David William Dye FRS (30 December 1887 – 18 February 1932) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

. He was born the third son of Alderman Charles Dye, who was the Mayor of Portsmouth in 1906. After attending the local Technical College in Portsmouth he studied for a B.Sc at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

. He then served an apprenticeship at the British Thomson-Houston Company at Rugby before joining the National Physical Laboratory in 1910, where he was appointed Head of the Electrical Standards and Measurements Section in 1919. He developed techniques for the use of tuning forks as a precision timing standard when maintained in continuous vibration, which provided a very accurate national standard

wavemeter An absorption wavemeter is a simple electronic instrument used to measure the frequency of radio waves. It is an older method of measuring frequency, widely used from the birth of radio in the early 20th century until the 1970s, when the developme ...

. The work led to the development of a standard clock accurate to one part in a million, a huge improvement over existing methods of measurement which were accurate to only one part in a thousand. He eventually turned to the piezo-electrical crystal to develop the first

quartz clock Quartz clocks and quartz watches are timepieces that use an electronic oscillator regulated by a quartz crystal to keep time. This crystal oscillator creates a signal with very precise frequency, so that quartz clocks and watches are at least a ...

Louis Essen Louis Essen FRS O.B.E. (6 September 1908 – 24 August 1997) was an English physicist whose most notable achievements were in the precise measurement of time and the determination of the speed of light. He was a critic of Albert Einstein' ...

joined Dye's research group at the National Physical Laboratory in 1929 and went on to develop practical clocks after Dye's death. By 1927 he had moved on to develop a magnetometer capable of measuring the vertical element of the earth's magnetic field, which was so accurate that it was incorporated into the Abinger Magnetic Observatory. In 1928 he was elected a

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 knowledge, including mathemat ...

. His application citation stated that he

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1887 births 1932 deaths English physicists Fellows of the Royal Society Scientists of the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) {{UK-physicist-stub