Marion Amelia Spence Ross
FRSE (9 April 1903 – 3 January 1994) was a Scottish
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 ...
noted for her work in
x-ray crystallography
X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...
and
fluid dynamics.
Life
Ross was born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, one of the five daughters of William Baird Ross, organist, composer and founder of
The Edinburgh Society of Organists (ESO). The family lived at 22 Royal Crescent in
Edinburgh's New Town
The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Stree ...
.
After being educated at Edinburgh Ladies' College, Marion Ross studied
mathematics and
natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science.
From the ancient wo ...
at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, receiving prestigious bursaries in mathematics, and graduating with honours. Ross then studied at teacher training college in Cambridge for one year and taught mathematics in a secondary school in Woking, Surrey for two years.
In 1928, she took up a post as Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of Edinburgh, and instigated a course in
acoustics for music students.
In 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 ...
she was a rare example of a female scientist working for the
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
. Based at
Rosyth
Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440.
The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...
docks she led a team involved in underwater acoustics and
hydrodynamics.
Her work with
Professor C. G. Barkla resulted in her being awarded a PhD in 1943.
For one year, she worked under the direction of
William Lawrence Bragg
Sir William Lawrence Bragg, (31 March 1890 – 1 July 1971) was an Australian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallographer, discoverer (1912) of Bragg's law of X-ray diffraction, which is basic for the determination of crystal structu ...
at the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...
, and together with
Arnold Beevers
Cecil Arnold Beevers (27 May 1908 – 16 January 2001) was a British crystallographer, known for Beevers–Lipson strips, a computational aid for calculating Fourier transforms to determine the structure of crystals from crystallographic data ...
, explored the structure of the crystal
Beta Alumina.
They noted there were 'problem' sites in the areas occupied by mobile sodium ions. Subsequently, the presence of these ions was discovered to make this crystal an efficient
superconductor. As a tribute to their discovery, the locations of these ions are now known as ''Beevers–Ross'' and ''anti-Beevers–Ross sites''.
After the war she returned to the University of Edinburgh as a lecturer, studying high-energy particle spectra. She was the first Director of the University's Fluid Dynamics Unit. Some of her work was published in the journal ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
''.
In 1951 she became a
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh, two years after the first female Fellows were admitted. Her proposers were
Norman Feather
Norman Feather FRS FRSE PRSE (16 November 1904 – 14 August 1978), was an English nuclear physicist. Feather and Egon Bretscher were working at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge in 1940, when they proposed that the 239 isotope of element ...
,
Max Born,
Alexander Aitken and
Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker. She was the first female Secretary to the Society (1993/4).
Her interest in
fluid flows led to Ross setting up a
fluid dynamics Unit within the Department of Physics. Many students were attracted to this field of study, supervised by Ross.
Ross was elected to University Court for session 1967-68, one of the first non-Professorial members of staff to serve. Her contributions to the University were rewarded with a Readership, and her success was particularly notable given the male-dominated nature of the profession.
On her retirement, the annually awarded ''Marion A S Ross Prize'' was founded in her name. In 2014 a street at the University's
Kings Buildings campus was named in her honour.
Personal life
Outside her professional life, Ross had a wide range of interests, including literature, art, music, and politics. She was particularly interested in the
organ that her father had designed for the Holy Rude Church, Stirling, where he was the organist, and where Ross sang in the choir.
Ross died on 3 January 1994. Her obituary describes her as "an enthusiast and a person of high ideals and purpose. The type of person who looked for work that needed doing and got on and did it voluntarily. Her research in nuclear and X-ray physics, and in fluid dynamics, is internationally recognised and has inspired others to follow in her footsteps. She will be remembered with affection and gratitude by her students, her colleagues and by her family."
Recognition
Marion Ross Road within Edinburgh University's
King's Buildings
The King's Buildings (colloquially known as just King's or KB) is a campus of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Located in the suburb of Blackford, the site contains most of the schools within the College of Science and Engineering, ex ...
complex is named in her honour.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Marion
1903 births
1994 deaths
Scientists from Edinburgh
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Academics of the University of Manchester
Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Scottish physicists
Scottish women physicists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
20th-century British women scientists
Scottish women academics