Professor Harold Neville Vazeille Temperley (4 March 1915 – 27 March 2017), better known as Neville Temperley, was an applied mathematician who made numerous contributions to the fields of
statistical mechanics
In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. It does not assume or postulate any natural laws, but explains the macroscopic be ...
,
graph theory and the physics of liquids and gases. He was awarded the title Doctor of Science as a fellow of King's College Cambridge, before working for the Admiralty on numerical modelling of underwater explosions during World War 2. He continued his work on the physical properties of liquids at the
Atomic Weapons Research Establishment
The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence research facility responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the UK's nuclear weapons. It is the successor to the Atomic Weapons Research ...
at
Aldermaston until 1965.
Professor Neville Temperley was head of the Applied Mathematics Department at
Swansea University for 17 years until his retirement in 1982. He received the
Rumford Medal
The Rumford Medal is an award bestowed by Britain's Royal Society every alternating year for "an outstandingly important recent discovery in the field of thermal or optical properties of matter made by a scientist working in Europe".
First awar ...
from the
Royal Society in 1992.
His father,
Harold William Vazeille Temperley
Harold William Vazeille Temperley, (20 April 1879 – 11 July 1939) was an English historian, Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge from 1931, and Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge.
Overview
Temperley was born in Cambridg ...
, was a distinguished British historian. He was the father of Virginia (Wagstaff) Julian, creator of Somerset Cider Brandy, Humphrey o
Vignobles Temperleya fine wine producer and former Chairman of Somerset County Council and grandfather of:
Alice Temperley
Alice Temperley MBE (born 22 July 1975) is an English fashion designer based in Ilminster, Somerset, England. Her fashion label, Temperley London was launched in 2000.
In 2006, '' The Guardian'' noted that she had been described by ''America ...
, fashion designer of London, William Temperley, Mary Temperley, Matilda Temperley, Will Wagstaff, Edward Temperley editor o
magicseaweed.comKate Temperley
Jane Wagstaff and Henry Temperley. He had nine great grandchildren.
In 2015, Temperley celebrated his 100th birthday. He died on 27 March 2017 at the age of 102.
Selected publications
*
See also
* Temperley–Lieb algebra
* FKT algorithm
References
*
External links
Recent winners of the Rumford medal
at the Royal Society's web site.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Temperley, Harold Neville
1915 births
2017 deaths
20th-century British mathematicians
21st-century British mathematicians
British centenarians
Men centenarians
British physicists
Mathematical physicists