R.W.Ditchburn
NCUACS 6/5/88
The work of the National Cataloguing Unit for the
Archives of Contemporary Scientists, and the production
of this catalogue, are made possible by the support of
the following
societies and organisations:
The
Biochemical Society
The
British Library
The
City: of Bath
The
The
The
The
Pergamon Books
Geological Society
The
Royal Society
Institute of Physics
Royal Society of Chemistry
Society of Chemical Industry
R.W.Ditchburn
NCUACS 6/5/88
LIST OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
SECTION
BIOGRAPHICAL
A.1-A.43
SECTION
PUBLICATIONS AND LECTURES
Bai=B. 59
SECTION
DIAMOND CONSULTANCY
Cul—-C {22
With an introductory note
SECTION
SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE
SECTION
NON-PRINT MATERIAL
APPENDIX
UNDERGRADUATE NOTEBOOKS
INDEX OF CORRESPONDENTS
R.W.Ditchburn
NCUACS 6/5/88
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
PROVENANCE
The papers were received in June 1988 from Mrs Doreen Ditchburn
and Professor G
W Series, FRS
,
the author of the Royal Society memoir of
Ditchburn.
OUTLINE OF THE CAREER OF R
W DITCHBURN
Robert William Ditchburn was born in Waterloo, Lancashire,
922:
He also
As he already had a
of
the’ Triposs...
He
graduated in 1924.
in 1903.
He attended Bootle Grammar School
(where his father, who
a Higher School
Certificate in relevant subjects.
degree in Physics Ditchburn was excused Part I
was admitted to Trinity College the same year.
Ditchburn passed the Ordinary Degree in Mathematics and
Physics in 1920 and gained his BSc Honours in Physics in
from 911%
University where he was exempted from the first year course because he held
16 Ditchburn won a Bibby Scholarship to Liverpool
At the age of
graduated in Physics from the University of London, was Headmaster)
was successful in the Cambridge University Scholarship Examination and
its former Head.
and this, together with the Isaac Newton Scholarship held 1925-28
and various academic prizes, enabled him to study for his PhD at the
In 1923 Ditchburn had won a four year Senior Scholarship
Cavendish Laboratory under Sir J
J Thomson,
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Apparently with no
great hope of success Ditchburn applied
for a fellowship at Trinity College
Dublin
in 1928.
He was in fact
elected and a year later was appointed Erasmus Smith's Professor of
Natural and Experimental Philosophy at Dublin University.
Also in
1929 Ditchburn married Doreen Barrett.
They remained in Dublin until
1946, except for three years from 1942 during which Ditchburn served as
Principal Experimental Officer at the Admiralty Research Laboratory,
Teddington.
Ditchburn returned to England in 1946 to take up the Chair
of Physics at Reading University.
As Head of the Department he oversaw
a considerable growth in the study of physics at the University;
from
1946 to his retirement in 1968 the staff of the Department increased from
three to over thirty.
This expansion, which Ditchburn himself thought
new Whiteknights site.
An important field of study of the Physics Department,
assume a prominent position in this field.
diamonds.
In the years thereafter the University of Reading was to
his single most important contribution to science, culminated in the
opening in 1960 of the J
J
Thomson Physical Laboratory, built on the
initiated at the suggestion of Sir Francis Simon in 1953, was diamond
research, particularly the investigation of the effects of radiation on
synthesising diamonds, a project which was eventually successful.
Diamond Research Committee, acting as chairman from its inception until
establish a sound administrative base for the company's research into
1982.
He served as a consultant on diamonds to
De Beers and helped to
In 1956 Ditchburn was instrumental in forming an international
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Ditchburn retired in 1968 though he remained active in the
fields of diamond research and optics.
He also found time to research
the illness of Sir Isaac Newton, disputing the suggestion that he died
of mercury poisoning.
At about this time Ditchburn became strongly committed to the
Pugwash movement and attended the 1967 conference in Sweden.
He produced
a number of papers for Pugwash meetings on the subject of armaments and
the energy crisis.
Ditchburn's Royal Society memorialist identifies his principal
research areas as the photo-ionization of gases and vapours, other absorption
processes relevant to the upper atmosphere, the optical properties of solids,
(especially diamonds) and the effect of eye movements on visual perception.
His most important publication, Light, was first published in 1952
and,
Ditchburn's scientific achievements were recognised with
1942-1943.
and
with all aspects of the subject.
