Sir Alan Howard Cottrell, FRS (17 July 1919 – 15 February 2012) was an English

metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

and

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

. He was also former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government and vice-chancellor of Cambridge University 1977–1979.

Early life

Cottrell was educated at Moseley Grammar School and the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, where he gained a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in 1939 and a PhD for research on

welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Welding is distinct from lower ...

in 1942.

Career

Cottrell joined the staff as a lecturer at Birmingham, being made professor in 1949, and transforming the teaching of the department by emphasising modern concepts of

solid state physics Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state physics studies how the l ...

.History of Metallurgy at Birmingham
Engineering at Birmingham University In 1955 he moved to A.E.R.E. Harwell, to become Deputy Head of Metallurgy under

Monty Finniston Sir Harold Montague "Monty" Finniston FRS FRSE (15 August 1912 – 2 February 1991) was a Scottish industrialist. Life He was born at 26 Aikenhead Road in Govanhill, Glasgow the son of Robert Finniston. His family were of Russian Jewish origi ...

. From 1958 to 1965 Cottrell was

Goldsmiths' Professor of Metallurgy The Goldsmiths' Professorship of Materials Science is a professorship in the University of Cambridge, associated with the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. The professorship was established by grace of 20 November 1931 as the Goldsmi ...

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, and a fellow of Christ's College. He later worked for the government in various capacities, ultimately as Chief Scientific Adviser from 1971 to 1974, before becoming

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

, from 1973 to 1986,Masters of Jesus College
and Vice-Chancellor of the university in 1977–1979.

Death

Cottrell died on 15 February 2012 after a brief illness.

Awards and honours

*1955 Elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

*1961

Hughes Medal The Hughes Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "in recognition of an original discovery in the physical sciences, particularly electricity and magnetism or their applications". Named after David E. Hughes, the medal is awarded with ...

*1962 Francis J. Clamer Medal *1963

Royal Society Bakerian Medal The Bakerian Medal is one of the premier medals of the Royal Society that recognizes exceptional and outstanding science. It comes with a medal award and a prize lecture. The medalist is required to give a lecture on any topic related to physical ...

*1965 He was the first to be awarded the

A. A. Griffith Medal and Prize The A. A. Griffith Medal and Prize is awarded annually by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in commemoration of Alan Arnold Griffith. History The award was established by the Materials Science Club of Great Britain in 1965, two yea ...

. *1967

James Alfred Ewing Medal This is an award of the Institution of Civil Engineers in memory of James Alfred Ewing Sir James Alfred Ewing MInstitCE (27 March 1855 − 7 January 1935) was a Scottish physicist and engineer, best known for his work on the magnetic prope ...

. *1969

Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize The Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize is a major European prize for Physics awarded jointly every year by the British Institute of Physics (IOP) and the Société Française de Physique (SFP). It is one of the four Grand Prix of the SFP and one of ...

*1971 He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

. *1973 Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) from the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

. *1974 James Douglas Gold Medal *1982 Cottrell was awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...

*1996

Copley Medal The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society, for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science". It alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the biological sciences. Given every year, the medal is t ...

(the Royal Society's highest award) He was a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

Selected books

* ''Theoretical Structural Metallurgy'' (1948) (E Arnold; 2nd Revised edition (1 January 1955)) () * ''Dislocations and Plastic Flows in Crystals'' (1953) () * ''Superconductivity'' (1964) (Harwood Academic (Medical, Reference and Social Sc; n edition (December 1964)) () * ''An Introduction to Metallurgy'' (1967) () * ''Portrait of Nature : the world as seen by modern science'' (1975) () * ''How Safe is Nuclear Energy?'' (1982) (Heinemann Educational Publishers (29 June 1981)) () * ''Concepts in the Electron Theory of Alloys'' (1998) ()

References

Peter Hirsch Sir Peter Bernhard Hirsch HonFRMS FRS (born 16 January 1925) is a figure in British materials science who has made fundamental contributions to the application of transmission electron microscopy to metals. Hirsch attended Sloane Grammar S ...

Obituary
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 19 February 2012
Obituary
by Dr J.A. Charles
AIME James Douglas Gold Medal in 1974
Biography at The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cottrell, Alan Howard, Sir 1919 births 2012 deaths British metallurgists British physicists Fellows of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Alumni of the University of Birmingham Academics of the University of Birmingham Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge Masters of Jesus College, Cambridge Knights Bachelor Recipients of the Copley Medal Chief Scientific Advisers to HM Government Chief Scientific Advisers to the Ministry of Defence Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge People educated at Moseley School Goldsmiths' Professors of Materials Science