David Bates (physicist)
Sir David Bates, FRS (born
18 November 1916, died
1993) was an
Irish mathematician and
physicist.
Born in
Omagh,
County Tyrone, he moved to
Belfast with his family in
1925, attending the
Royal Belfast Academical Institution. He enrolled with the
Queen's University of Belfast in
1934. In
1939 he became a research student under
Harrie Massey.
During the
Second World War he worked at the
Admiralty Mining Establishment where he developed methods of protecting ships from magnetically activated
mines.
Working at
University College London from
1945 until
1951, he then returned once more to the Queen's University, Belfast where he founded the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. Although he officially retired in
1982 he continuedto work in the department as an emeritus professor until his death.
His contributions to science include seminal works on
atmospheric physics,
molecular physics and the chemistry of
interstellar clouds. He was
knighted in
1978 for his services to science, was a
Fellow of the
Royal Society and vice-president of the
Royal Irish Academy. In
1970 he won the
Hughes Medal.
He was a founding member of the
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.
Two scientific awards have been created in his honour; the
David Bates Medal of the
European Geophysical Society is awarded yearly for outstanding contributions to planetary and solar system science,and the
Institute of Physics have the David Bates Prize, awarded in even dated years,for
distinguished achievement in atomic, molecular, optical and plasma physics.
*
Atomic physics*
Dept of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, QUB*
AMOP Group at University College London