His interest in eye movements may have been inspired by his
Perception, in 1973,
five years after retirement.
wartime research at Teddington.
In his later years Ditchburn concentrated
numerous honours and awards.
He was elected to the Fellowship of the
with revised editions 1963 and 1976, became a standard textbook dealing
Royal Irish Academy 1930, serving on its council twice, 1933-1939
on this topic, publishing his second major work, Eye Movements and Visual
Institute of Physics.
the Physical Society and was vice-president 1958-1960, delivering the
two years as vice-president of
the newly-merged Physical Society and
He was made a Fellow of both the Physical Society (1943)
and
Society's Thomas Young Oration in 1959.
Ditchburn then served a further
the Institute of Physics (1949).
In 1952-1955 he was on the council of
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He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society 1962 and
served on several of its committees.
He was also on the British
National Committees for Physics, Astronomy and Radio-Science and the
National Subcommittee for Optics 1948-1966 (chairman from 1961).
In addition to these and other positions and honours Ditchburn was a
Fellow of the Optical Society of America and in 1983 was awarded the
prestigious C
E
K Mees Medal for his contribution to optics research.
For a full account of the life and career of Ditchburn
see G
W Series'
Royal Society memoir 'Robert William Ditchburn 1903-1987'
on which the above outline has freely drawn.
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
The material is presented in the order given in the List of
Contents.
The collection, although small in size, offers a respectable
Section A, Biographical, consists of Ditchburn's own material
while he was compiling the Royal Society memoir.
The final draft of the
the recollections of colleagues, students and friends sent to G
W Series
his 'Reminiscences' for The Making of Physicists, and letters containing
relating to his career, including curricula vitae and a typescript copy of
amount of biographical material, material relating to Ditchburn's principal
publications and diamond research at Reading and some scientific correspondence.
given by Ditchburn probably while professor at Trinity College Dublin.
lectures and seminars are represented only by B.4,
a notebook for lectures
sequence of notes, drafts, correspondence and other material relating to
Ditchburn's publications and lectures.
Unfortunately his university
memoir is at A.l.
Section B, Publications and Lectures, comprises a chronological
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There is a considerable body of material relating to the English language
editions of Light (B.8-B.30).
At the end of the sequence is a small subsection (B.57-B.59)
devoted to Ditchburn's work for the Pugwash movement, principally papers
and lecture notes on armaments and energy.
Section C, Diamond Consultancy, is a chronologically presented
sequence of, mainly, correspondence between Ditchburn and colleagues in
South Africa regarding progress in research at Reading.
Section D, Scientific Correspondence, consists of letters
arranged alphabetically by correspondent,
chiefly about light and vision.
nuclear fusion through laser systems was unlikely to have any commercially
viable result (D.6).
At D.12 is 1970 correspondence with D Fishlock, science
correspondent of the Financial Times, who enquired about a second world
year.
Also of interest is
a letter Ditchburn sent in 1975 to the Burmah
Oil Company suggesting that their investment in research into achieving
war government campaign encouraging the consumption of carrots as an aid
It includes a 1935 letter from Sir J Chadwick (D.8) thanking Ditchburn
for recommending him for the Nobel Prize in Physics which he received that
to night vision.
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Ncuacs 6/5/88
Section E, Non-print material, is largely group photographs
taken at various conferences.
There is also a photograph of students
at the Cavendish Laboratory 1927
(E.1).
E.11 is a tape-recording of a
lecture by Ditchburn on Sir J
J Thomson.
The appendix reproduces with permission Liverpool University
Archives'
catalogue of Ditchburn's undergraduate notebooks.
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NCUACS 6/5/88
LOCATIONS OF FURTHER MATERIAL
The University of Liverpool Archives hold 7 notebooks
dating from Ditchburn's undergraduate courses 1920-22
(D.367).
See appendix.
The Manuscripts Department of Cambridge University Library
possesses an early undated notebook recording experiments
(Add. MS 8637).
The Admiralty Research Establishment holds a collection
of papers relating to Ditchburn's wartime research there.
Mrs Ditchburn retains a little personal material.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
available her husband's papers, and to Professor G
W Series for a draft
We are very grateful to Mrs Doreen Ditchburn for making
of his Royal Society memoir and the material assembled for it.
