Prof Robert William Pringle OBE

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

FRSC FIP FAPS (2 May 1920–20 June 1996) was a 20th century Scottish physicist.

Life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 2 May 1920 the son of Llllias Dalgleish Hair and her husband, Robert Pringle. He was educated at

George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff ...

then studied physics 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 ...

, gaining the Vans Dunlop scholarship and graduated with a BSc in 1942. After graduation he assisted in University lectures. In 1945 he took up the post of lecturer under Professor Norman Feather. In 1948 he left Edinburgh to go to Canada as Assistant Professor of Physics at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Queen's Award to Industry The Queen's Awards for Enterprise is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation, sustainable development or promoting opportunity (through social mobility). They are the highest ...

twice and won the

Design Council The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the prom ...

Award for the diagnostic ultrasound scanner. In 1964 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

James Kyles James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

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 ...

Douglas Haig McIntosh Douglas Haig McIntosh FRSE FRMS OBE (1917–1993) was a 20th-century Scottish meteorologist. He was affectionately known as “Mac”. Life McIntoch was born in Leven, Fife on 9 September 1917, and, in what was perhaps a patriotic fever during t ...

, and

George Richard Evans George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

. He died on 10 June 1996.

Family

In 1948 he married Carol. They had one daughter and three sons. He was older brother to Derek Hair Pringle

(1926-1995).

Publications

*''The Gamma Rays from Neutron-Activated Gold'' (1950) *''20th Century Scottish Banknotes'' (1984) with James Douglas

References

1920 births 1996 deaths Scientists from Edinburgh People educated at George Heriot's School British physicists Alumni of the University of Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Fellows of the American Physical Society {{UK-physicist-stub