Vernon Ellis Cosslett, FRS (16 June 1908 – 21 November 1990) was a British microscopist. The eighth child (of six sons and five daughters) of Welsh cabinet maker and carpenter, later clerk of works on the estate of the Earl of Eldon at Stowell Park, then builder, Edgar William Cosslett (1871–1948) and Anne (née Williams; 1871–1951), he was raised at Cirencester and educated at Cirencester Grammar School, the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut,

Berlin-Dahlem Dahlem ( or ) is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a part of the former borough of Zehlendorf. It is located between the mansion settlements of Grunewald and L ...

, and

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

, London. He was a research fellow at Bristol after completing his PhD in 1932, having been awarded an H. H. Mills Memorial Fellowship, remaining there until 1935. He then lectured at

Faraday House Faraday House Electrical Engineering College was created to train engineers in power generation and distribution. It was set up at a time before engineering was widely taught at universities, founded as an adjunct to a commercial company for sup ...

Engineering College, London, until 1939, whilst undertaking part-time research at Birkbeck College, London. Between 1939 and 1941 he was Keddey-Fletcher-Warr Research Fellow of London University, working at the University of Oxford as a temporary lecturer, then lecturing in physics at the University of Oxford Electrical Laboratory from 1941 to 1946.The International Who's Who, 1983–1984, forty-seventh edition, International Publications Service, Europa Publications Ltd, 1983, p. 281 From 1947, as an ICI Research Fellow, he worked with

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

Cavendish Laboratory The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the School of Physical Sciences. The laboratory was opened in 1874 on the New Museums Site as a laboratory for experimental physics and is named ...

, Cambridge University on the electron microscope and founded the Electron Microscopy Department. He also developed improved x-ray machines.http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/2891/1/from_white_elephant1.pdf Cosslett was elected

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1972 and won the

Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important ...

in 1979 "In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the design and development of the X-ray microscope, the scanning electron microprobe analyser, the high voltage and ultrahigh resolution (2.5A) electron microscopes and their applications in many disciplines." He was elected president of the

Royal Microscopical Society The Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) is a learned society for the promotion of microscopy. It was founded in 1839 as the Microscopical Society of London making it the oldest organisation of its kind in the world. In 1866, the society gained it ...

. and was also instrumental in the creation of International Federation of Societies for Electron Microscopy where he was president from 1970 till 1973. Cosslett had married firstly, in 1936, Rosemary Wilson. During the Second World War, Cosslett provided accommodation for refugee scientists at his flat in Hampstead; thus he met Viennese physicist and microscopist Dr Anna Joanna Wischin (1912–1969) whom Cosslett married in 1940 following his divorce from his first wife. Dr Anna Cosslett also worked at the Cavendish Laboratory. He had a son and a daughter from his second marriage.

References

External links

The Papers of Dr Vernon Ellis Cosslett
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...

, Cambridge {{DEFAULTSORT:Cosslett, Vernon Ellis Royal Medal winners British physicists Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Microscopical Society People educated at Cirencester Grammar School 1908 births 1990 deaths Presidents of the International Federation of Societies for Microscopy