Bath 1988
Peter Harper
Timothy E Powell
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SECTION A
BIOGRAPHICAL
A.1 -A.8
Biographical and Autobiographical
A.9 - A.27
Career, Honours and Awards
A.28 - A.43
Material re Royal Society memoir of Ditchburn
Biographical and Autobiographical
'Final' draft of G
Ditchburn.
and corrections.
W Series's Royal Society memoir of
39pp typescript with a few ms additions
The Times obituary of Ditchburn, 15 April 1987.
Obituary in University of Reading Bulletin, May 1987.
Curriculum vitae with notes on papers published.
4pp typescript, 14 January 1960.
Curriculum vitae, lp typescript, 1969 or later.
Requests for biographical information, 1966-81 and nd,
with information provided by Ditchburn.
Obituary for Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics.
Spp typescript with ms note '2nd half of 1987 or early 88'.
Ditchburn was the first of eighteen senior physicists
who recounted their student days for The Making of Physicists.
'Reminiscences', The Making of Physicists, Adam Hiiger,
L987.
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Biographical
"Reminiscences
by R.W.Ditchburn', 9pp typescript.
Correspondence, chiefly with the History of Physics Group
of the Institute of Physics who commissioned the book,
July - November 1985.
Correspondence with the History of Physics Group re
recollections of the Kapitza Club, September - November 1986.
Publicity material re The Making of Physicists, with
covering letter.
Career, Honours and Awards
Award of Bibby
University of Liverpool 1919-22.
scholarship, testimonials and degree certificates.
Quarterly bill
H Fowler.
from Sir J
J Thomson (2),
invitation from Sir J
J and Lady
testimonials (probably for Ditchburn's
Trinity College Cambridge 1924-25.
of Michaelhouse Commemoration Dinner, Michaelmas 1924;
correspondence with Sir J
J and Lady Thomson.
Menu for Sexcentenary
Trinity College Cambridge 1926-27.
from Trinity College;
Thomson to meet P Painleve, the French mathematician and
politician;
application to Trinity College Dublin)
R Vere Laurence and R
Royal Irish Academy.
Trinity College Dublin 1928.
Ditchburn's election as Fellow;
from Lord Rayleigh and L
offering to nominate Ditchburn for the Fellowship of the
a Chief Assistant at the Commonwealth Solar Observatory,
Canberra, 21 February 1928.
Letter from A
S Eddington re a vacancy in Australia for
Newspaper cuttings recording
letters of congratulation
R Wilberforce;
letter from J
L Synge
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Ncuacs 6/5/88
Biographical
Letter from E Rutherford with advice on ‘organising the
Course' at Trinity College, 23 April 1929.
Material re application for Chair of Physics, Birmingham
University, 1936.
Includes letters from J Chadwick, Rutherford and Thomson
promising support.
Letter from Lord Rayleigh agreeing: to give Ditchburn ‘a
reference for the Aberdeen post', 31 January 1945.
Letter from C
re the possibility of Ditchburn returning to Cambridge,
15 June 1945.
P Snow (Tutor, Christ's College Cambridge)
Material re appointment to Chair of Physics, Reading
University, 1946.
Includes typescript copy of Ditchburn's curriculum vitae
and letter of congratulation from J
A Crowther, whom he
succeeded.
Election to Fellowship of the Royal Society.
Material re the opening of the J
Laboratory 1960, and its 25th Anniversary 1985.
J Thomson Physical
Correspondence re Ditchburn's resignation as a Home Office
Regional Scientific Adviser for Civil Defence, May 1955.
Menu for Trinity College Cambridge Annual Gathering Dinner,
16 June 1953.
letters and telegrams were received.
Telegram informing Ditchburn of his election and letter from
H
15 March 1962.
Mrs Ditchburn's ms list of those from whom congratulatory
W Florey, PRS, inviting him to lunch at the Society,
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Biographical
A.22 - A.24
Letters and telegrams of congratulation.
alphabetical order.
In
3 folders.
Correspondence with H
of a Senior Foreign Scientist Fellowship offered by the
US National Science Foundation, 1964.
D Kramer xe Ditchburn's acceptance
Telegrams and letter sent to Ditchburn upon his
retirement, July 1968.
Optical Society of America.
Letter informing Ditchburn of his election to Fellow
Emeritus, 8 December 1981.
