Richard Elliss Bodenham Makinson (5 May 1913 – 15 January 1979), also R.E.B. or Dick Makinson, was an Australian physicist known for his contributions to solid-state physics and amorphous semiconductors. Makinson was born in Burwood a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney. He first enrolled at North Sydney Boys High School and later completed secondary education at Sydney Church of England Grammar (Shore) School. He graduated with first-class honours in physics from the University of Sydney in 1935. Later he traveled to England where he was awarded a PhD in physics from the University of Cambridge in 1939. Makinson contributed to the understanding of thermal conductivity in crystals. His work in this area is cited in the classical book '' Introduction to Solid State Physics'' by Charles Kittel. He also contributed to the physics of

amorphous semiconductors Amorphous silicon (a-Si) is the non-crystalline form of silicon used for solar cells and thin-film transistors in LCDs. Used as semiconductor material for a-Si solar cells, or thin-film silicon solar cells, it is deposited in thin films onto ...

. This research is cited in the book ''Quantum Electron Theory of Amorphous Conductors''. During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, Makinson was suspected of

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

sympathies and explicitly denounced by noted anti-communist William Wentworth. As a result, he was denied a number of teaching positions, including a research chair at

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

, where he taught from 1939 to 1968. Makinson was a friend and colleague of John Clive Ward and assisted in the creation of the physics program at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

where he obtained a position in 1968. In the late 1970s he was a supporter of the

Macquarie science reform movement Macquarie science reform movement refers to the successful transformation of the degree system at Macquarie University in 1979 which followed an academic and political campaign initiated in 1977.F. J. Duarte, M. Golding, and B. Bulliman, Science ...

.F. J. Duarte, ''Laser Physicist'' (Optics Journal, New York, 2012). Makinson died of cancer, at Wahroonga, a northern suburb of Sydney, in 1979.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makinson, Richard Australian physicists Macquarie University faculty University of Sydney alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge University of Sydney faculty People educated at North Sydney Boys High School Australian communists 1913 births 1979 deaths