Rhisiart Morgan Davies (4 February 1903 – 1958) was a Welsh

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 born in

Corris Corris is a village in the county of Gwynedd, Wales, about north of the town of Machynlleth. The village lies on the west bank of the Afon Dulas (which here forms the boundary with Powys), around that river's confluence with the Afon Deri. Its ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

, and attended schools in

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a popul ...

and

Dolgellau Dolgellau () is a town and community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the historic county of Merionethshire ( cy, Meirionnydd, Sir Feirionnydd) un ...

before, in 1921, winning a scholarship to study physics at the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

. After graduating first-class honours in physics in 1924, he was appointed to the research staff team in H.M. Signals School in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, but did not remain in the position for long, instead returning to

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

to work, initially, as an assistant lecturer in the physics department, before being appointed a lecturer in 1928. Whilst there he worked on a D.Sc. (Wales) degree for important work on the measurement of dielectric and elastic constants under dynamic conditions, which he completed in 1937. In 1938 he received a Leverhulme Research Fellowship award, enabling him to work in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, where he became one of the leading specialists in the study of 'stress waves'. He received a Ph.D. degree from Cambridge for his research on this topic (published in 1948). He later (following World War II), returned to

as Professor of Physics. For a time (from 1954 to 1956) he was also a vice-principal of the college. His writings include a series of radio lectures on modern science which he produced in the 1930s, and also a large number of articles which he contributed to scientific journals (e.g. 'Surveys in Mechanics'); of which ‘A Critical Study of the Hopkinson Pressure Bar’ (Trans. Royal Society, 1948) was probably one of the most significant. He died, aged 55, in February 1958.

References

Split-Hopkinson pressure bar The split-Hopkinson pressure bar, named after Bertram Hopkinson, sometimes also called a Kolsky bar, is an apparatus for testing the dynamic stress–strain response of materials. History The Hopkinson pressure bar was first suggested by Bertra ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Rhisiart Morgan 1903 births 1958 deaths People from Gwynedd Welsh physicists Alumni of Aberystwyth University