Photocopy from Physics Today, November 1983, re award
of the Society's C
K Mees Medal to Ditchburn.
E
W Series during the
Material re Royal Society memoir of Ditchburn
Correspondence from Mrs Ditchburn to Series.
Correspondence assembled by G
preparation of his Royal Society memoir, the final
draft of which is-at Al.
In alphabetical order.
Correspondence with friends and colleagues of Ditchburn,
and with institutions with which he was associated,
arising from Series's request.
Copy of letter sent by Series to colleagues of Ditchburn
requesting recollections.
A.29 - A.43
R.W.Ditchburn
NCUACS 6/5/88
Biographical
Admiralty Research Establishment, Teddington, re
Ditchburn's wartime research on optics.
Allibone, T
E.
Blakemore, C, re significance of Ditchburn's work
on physiology of optics.
British Pugwash Group, xe Ditchburn's contribution
to Pugwash.
Newsletter, 1987.
Includes copy of obituary from Pugwash
Clark, C
D, re Reading University.
B, re Ditchburn's (and Reading University's)
Includes 4pp
Dyer, H
contribution to the diamond industry.
typescript essay with tributes from Dyer, F
C Frank
and D Tabor and 2pp typescript list of postgraduate
students
from Reading who studied diamonds for their
Includes 3pp
Ph.Ds.
Frank, F
Fellgett, P
B, re Reading University.
C, re Diamond Conferences and Pugwash.
Evans, T, re Reading University and De Beers consultancy.
Gregg, AH, re Trinity College Dublin.
typescript recollections.
Hotty:
from his The University of Reading:
(1976), with formal letter from Reading University to the
same effect.
Gives permission to Series to use extracts
Includes an obituary written for Physics
Heddle, D
W O, xe Reading University.
Heavens, O
S.
Bulletin, July 1987.
J
C<
the first fifty years
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Biographical
H.
Hopkins, H
and correspondence with Mrs Ditchburn and Royal Society
re
unpublished paper by Ditchburn on 'Nuclear Winter'.
Letter re Ditchburn's role in Optica Acta
Institute of Physics re Ditchburn's role in both the
Institute and the Physical Society.
photocopy of the citation for the award of the 1959
Thomas Young Oration.
Includes 2pp
Kelly, A, re Reading University.
lang; vA
Rk, xe Diamond Research Conferences.
Marr, GV, re Reading University.
Mills; I.-M.
Includes address delivered at Ditchburn's
funeral.
Pite, He
Smith; S
De
Permission to quote from
Seaton, M
photo-ionization.
J.
Material re Ditchburn's membership of
Oxford University Press.
Ditchburn's two contributions to The Oxford Companion
to the Mind.
Royal Irish Academy.
the Academy including photocopies of his certificate of
candidature and list of his papers published in the
Academy's Proceedings.
Includes note on research at Reading.
Includes note on Ditchburn's work on
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Biographical
Steele, J P, re Trinity College
Dublin.
Walton, EJS.
Wright, WD.
Wynne, C
G.
R.W.Ditchburn
NCUACS 6/5/88
SECTION B
PUBLICATIONS AND LECTURES
Bi, Bee
Bibliographies
B.3 - B.56
Publications and Lectures
B57. = B.59
Pugwash Movement
Bibliographies
Typescript lists of publications.
Typescript listsSof papers on
with Stabilised Images' and 'vacuum spectroscopy' published
by members of the Reading University Physics Department,
including Ditchburn.
'Eye Movements and Vision
J Thomson re a series of draft papers
Thomson advised him 'to send
15 November 1932.
Publications and Lectures
Letter from Sir J
Ditchburn had sent him.
these papers as they stand'.
Loose leaf notebook with ms lecture notes, probably for
Ditchburn's Trinity College Dublin courses.
1935-1947.
'The technician in art, science and industry'.
Notebook with Ditchburn's ms notes on various subjects
including 'The place of Technique in Science and Art'
which may have been the basis for his published lecture
of 1939
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Publications and Lectures
Admiralty Research Laboratory, 'Interconversion tables
for photometric units', 27 October
2pp typescript + 3pp tables.
1944.
