WILLIAMS
,
EVAN JAMES
(
1903
-
1945
),
scientist
;
b.
8 June 1903
at
Cwmsychpant, Cards.
, the s. of
James
Williams
,
mason
and
Elizabeth
(née
Lloyd
)
, his wife. He proceeded from the primary school at
Llanwenog
to the county school at
Llandysul
, and from there to the
University College
of
Swansea
, where he took a
first-class honours degree in physics
in
1923
. He pursued
scientific researches
at
Swansea
,
Manchester
and
Cambridge
, and had obtained the degrees of
Ph.D. (Manc.)
,
Ph.D. (Cantab.)
and
D.Sc. (Wales)
by
1930
.
Between 1929 and 1938
he was
lecturer
successively at the Universities of
Manchester
and
Liverpool
, and he was for a session (
1933-34
) at the
University of Copenhagen
. In
1938
he was appointed to the
chair of physics
at
Aberystwyth
, but his career there was interrupted by the outbreak of war, and from
1939 to 1945
he was engaged in
scientific research in connection with the armed forces
. He was elected
F.R.S.
in
1939
. He was a
scientific officer
at the
Royal Air Force
establishment at
Farnborough
,
1939-41
,
director of research
for the
R.A.F. Coastal Command
,
1941-42
,
scientific adviser to the Navy on methods of combating submarines
,
1943-44
, and
assistant director of research in the Navy
,
1944-45
. He d.
29 Sept. 1945
. A list of his publications and an appreciation of his work as a
scientist
and of the
significant part which he played in the battle against submarines
are given by
P.M.S.
Blackett
in
Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society
, vol 5, No. 15,
1947
.
Bibliography:
-
Who was who?
,
1941-50
;
-
The Times
,
2 Oct. 1945
;
-
Western Mail
,
2 Oct. 1945 and 20 Sept. 1961
;
-
[
J. Tysul Jones
, ed.,
Yr Athro Evan Jamesw Williams, D.Sc.,
F.R.S., 1903-1945 gwyddonydd o Gymro byd-enwog/a world
famous Welsh scientist
, Llandysul, 1970
(1970)
].
Author:
Griffith Milwyn Griffiths, M.A., Aberystwyth
