Arthur Wilson (crystallographer) facts for kids

Arthur James Cochran Wilson (born November 28, 1914 – died July 1, 1995) was a smart scientist from Canada and Britain. He was a crystallographer, which means he studied crystals using X-rays. He was especially famous for using math and statistics to understand how X-rays interact with crystals.

Early Life and Education

Arthur Wilson was born in Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada. He went to school at King's Collegiate School in Windsor, Nova Scotia. Later, he studied at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He earned his first science degree (BSc) in 1934 and a master's degree (MSc) in 1936.

After Dalhousie, he moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. There, he earned his first PhD in 1938. His research was about how a special salt called Rochelle salt behaved when heated.

Moving to Cambridge

In 1937, Arthur Wilson received a special scholarship. This allowed him to move to England in 1938. He joined St John's College, Cambridge and worked at the Cavendish Laboratory. While there, he carefully measured how much aluminum and lead expanded when heated.

He earned his second PhD in 1942. During this time, he became very interested in X-ray crystallography. This field uses X-rays to figure out the exact arrangement of atoms in crystals. He realized how powerful statistics could be in understanding X-ray data.

His book X-ray Optics, first published in 1949, is still an important book on the subject.

Work as a Professor

In 1945, Arthur Wilson left Cambridge. He became a lecturer in the Physics Department at University College, Cardiff in Wales. By 1954, he became a full Professor of Physics and the director of the Viriamu Jones Laboratory. He held this important job until 1965.

While at Cardiff, he started a research group that studied organic crystals. This group became famous worldwide for its work on substances like alkaloids. In the late 1940s, he showed that you could figure out a crystal's structure just by looking at the X-ray data.

Contributions to X-ray Diffraction

Around 1950, new machines called X-ray powder diffractometers became available. These machines helped scientists study materials in a new way. Arthur Wilson made more important contributions to X-ray diffraction. He published his ideas in a book called Mathematical Theory of X-ray Powder Diffraction in 1963.

He also helped edit other important books. One was X-ray Diffraction by Polycrystalline Materials, first published in 1955. He also co-wrote X-ray Diffraction in 1974.

Besides writing, he was also an editor for scientific journals. He was the Editor of Acta Crystallographica from 1960 to 1977. He also helped edit the Proceedings of the Royal Society from 1978 to 1983.

Later Career and Retirement

In 1965, Arthur Wilson became a Professor of Crystallography at the University of Birmingham. He continued his research and editing work there. Just before he retired in 1982, he helped create the British Crystallographic Association.

After retiring, he moved back to Cambridge. He became the head of a group that updated important tables for crystallography. He passed away in Cambridge on July 1, 1995.

Awards and Recognition

Arthur Wilson received many honors for his scientific work:

• In 1963, he was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
• He was the Vice-President of the International Union of Crystallography from 1978 to 1981.
• In 1984, he received the Distinguished Fellow Award from the International Centre for Diffraction Data.
• Dalhousie University gave him an honorary doctor degree in 1991.

Family Life

Arthur Wilson married Harriett Friedeberg in 1946. They had two sons and one daughter.