Admiralty Research Laboratory, 'The uses of red and
orange light in the Services', 6 June 1945.
typescript +
9pp figs.
lp index, 2pp references, lp table,
35pp
B.8-B.14
First edition, Blackie and Son
L952
B.15-B.23
Second edition, Blackie
1963
B.24-B.30
Third edition, Academic Press
1976
First edition
letter from publishers, 20 December 1946.
contract with Blackie,
Ms notes on previous books by other authors on light.
Outline plan, lp typescript;
July 1945;
Outline plan of Light, 15pp typescript with ms annotations.
Found with the contract.
30 September 1954.
Ms notes beginning 'Consider a sphere of radius a
containing N molecules with an assigned molecule at
the centreO'.
with material re Light (lst ed.).
Booklet advertising Light;
letter from Ditchburn re corrections and alterations,
reviews of Light, 1953;
4pp.
Not in Ditchburn's hand but found
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Publications and Lectures
Correspondence with publishers and readers arising from
publication of first edition, 1958-64.
alphabetically.
Arranged
3 folders.
Second edition
List of journals to receive review copies of Light.
Reviews of second edition of Light, 1963-65 and nd.
Correspondence re second edition arranged alphabetically.
4
Eno, R
Hargreaves, C
M
Blackie and Son Ltd.
1963-70
Free, J, re spectra of energy
; re revision of Light in view
Emeleus, KG , re ambiguities in Light
Bragalok, iHeu o
of Bellevue Conference.
Institute of Physics and Physical Society
Heavens, OS
Hopkins, H
H
R.W.Ditchburn
NCUACS 6/5/88
Publications and Lectures
Long, J
interference.
F, re reference to single photon
Mykura, H
Robinson, E,
of light through cloth.
re experiments on diffraction
Smith, RA
Speer, R
J, re BHUV grating study.
Taylor, AM, re Taylor's review of Light
in Contemporary Physics.
Thames and Hudson Ltd
Walsh, JWT
Wapniarsky, W
J
Third edition
Plates for Light.
alphabetically.
Correspondence re third edition arranged
Prefaces for third edition, 4pp typescript.
2 folders
Academic Press published the third edition
after Blackie and Son declined to issue a
Academic Press Inc
1971-75
revised edition.
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Publications and Lectures
Blackie and Son Ltd
Heavens, OS
1973-81
Heavens contributed a number of short sections
to the third edition.
chiefly concerns the subjects that should be
covered and the payment of royalties.
The correspondence
Miscellaneous correspondence.
;
1977-80
L Synge on a note, 'Representation of
Letter from J
an unstable particle', sent him by Ditchburn.
claims to be ‘quite incompetent to judge' but suggests
Ditchburn 'go ahead and publish it and see what happens!'
15 February 1954.
Synge
With copy of the note dated 1 February 1954, 4pp typescript.
Correspondence with the Television Society re invitation
to give the 1966 Fleming Memorial Lecture, June-August 1965.
Brief correspondence from P Rosbaud, July 1960, enclosing
letter from Sir G
P Thomson declining editorship of book.
Both Rosbaud and Thomson express the hope that Ditchburn
would be willing to undertake this task.
Ditchburn declined the invitation because of a visit abroad.
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Publications and Lectures
‘Eye Movements', Encyclopaedia of Linguistics, Information
and Control, 1969.
Letter from editor thanking Ditchburn for his article,
10 June 1966.
"Joseph John Thomson, Nobel Prize in 1906', 1968.
Ditchburn was approached by Fratelli Fabbri Editori,
an Italian publishing company, to write an article on
Thomson for a volume on Physics Nobel prizewinners.
Thomson was Ditchburn's supervisor at the Cavendish
Laboratory 1924-28.
Found with drafts of the article and related correspondence
were memorabilia of the 1926 Cavendish Laboratory
celebrations (B.37-B.39).
Thomson may be found at A.10, A.1l, A.15, B.3 and B.42,
with a tape-recording of a lecture by Ditchburn on Thomson
at Bellis
Further material relating to
note accompanying payment of fee.
contract
"Joseph John Thomson, Nobel Prize for Physics 1906'.
Two slightly different 12pp typescript copies of article.
Correspondence with Fratelli Fabbri Editori;
for article;
April - December 1968.
Menu for Cavendish celebration, 18 December 1926.
1926 saw both the seventieth anniversary of the foundation
of the Laboratory and Sir J
Memorabilia of the 1926 Cavendish Laboratory celebration.
The two events were celebrated together.
J Thomson's seventieth birthday.
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Publications and Lectures
"Cavendish Laboratory Supplement', Nature,
18 December 1926.
Reproductions of signatures of past and present workers
in the Cavendish Laboratory, bound in hard covers and
labelled 'J J
T 1956-1926'-
Presented to Thomson in recognition of his ‘contributions
to theoretical and experimental physics’.
Letter from Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences,
9 May 1973, re publication of papers read at symposium on
Light and Sight.
Two 'Comments' on points raised at symposium, 2pp typescript.
A Riggs re his review
Spp typescript.
Eye Movement and Visual Perception, Clarendon Press, 19735.
Reviews 1973-75, with letter from L
for Contemporary Psychology, 23 July 1974.
"Reminiscences of the Cavendish Laboratory 1922-28',
Physics Bulletin, 1977.
SOC, - 1977 and 19/8.
February 1978;
typescript +
Ditchburn from J Preston with 3pp ms notes on Smith;
photocopy of ‘appreciation’ of Smith by K
Correspondence with P
re two articles by Ditchburn and A
ineProo. Roy...
‘final copy' of Ditchburn's draht; «2pp
lp typescript notes for editor; . Letter to
B Fellgett, April, August 1978,
E Drysdale published
'Thomas Smith, FRS',
Supplement 1961-1970.
Dictionary of National Biography
Request from editor for a notice of Smith's Life,
J Habell.
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Publications and Lectures
'The relation between retinal-image movement and rotation
ofthe eve.
-“Opriica Acta 26..(1:07.9)".
Abstract only.
‘The function of small saccades', Vision Research 20 (1980).
4pp typescript.
Ditchburn's ms notes on ‘Parallel Visual Pathways: a review',
by P Lennie, Vision Research 20 (1980).
4pp.
"Newton's Illness of 1692/3', Notes and Records of the
Royal Society 35 (1980).
that he died of a breakdown brought
As Ditchburn held the Isaac Newton Scholarship at Cambridge
1925-28, his interest in Newton was fitting.
Includes copies of two articles by Lenihan,
and 'Mercury and Man'.
'Hair and History'
Correspondence with J MA Lenihan re the use of hair samples
to obtain evidence of mercury poisoning, 1979.
Ditchburn disputed the conclusion reached in two 1979
articles in Notes and Records that Newton's death
resulted from mercury poisoning, putting forward an
alternative case
on by clinical depression.
Ms notes on clinical depression.
Ms notes on Newton's health.
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Publications and Lectures
Ms notes and background information on mercury poisoning.
Miscellaneous correspondence re Ditchburn's article,
including letter from M Wolbarsht, co-author of article
maintaining the mercury poisoning theory.
Photocopies and cuttings re the debate on Newton's death.
Copy of letter from W
Britannica, 20 October 1984, Geserrors in “encrles “on
"electromagnetic radiation' and 'light', the latter being
a contribution by Ditchburn.
M Dalton to editor of Encyclopaedia
W Petley in which Ditchburn mentions his
S Heavens was nearing
"Stabilization of Retinal Images', The Oxford Companion
to the Mind, OUP, 1987.
The book, Optics, written with O
completion at the time of Ditchburn's death.
Letter to B
interest in optical experiments on relativity in
is writing, 7 May 1985.
connection with a book he
Correspondence re illustrations, 14 January 1987.
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Pugwash Movement
Publications and Lectures
Ditchburn attended his first International Pugwash Conference in
1967 at Ronneby in Sweden.
He also attended the 1972 Oxford Conference
and that held in Munich 1977, at which he gave a paper on 'Factors which
Determine the Level of Armaments'
(B.58).
Ditchburn also contributed
to two international Pugwash symposia in London 1980 and 1985.
He was
an active member of the British Pugwash Group and it was at one of their
meetings on 8 April 1987 that he suffered a fatal heart-attack.
The material includes two papers delivered by Ditchburn to international
Pugwash meetings, together with a number of undated papers and sets of
lecture notes.
See also A.3l.
'the
Typescript drafts and notes.
Letter appealing for funds sent out by Ditchburn as
"youngster" in the UK Pugwash Executive', 1979.
lp.
"Assessment of Dangers in New Weapons', Pugwash Symposium,
London, 10-12 December 1980,
missing.
"Factors which Determine the Level of Armaments', Pugwash
Conference,Munich, 1977,
lp abstract.
