The History of the Physics Department, King's College London
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Studies of Physics at King's College date back to its foundation in 1829. The first Professor was Sir Charles Wheatstone FRS (1802-1875) who was at King's from 1834 until 1875. His greatest achievement was the development of electric telegraphs, which revolutionised communications. For the first time, people kilometres apart and out of sight of each other could "talk" to each other in a reliable way. At a time of expanding rail networks, these communications were essential. Wheatstone also attempted to measure the speed of electric pulses, invented the harmonica, and developed stereo photographs: a display of some of his surviving instruments is on display in the Main Entrance Hall on the Strand campus.
James Clerk Maxwell FRS (1831-1879), generally regarded as the world's leading theorist of the 19th century, was at King's between 1860 and 1865. In this productive period, he developed the unification of the electric and magnetic forces, leading to the theory of electromagnetism, and also worked on his theories of thermodynamics. His theoretical work lay down the basis for a deeper understanding of the contemporary technology based on steam power, and of the future technologies based on electromagnetic effects. And while at King's, he also took the world's first colour photograph, and used polarised light to measure stresses in transparent materials. He is rightly regarded at the 19th century equivalent of Newton or Einstein. A recent biography of Maxwell "The Man who changed everything" by Basil Mahon has been published by Wiley (2003).
James Clerk Maxwell FRS (1831-1879), generally regarded as the world's leading theorist of the 19th century, was at King's between 1860 and 1865. In this productive period, he developed the unification of the electric and magnetic forces, leading to the theory of electromagnetism, and also worked on his theories of thermodynamics. His theoretical work lay down the basis for a deeper understanding of the contemporary technology based on steam power, and of the future technologies based on electromagnetic effects. And while at King's, he also took the world's first colour photograph, and used polarised light to measure stresses in transparent materials. He is rightly regarded at the 19th century equivalent of Newton or Einstein. A recent biography of Maxwell "The Man who changed everything" by Basil Mahon has been published by Wiley (2003).
Nobel Prize winners
The first Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded in 1901. Since then, four members of staff have been awarded Nobel prizes.
Professor CG Barkla FRS (1909–1914) was awarded the 1917 Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery that x-rays emitted by different elements have characteristic energies.
Sir Owen Richardson FRS (1914–1944) was the Nobel Prize winner for 1928 for his work on thermionic emission; the invention of the thermionic valve revolutionised telecommunications and allowed the development of radio and television.
The Nobel Prize for Physics in 1947 was awarded to Sir Edward Appleton FRS (1924–1936) for his work on the Physics of the upper atmosphere, and in particular for his discovery of the layer of ionised upper atmosphere that is still referred to as the Appleton Layer. Again, and quite coincidentally, he was carrying out fundamental physics with very strong applications to communications.
The most recent Nobel prize winner associated with the Physics Department is Professor Maurice Wilkins FRS (1916-2004), who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology with James Watson and Francis Crick for determining (by x-ray diffraction) the structure of DNA. Maurice Wilkin's Autobiography, "The Third Man of the Double Helix" was published by Oxford University Press in 2003.
Crucial to the discovery of the double-helix were also the x-ray DNA photographs by Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958), who was at King's from 1950 to 1953. Her recent biography "Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA" by Brenda Maddox was published by HarperCollins in 2002. (For more details see DNA: the King's story.)
Other distinguished members of the Department have included the first holder of the Chair of Theoretical Physics at King's, Professor Charles Coulson FRS (1947–1952), one of the pioneers in the application of quantum mechanics to chemical structure. An example of his state of the art work was investigating the behaviour of the electrons when one carbon atom is missing from a diamond: in those pre-computer days, considerable algebraic and physical skill was necessary to get even a simple model calculation into a state where is was 'straightforward, if lengthy, to evaluate'.
Professor WC (Bill) Price FRS (1949–1976) was a world-leading spectroscopist and one of the first users of photoelectron spectroscopy to use the ionisation energy of molecules as a probe of their chemical bonding.
A more recent Head of Department, Professor Michael Hart FRS, went onto be the Director of the National Synchrotron Light Source at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York.
Professor CG Barkla FRS (1909–1914) was awarded the 1917 Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery that x-rays emitted by different elements have characteristic energies.
Sir Owen Richardson FRS (1914–1944) was the Nobel Prize winner for 1928 for his work on thermionic emission; the invention of the thermionic valve revolutionised telecommunications and allowed the development of radio and television.
The Nobel Prize for Physics in 1947 was awarded to Sir Edward Appleton FRS (1924–1936) for his work on the Physics of the upper atmosphere, and in particular for his discovery of the layer of ionised upper atmosphere that is still referred to as the Appleton Layer. Again, and quite coincidentally, he was carrying out fundamental physics with very strong applications to communications.
The most recent Nobel prize winner associated with the Physics Department is Professor Maurice Wilkins FRS (1916-2004), who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology with James Watson and Francis Crick for determining (by x-ray diffraction) the structure of DNA. Maurice Wilkin's Autobiography, "The Third Man of the Double Helix" was published by Oxford University Press in 2003.
Crucial to the discovery of the double-helix were also the x-ray DNA photographs by Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958), who was at King's from 1950 to 1953. Her recent biography "Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA" by Brenda Maddox was published by HarperCollins in 2002. (For more details see DNA: the King's story.)
Other distinguished members of the Department have included the first holder of the Chair of Theoretical Physics at King's, Professor Charles Coulson FRS (1947–1952), one of the pioneers in the application of quantum mechanics to chemical structure. An example of his state of the art work was investigating the behaviour of the electrons when one carbon atom is missing from a diamond: in those pre-computer days, considerable algebraic and physical skill was necessary to get even a simple model calculation into a state where is was 'straightforward, if lengthy, to evaluate'.
Professor WC (Bill) Price FRS (1949–1976) was a world-leading spectroscopist and one of the first users of photoelectron spectroscopy to use the ionisation energy of molecules as a probe of their chemical bonding.
A more recent Head of Department, Professor Michael Hart FRS, went onto be the Director of the National Synchrotron Light Source at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York.
...and the future
Today, much of the excitement in Physics lies at the Physics – Life Sciences interface, with increasingly sophisticated techniques of experimental and theoretical physics being applied to living systems. On the experimental side, a lot of this work requires very high spatial resolution microscopy, to be able to probe events on the level of individual molecules. On the theoretical level, it sounds like an easy task to focus on just one molecule, but when the molecule contains thousands of atoms, the computational problems are immense. These are just two of the lines of research undertaken at present in the Physics Department. To see more, please look at link to research pages.
To keep up with the current trends in physics, the Physics Department is investing heavily in both people and facilities. We are working to produce an environment that combines world-leading research with the friendly atmosphere that characterises the Department. During the last few years a considerableamount of the spectroscopic equipment in the Department has been replaced and upgraded, lasers bought for generating plasmas as a source of x-rays. A large parallel computer facility has recently been installed. Not least in the improvements to the facilities, a new Teaching Laboratory was occupied in 2002.
To keep up with the current trends in physics, the Physics Department is investing heavily in both people and facilities. We are working to produce an environment that combines world-leading research with the friendly atmosphere that characterises the Department. During the last few years a considerableamount of the spectroscopic equipment in the Department has been replaced and upgraded, lasers bought for generating plasmas as a source of x-rays. A large parallel computer facility has recently been installed. Not least in the improvements to the facilities, a new Teaching Laboratory was occupied in 2002.