons and in the field of palaeomagnetism"
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Copley Medal|url=https://royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/copley-medal/|url-status=live|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906190948/https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/awards/copley-medal/|archive-date=2015-09-06|access-date=2016-10-19}}</ref>
|}

=== Chivalric orders === 
{| class="wikitable"
! Country
! Year
! [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|Monarch]]
! Order
! {{Reference column heading}}
|-
| {{Flag|United Kingdom}}
| 1965
| [[Elizabeth II]]
| [[Order of the Companions of Honour]]
| <ref>{{London Gazette|issue=43667|supp=y|date=1965-06-12|page=5496}}</ref>
|-
| {{Flag|United Kingdom}}
| 1967
| [[Elizabeth II]]
| [[Order of Merit]]
| <ref>{{London Gazette|issue=44460|date=1967-11-24|page=12859}}</ref>
|}

=== Chivalric titles ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Country
! Year
! [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|Monarch]]
! Title
! {{Reference column heading}}
|-
| {{Flag|United Kingdom}}
| 1969
| [[Elizabeth II]]
| [[Baron]]
| <ref>{{London Gazette|issue=44776 |date=1969-01-28|page=1008}}</ref>
|}

== Commemorations ==
The [[Blackett Laboratory]] is part of [[Imperial College Faculty of Natural Sciences]] and has housed the Physics Department since its completion in 1961.

[[Blackett (crater)|Blackett crater]] on the [[Moon]] is named after him.

In 2016, the house that Blackett lived in from 1953 to 1969 (48 Paultons Square, Chelsea, London) received an [[English Heritage]] [[blue plaque]].<ref name="blue">{{cite news|title=Rare double blue plaque award for home of Nobel Prize winners|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-36089471|access-date=28 April 2016|work=BBC News|date=20 April 2016}}</ref>

In July 2022, the [[Royal Navy]] named an experimental ship after Blackett in honour of his service to the Royal Navy and to the country; [[XV Patrick Blackett|XV ''Patrick Blackett'']] will be used by the Royal Navy to experiment with autonomous technologies.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Parken |first1=Oliver |title=Royal Navy Christens New Experimental Ship, The XV Patrick Blackett |url=https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/royal-navy-christens-new-experimental-ship-the-xv-patrick-blackett |work=TheDrive |date=29 July 2022}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
Blackett was portrayed by [[James D'Arcy]] in the 2023 film ''[[Oppenheimer (film)|Oppenheimer]]''.

== See also ==
* [[List of presidents of the Royal Society]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
;Books
* {{cite book |author-link=Mary Jo Nye |first=Mary Jo |last=Nye |title=Blackett: Physics, War, and Politics in the Twentieth Century |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780674015487 |url-access=registration |year=2004 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-01548-7}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Stephen Budiansky |first=Stephen |last=Budiansky |title=Blackett's War: The Men Who Defeated the Nazi U-Boats and Brought Science to the Art of Warfare |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ftBI10W48HkC |publisher=Knopf |isbn=978-0307595966|date=19 February 2013 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Kirtley|first1=Allan|last2=Longbottom|first2=Patricia|last3=Blackett|first3=Martin |title=A History of the Blacketts|year=2013|publisher=The Blacketts|isbn=978-0-9575675-0-4}}
;Articles
* ''[https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/14/archives/lord-blackett-nobel-physicist-is-dead-early-naval-career.html Lord Blackett, Nobel Physicist, Is Dead]'' ''The New York Times'' obituary, July 1974
* Staff. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20031105201629/http://www.nobel-winners.com/Physics/patrick_blackett.html Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett]'' former website of nobel-winners.com
* {{Nobelprize}}
* Blog, [https://web.archive.org/web/20051230182830/http://geratorp.bravehost.com/dmx/blackett-bio.html Patrick M.S. Blackett Biography] about his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation.
* Staff. ''[https://www.imperial.ac.uk/physics The Imperial College Physics Department (the 'Blackett Lab')]'' website of [[Imperial College London]]

== External links ==
* {{Commons category inline}}
* [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5478743/ Patrick Blackett Television Appearances]
* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4508 Oral History interview transcript with Patrick Blackett on 17 December 1962, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives] - interview conducted by [[John L. Heilbron]] at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, England
* [https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1948/blackett/biographical/ Nobelprize.org biography]
* [https://www.informs.org/About-INFORMS/History-and-Traditions/Biographical-Profiles/Blackett-Patrick-M.-S Biography of Patrick Blackett] from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)
* {{Internet Archive author |sname= |sopt=w}}
* {{PM20}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Lawrence Bragg]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Langworthy Professor]] at the [[University of Manchester]]|order=5th|years=1937–53}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Samuel Devons]]}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-npo|pro}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Howard Florey]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Royal Society|President of the Royal Society]]|order=52nd|years=1965–1970}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alan Lloyd Hodgkin]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Copley Medallists 1951-2000}}
{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1926-1950}}
{{1948 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Royal Society presidents 1900s}}
{{Dalton Medallists|state=collapsed}}
{{Portal bar|United Kingdom|Biography|Science}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackett, Patrick}}
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