Spp +
4pp (photocopy), last page
Notes on nuclear energy, nd,
Untitled
draft
on nuclear weapons, nd,
2pp.
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NCUACS 6/5/88
Publications and Lectures
Ms lecture notes.
"Nuclear Energy and Governmental Problems', nd,
list..of stiides.
.
7pp +
lp
"Energy Policy",
nd,
2pp.
‘Alternative Scientific Programmes', nd,
3pp.
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SECTION C
DIAMOND CONSULTANCY
From 1955 Ditchburn, and many of his colleagues and students in the
Physics Department of Reading University, undertook consultancy work for
Industrial Distributors (1946)
Ltd,
a subsidiary of the South African
mining company De Beers.
Among the projects with which Ditchburn was associated was the attempt
to emulate the success of the General Electric Company (GEC)
of America
in synthesising diamond,which had been subject to US government embargo
because of its strategic significance.
Ditchburn was able to recommend
to De Beers an administrative structure for the project, which greatly
contributed to its success in 1959.
H
B Dyer of De Beers,in an account sent to Ditchburn's Royal Society
Diamond Conferences which it organised.
important contribution by a single institute to this subject'.
(A532)
a chronological sequence 1954-69.
The catalogue entries indicate the
1956-86,
serving as chairman to 1982, and played a major part in the
Physical Properties of Materials Group at Reading as
'....
the single most
The material, chiefly correspondence between Ditchburn and Industrial
Ditchburn was also a founder member of the Diamond Research Committee
memorialist, described the diamond research conducted by Ditchburn and his
Distributors' Diamond Research Laboratory in South Africa, is presented in
principal topics of the correspondence.
R.W.Ditchburn
NcUACS 6/5/88
Diamond consultancy
1954
Coloration and decoloration of diamonds by irradiation;
increasing diamond fluorescence ('sparkle') by surface
chemical treatment.
Includes 'Report on diamond polishing’ by H
4pp typescript.
B Dyer,
1955
Coloration and decoloration of diamonds;
diamonds.
synthesising
Includes letters re GEC's and ASEA Sweden's attempts to
produce artificial diamonds, March.
Coloration and decoloration of diamonds; 1957 Diamond
J Oppenheimer,
Patent for decoloration of blue diamonds; 1957 Diamond
1956
Patenting of new decoloration process for blue diamonds.
1957 Jan-May
Conference.
A Chapple and Ditchburn re 'Reading Scheme', 3pp typescript.
Includes notes on discussions between P
W
With report by Ditchburn on diamond research at Reading,
5pp typescript.
diamond; absorption edge spectrum of diamond.
Acquisition of specimens of synthetic diamond from GEC;
Diamond Research Committee; polarisation of luminescence
in
1957 June-Sept
Conference.
1957 Oct-Dec
R.W.Ditchburn
NCUACS 6/5/88
Diamond consultancy
1958 Jan-May
Diamond Research Committee;
synthetic diamond from ASEA Sweden.
efforts to acquire specimens of
1958 Aug-Dec
New metal evaporation technique;
coloration process.
patenting of diamond
1959 Jan-June
Chemical coloration of diamonds;
'Stigma' research programme.
1959 July-Nov
1960 Jan-May
1960 June-Oct
1961 Jan-Mar
in semiconducting
Diamond Conference 1959;
irradiation of diamonds.
Framesite;
irradiation of diamonds.
Diamond Research Committee ,
J Kemmey and E
W
J Mitchell, lp typescript.
Includes report on diamond research at Reading University,
3pp typescript + 3pp list of papers 1952-60, and summary
of paper 'The Anisotropy of Magnetoresistance
diamond' by P
diamonds.
Includes letter dated 24 February on Sir Gordon Sutherland's
announcement to the Royal Society the previous evening that
the National Physical Laboratory had successfully synthesised
Diamond Research Laboratory;
in diamonds.
Visit to UK by J
F
H Custers, Director of Research at the
annealing radiation damage
R.W.Ditchburn
NCUACS 6/5/88
Diamond consultancy
1961 Apr-July
E
M Wilks's research programme at Reading;
'Moissan's diamonds’.
