George William Series FRS (22 February 1920 – 2 January 1995) was a British

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 cau ...

, notable for his work on the optical spectroscopy of

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...

atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, ...

Early life and education

Series was born in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire, the son of William Series (1892–1959) and his wife Alice (1889–1976), ''née'' Crosthwaite. Aged ten he won a scholarship to

Queen Mary's Grammar School Queen Mary's Grammar School (QMGS) is a boys' grammar school with academy status located on Sutton Road, Walsall, England, about a mile from the town centre and one of the oldest schools in the country. The sixth form is coeducational. Admiss ...

, Basingstoke, and later to

Reading School Reading School is a grammar school for boys with academy status in the English town of Reading, the county of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of Reading Abbey and is, thus, one of the oldest schools in England. There are no ...

. In 1938 he was awarded an open scholarship and matriculated at St John's College,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where he graduated with first class honours in 1947, his studies having been interrupted by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

(during the war Series, a conscientious objector, served with the

Friends' Ambulance Unit The Friends' Ambulance Unit (FAU) was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914–1919, 1939–1946 and 19 ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and Yugoslavia). He took his MA and DPhil from Oxford in 1950.

Career

Series became a university lecturer in 1951 and a fellow of St Edmund Hall in 1954. During this time he studied the structure of the hydrogen atom, becoming 'a world authority on the subject'. In the 1950s and 1960s he exploited techniques developed by Alfred Kastler's research group in Paris and demonstrated that radiation from a coherent superposition of excited states of atoms would display interference effects, known as '

quantum beats In physics, quantum beats are simple examples of phenomena that cannot be described by semiclassical theory, but can be described by fully quantized calculation, especially quantum electrodynamics. In semiclassical theory (SCT), there is an interfe ...

'. A group of important papers on this subject brought Series international recognition. He accepted a chair at

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

in 1968, which he held until his retirement in 1982. In 1972 Series was the William Evans Visiting Professor at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate ...

; in 1982 the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

awarded him a Raman Visiting Professorship and he was made an Honorary Fellow in 1984. Series was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1971, and of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

in 1972. In 1982 he received the William F. Meggers award and the medal of the

Optical Society of America Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA) and before that as the Optical Society of America) is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals and organizes conference ...

. Series died in Oxford in 1995.

Family

Series met his wife Annette (daughter of John Edward Pepper, a civil servant) at Oxford; she read modern languages at St Hilda's College, and they were married on 21 December 1948. They had four children: three sons Robert, John, and Hugh, and a daughter Caroline, who is a notable

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and fellow of the Royal Society. His grandson is the conductor and composer Bertie Baigent.

Selected works

Spectrum of Atomic Hydrogen, 1957 Laser Spectroscopy and other topics, 1985 Spectrum of Atomic Hydrogen: advances, 1988

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Series, George British physicists 1920 births 1995 deaths People from Bushey People educated at Queen Mary's School for Boys, Basingstoke People educated at Reading School Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Fellows of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society Academics of the University of Reading