Sir Joseph Ernest Petavel KBE FRS

D.Sc. Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

(14 August 1873 – 31 March 1936) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

physicist and the 2nd Director of the National Physical Laboratory. He was born in London and educated at Lausanne, Geneva, before he joined

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

, in 1893, where he studied mechanical and electrical engineering. 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 science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1907. He was the second director of the NPL in

Bushy Park Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hampton ...

from 1919 to 1936, living in

Bushy House Bushy House is a Grade II* listed former residence of King William IV and Queen Adelaide in Teddington, London, which Lord Halifax had constructed for his own enjoyment on the site of a previous house Upper Lodge, Bushy Park, between 1714 and 1 ...

. During his time there he devised the Petavel gauge for the measurement of the pressures within exploding

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

es. He was invested

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(KBE) in the 1920 civilian war honours for his wartime work as Chairman of Aerodynamics Sub-Committee of the Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. He died at

and was buried in the west side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

Grave of Joseph Ernest Petavel in Highgate Cemetery

References

External links

Sir Joseph Ernest Petavel
1873 births 1936 deaths Scientists from London Alumni of University College London Directors of the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society Burials at Highgate Cemetery {{UK-physicist-stub