Sir Alan Hugh Cook FRS (2 December 1922 – 23 July 2004) was an English physicist who specialised in geophysics,

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

and particularly precision measurement.

Early life and family

Cook was born in

Felsted Felsted (sometimes spelt Felstead) is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bannister Green, Bartholomew Green, Causeway End, Coblers Green, Cock Green, Frenches Gre ...

, Essex in 1922. He was the eldest of the six children of Reginald Thomas Cook, a customs and excise officer, and his wife, Ethel, Saxon, who was active in the

Congregational church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

. His family were active churchgoers and Cook retained a lifelong Christian commitment. He was educated first at the village school at Felsted, then at West Leigh School and finally (from 1933) at Westcliff High School for Boys. In 1939 he won a major entrance scholarship to

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

.Malcolm S. Longair
Cook, Sir Alan Hugh (1922–2004)’
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Jan 2008; online edn, Oct 2008 accessed 25 Nov 2010 On 30 January 1948 he married Isabell Weir Adamson. The couple had a son and a daughter. He died from cancer on 23 July 2004 at Arthur Rank House, Cambridge.

Academic and scientific career

Cook entered Corpus Christi College in 1940, reading 'the natural science tripos' ( physical sciences, biological sciences and the history and philosophy of science) and geology, receiving a BA in 1943. On graduation, he was drafted into the Admiralty Signals Establishment (now part of the

Admiralty Research Establishment The Admiralty Research Establishment (commonly known as ARE) was formed on 1 April 1984 from various Admiralty establishments. It became part of the Defence Research Agency on 1 April 1991. Constituent parts on formation * Admiralty Surface W ...

) as a temporary experimental officer, in the field of electronic counter-measures. After the war he returned to Cambridge, where he studied for his doctorate under Edward Bullard and B. C. Browne. His dissertation was on precise measurements of gravity in the British Isles. This developed into his core research interest: precision measurement in a wide range of areas the physical sciences. Thereafter, he did post-doctoral work there in

geodesy Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...

and geophysics.Sir Alan Cook
obituary, '' The Times'', 6 August 2004 Cook followed Bullard to the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington, working at the meteorological department, where he carried out a number of experiments, including the absolute measurement of the density of mercury, important for precise estimates of atmospheric pressure; measuring the absolute acceleration of falling bodies, and determining the Earth's gravitational potential, by using the precisely known orbits of the Sputnik satellites. His interests included precision measurement for time and length standards, particularly using hyperfine lines in the spectrum of cadmium and interference

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...

, laser

interferometry Interferometry is a technique which uses the ''interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber opt ...

and masers. In 1966 he became superintendent of the Laboratory's quantum metrology division. In 1969 he became professor of geophysics at Edinburgh University, founding that university's geophysics department. Three years later, he was appointed Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy at the

Cavendish Laboratory The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the School of Physical Sciences. The laboratory was opened in 1874 on the New Museums Site as a laboratory for experimental physics and is named ...

, University of Cambridge, where he set up the laboratory

group. His work there included experiments in microwave spectroscopy and tests of the inverse square law of gravitation at short distances. In 1979 he became head of the Laboratory, and from 1983 to 1993 was master of Selwyn College. His PhD students included the future astronaut Michael Foale. After retiring he took a strong interest in the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...

, and was the editor, from 1996, of ''Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London'', that Society's main journal on the history of science.

Honours and awards

*1969: Fellow of the Royal Society. *1988: President of the Royal Astronomical Society. *1988: Knighthood *1993:

The Chree Medal and Prize The Edward Appleton Medal and Prize is awarded by the Institute of Physics for distinguished research in environmental, earth or atmospheric physics. Originally named after Charles Chree, the British physicist and former President of the Physica ...

Publications

* ''Gravity and the earth'' (1969) * ''Celestial Masers'' (1977) * ''Gravitational experiments in the laboratory'' (1993) *
The observational foundations of physics
' (1994) * ''Edmond Halley: charting the heavens and the seas'' (1998)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Alan 1922 births 2004 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society British physicists Masters of Selwyn College, Cambridge Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Jacksonian Professors of Natural Philosophy Knights Bachelor Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society People from Felsted Scientists of the Cavendish Laboratory Deaths from cancer in England