Karl George Emeléus and Physics in Belfast 1927–66

M McCartney

doi:10.1007/s00016-024-00318-5

Karl George Emeléus and Physics in Belfast 1927–66

M McCartney

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Abstract

Karl George Emeléus (1901–1989) was educated at Cambridge and after a short period at King’s College, London, he spent the remainder of his career as lecturer (1929–33) and then professor (1933–66) of physics at Queen’s University, Belfast. At Queen’s, he set the direction of experimental research in gas discharge and plasmas for a generation and oversaw the growth of the department. He also acted as a spokesman for physics in Northern Ireland and was involved in public responses to concerns about the use of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy in the late 1940s and 50s. This paper summarises Emeléus’s life and work and sets it in the context of physics at Queen’s University in the mid-twentieth century.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	180-210
Number of pages	31
Journal	Physics in Perspective
Volume	26
Issue number	3-4
Early online date	24 Sept 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-024-00318-5
Publication status	Published (in print/issue) - 1 Dec 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

Funding

Alas, in 1922 in part II of the tripos, he was awarded a second. In writing a reference for Emel\u00E9us for the lectureship at Queen\u2019s, Belfast, in 1927, George Udney Yule, the Cambridge statistician and Director of Natural Sciences stated \u201Cit was felt that this result by no means did him justice, a view which has been fully confirmed by his subsequent work.\u201D St. John\u2019s clearly agreed, having extended his Foundation Scholarship and awarded a Slater Scholarship, which lasted for a year to be replaced by a more valuable Hutchinson Studentship in 1923. In 1924 St John\u2019s went on to award him the Henry Humphrey\u2019s Prize. During 1923 and 1924 his research studies were also supported by a grant from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Keywords

history of physics
Belfast
Cavendish Laboratory
plasmas
nuclear weapons
cold war
Gas discharge
Queen’s University, Belfast
Nuclear weapons
Nuclear energy
Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge

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10.1007/s00016-024-00318-5

s00016-024-00318-5Final published version, 757 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "Karl George Emel{\'e}us (1901–1989) was educated at Cambridge and after a short period at King{\textquoteright}s College, London, he spent the remainder of his career as lecturer (1929–33) and then professor (1933–66) of physics at Queen{\textquoteright}s University, Belfast. At Queen{\textquoteright}s, he set the direction of experimental research in gas discharge and plasmas for a generation and oversaw the growth of the department. He also acted as a spokesman for physics in Northern Ireland and was involved in public responses to concerns about the use of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy in the late 1940s and 50s. This paper summarises Emel{\'e}us{\textquoteright}s life and work and sets it in the context of physics at Queen{\textquoteright}s University in the mid-twentieth century.",

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KW - Belfast

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KW - Nuclear energy

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Karl George Emeléus and Physics in Belfast 1927–66

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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