Skip to main content

Richard Whiddington correspondence and papers

Archive Collection: MS 334 Contains digital media

Details

Type of record: Archive

Title: Richard Whiddington correspondence and papers

Level: Collection

Classmark: MS 334

Original reference: CSAC 7.1.74

Creator(s): Whiddington, Professor Richard - University of Leeds School of Physics (1885-1970)()

Date(s): 1907-1963

Language: English

Size and medium: 48 items in 3 boxes; manuscript papers

Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/7998

Description

Comprises broadly: (1) Biographical material; (2) Manuscript notes for lectures Whiddington attended at Cambridge including those given by G. F. C. Searle and C. T. R. Wilson, 1907-1908; (3) Manuscript notes for Whiddington's own lectures given at Leeds; (4) Some laboratory and other notebooks; (5) Correspondence relating to 'Science at War' (with J.G. Crowther), HMSO, 1947, and Whiddington's Royal Society memoir of J. W. Ryde.

Biography or history

Richard Whiddington was born in London and educated at the William Ellis School, Highgate and St John's College, Cambridge where he read for the Natural Sciences Tripos specialising in physics. He began research at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge in 1908 and was appointed Demonstrator there the following year. He was elected to a Fellowship at St John's College in 1911. During the First World War he worked at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough on radio telegraphy and telephony research and design. After the war he moved to Leeds University as Cavendish Professor of Physics, 1919-1951. He was seconded to government service for the whole of the Second World War, working with the Admiralty Scientific Service on the development of radar equipment for the Navy and then for the Ministry of Supply as Deputy Director of Scientific Research. His successor as Cavendish Professor was E. C. Stoner. He was elected FRS in 1926.

Provenance

Professor Whiddington discarded most of his papers when he moved to Norfolk following his retirement from the University of Leeds in 1951. This collection was received from his widow, Katherine Whiddington. It was received for cataloguing by (the Chief Scientific Advisor's Committee (CSAC) in 1973.

System of arrangement

The material is arranged as follows: Biographical, Cambridge notes, Laboratory notebooks, Lectures and experiments, War work, Publications, Leeds University, Index of correspondents

Access and usage

Access

Some parts of this collection have not been listed in detail and the content may be protected under the Data Protection Act and other relevant legislation. Please consult the relevant part of the catalogue for specific details. Where a detailed record does not exist, please contact Special Collections. Upon receipt of your request, a member of the team will discuss your requirements with you and review relevant material accordingly

Collection hierarchy

Visitor Basket

Ref No. Item Ref Title