1961 Aug-Oct
"Chemical' method of drilling diamonds;
of artificial diamonds;
coloration of diamonds.
patent on production
Includes 'The coloration of small diamond brilliants by
electrical bombardment'
H Custers and F-A Raal,
6pp typescript + lp captions + illustration, and 'Electronic
properties of diamond' by E
topics at Reading, 5pp typescript.
J Mitchell, a report on research
by J
W
F
1961 Nov-Dec
Early attempts to synthesise diamonds.
4pp typescript.
1962
1964
D Clark
on "Coloration of Diamonds
Colour measurement of diamonds.
Includes 'Comments by C
by Electron Irradiation" ',
T Evans's attempt to bond diamond particles by plastic
deformation.
on diamonds, 18 December.
Plastic deformation of diamond.
K Dickinson re his research
Letter and abstracts from S
LOGS
LGG,
R.W. Ditchburn
NcuaAcS 6/5/88
Diamond consultancy
1968
"Proposals for the continuation of financial support for
diamond work at Reading',
1l0Opp duplicated typescript.
1969 and nd
Ditchburn's copies of covering letters sent with diamonds
returned to South Africa, 3 February 1969.
"Replies to the questions asked about surface properties
of diamond', nd,
5pp typescript with ms note ‘Joint with
Trevor E[vans]'.
R.W.Ditchburn
NCUACS 6/5/88
SECTION D
SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE
Del = -D.34
APNULE,..n
Re night vision.
3 folders.
Bach-y-Rita, P
Includes note on V
lp typescript.
Blackie and Son Ltd
S
S system for Bach-y-Rita.
1969-70
Re reprinting Roberts' Heat and Thermodynamics.
Blume, S
S
Branton, P
Broderick,” = 27S
Buchsbaum, G
Re colour perception.
Burr, D
C and Morrone, MC
Burmah Oii Co.Ltd
Re laser fusion.
Re Rapid Eye Movements (REMs).
Re problem of statistical methodology.
Includes note on 'Shadows of the Retinal Blood
Vessels',
But Lem. Cuc
Campbell, FW
2pp ms + 2pp ms diagrams.
R.W.Ditchburn
NCUACS 6/5/88
Scientific correspondence
Chadwick, J
Chadwick thanks Ditchburn for recommending him
to the Nobel Committee.
Prize for Physics 1935.
He received the Nobel
Clark;,’¢..D
Constable and Co. Ltd
Cotton; 2:4
Cratchley, E
M
Re producing variations in colour on stretched
film by sound waves.
Dale, S
Dyson, J
Einstein, A
1966741973
Emeleus, K
G
Re scattering of light.
E Pringsheim re
Principally re flash tubes.
Photocopy of letter to
polarisation of resonance radiation.
B
Eric Bateman and Partners
Rew tenses,
Fellgett, P
R.W.Ditchburn
NcuACcS 6/5/88
D2 2--eont 1d
Fishlock, D
Scientific correspondence
Fishlock, Science Editor of The Financial Times, wrote
to Ditchburn enquiring about the scientific basis for
the claim, made during a second world war government
campaign, that eating carrots aided night vision.
Ditchburn replied that through experiments it was
ascertained ‘that the average change [in night vision]
was favourable but was not statistically significant'.
Franck, J
Re pressure-broadening of spectral lines and
Doppler effect.
Ginsborg, B
L
Glazebrook, RT
Gaardner, K
Garlick, °C Fd
Re shadows of retinal blood vessels
Letter to Ditchburn written between 1929, the date
Ditchburn was made Professor at Dublin University,
and 1935, the year of Glazebrook's death.
Gunn, A DG
Card thanking Ditchburn for his congratulations on
Granit's receipt of the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
Goldberg,
L
Granit, RA
R.W.Ditchburn
NCUACS 6/5/88
Scientific correspondence
Harper, WR
Letter re Harper's reconsideration of
paper'
approximate theory of diffraction', Proceedings of the
Cambridge Philosophical Society 25 (1929)).
('On the obliquity function to be used in the
'my diffraction
With 5pp typescript notes 'Mature reflections on
Proc.+Camb<=. Phil Soc.
25. ;(1929)4 sand reprint of
original paper with Harper's ms corrections and
additions, 1946.
Hilger and Watts Ltd
Hopkins, H
H
Innisfree Electronics for Cathode Ray Images
Re
Kantor, W
Kelly, D
H
Lindberg,, +D
DITCHBURN, Robert William v1
Published: 20 November, 2023 Author: admin