Gwyn Owain Jones (29 March 1917 – 3 July 2006) was a Welsh physicist and academic, who moved from being a professor at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

to become director of the National Museum of Wales.

Life

Jones was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

on 29 March 1917. He was educated at

Port Talbot County School Glan Afan Comprehensive School () was a mixed comprehensive school which served the town of Port Talbot, Wales, and its surrounding areas for 120 years. It was opened in 1896 as Port Talbot Intermediate School under the provisions of the Welsh I ...

and Monmouth School before winning a Meyricke scholarship to

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...

to study physics. He graduated in 1939 and became a Research Fellow at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

, obtaining his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

on the physics of glass. (He published ''Glass'' in 1956.) He became a member of the secret British nuclear weapons research programme, code-name Tube Alloys, in 1942, moving back to Oxford in 1946 as a

Nuffield Foundation The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust established in 1943 by William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the founder of Morris Motors Ltd. It aims to improve social well-being by funding research and innovation projects in education and social pol ...

Research Fellow at the Clarendon Laboratory before becoming

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in Experimental Physics (1949) and then Professor of Physics (1953) at Queen Mary College in the

. As a physicist, Jones had a particular interest in work at very low temperatures (close to

absolute zero Absolute zero is the lowest limit of the thermodynamic temperature scale, a state at which the enthalpy and entropy of a cooled ideal gas reach their minimum value, taken as zero kelvin. The fundamental particles of nature have minimum vibration ...

). His department in London was one of the few places where experiments could be carried out within a couple of degrees of absolute zero, using

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

as a refrigerant. Jones designed some equipment, made out of a motorcycle engine, to liquefy small amounts of helium for use by individual researchers, as opposed to the large-scale liquifiers used in other laboratories. Although it carried out research in various topics in physics, the department at Queen Mary College under Jones became known for its specialisation in

solid-state Solid state, or solid matter, is one of the four fundamental states of matter. Solid state may also refer to: Electronics * Solid-state electronics, circuits built of solid materials * Solid state ionics, study of ionic conductors and their use ...

and low temperature physics, with Jones himself publishing many scientific papers in the field. He caused some surprise by leaving academia and becoming director of the National Museum of Wales in 1968, holding the post until 1977. He also served as chairman of the

Welsh Academy Literature Wales is the Welsh national literature promotion agency and society of writers, existing to promote Welsh-language and English-language literature in Wales. It offers bursaries for writing projects, runs literary events and lectures ...

, as a governor of the Commonwealth Institute, a member of the Atomic Scientists Association (of which he was a co-founder) and a member of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. He was awarded a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1978 for his service to Wales. He died on 3 July 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Gwyn Owain 1917 births 2006 deaths Welsh scholars and academics Welsh physicists Welsh curators Directors of museums in the United Kingdom Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Sheffield Academics of the University of Sheffield Academics of the University of Oxford Academics of Queen Mary University of London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Port Talbot County Boys' Grammar School People associated with Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales