Cyril Domb facts for kids

Cyril Domb (born December 9, 1920 – died February 15, 2012) was a smart British-Israeli physicist. He was known for teaching and writing about how things change, like water turning into steam. This is called phase transitions and critical phenomena.

He was also famous in the Orthodox Jewish community. He wrote a lot about how science and Judaism can fit together.

Cyril Domb's Early Life

Cyril Domb was born in North London on December 9, 1920. This was during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. His family followed Hasidic Jewish traditions.

His father, Yoel, was from Warsaw, Poland. His mother, Sarah, was from Oświęcim, Poland. Cyril was given the Hebrew name Yechiel.

Cyril's father and grandfather made sure he learned about Jewish studies. He also attended special Torah classes for young men.

His Amazing Memory and Math Skills

Cyril had a fantastic memory and was very good at mathematics. When he was just 17, he won a scholarship to Pembroke College, Cambridge.

He finished his math degree in 1941. After that, he joined a group of young scientists. They worked at the Admiralty Signal Establishment in Portsmouth.

Working on Radar During World War II

During World War II, Cyril's group helped develop radar systems. Before their work, radar could only tell how far away an object was.

Cyril's team figured out a way to also tell how high an object was. This was a very important invention for the war effort.

After the war, Cyril went back to Cambridge University. He earned his PhD in 1949. His special study was about "Order-Disorder Statistics." His teacher was Fred Hoyle.

Becoming a Scientist

From 1952 to 1954, Cyril Domb taught mathematics at Cambridge University. Then, in 1954, he became a professor of theoretical physics at King's College London.

He was the youngest professor in London at that time. He held this important position until 1981.

Writing Important Books on Physics

In 1972, Professor Domb started working on a huge book series. It was called Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena. This series ended up having 20 volumes!

It is now seen as a classic and very important work in the field of physics. He first worked with Melville S. Green. After Green passed away, he worked with Joel Lebowitz.

Connecting Science and Judaism

In the late 1950s, Cyril Domb helped start the British Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists. This group was like a similar one in America. He even became its president.

His Views on Science and Faith

In 1961, Cyril began writing about how science and Judaism could agree. A newspaper asked him to write about how Jewish teachings fit with the Big Bang theory.

His article caught the eye of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The Rebbe was a very important Jewish leader. They started writing letters to each other.

The Rebbe encouraged Cyril to keep showing people that science and the Torah (Jewish teachings) do not have to disagree. This included ideas like the Genesis creation narrative and the Existence of God.

Cyril Domb believed in the theory of evolution. But he also felt that scientific theories are "only tentative summaries." He thought religion dealt with what is right and wrong.

He published a collection of articles about science and religion. It was called Challenge: Torah views on science and its problems (1976). He worked on this book with Rabbi Aryeh Carmell.

Life in Israel

In 1981, when he was 60, Cyril Domb retired early from Kings College. He then made aliyah to Israel. This means he moved to Israel to live there.

He settled in a neighborhood in Jerusalem called Bayit Vegan. From 1981 to 1989, he was a physics professor at Bar-Ilan University.

Helping Bar-Ilan University Grow

His presence helped make the physics department at Bar-Ilan University even better. He attracted many top physicists and students.

Cyril was very interested in Torah study. So, he started each staff meeting with a Dvar Torah (a short Torah thought). He also started a daily Daf Yomi shiur (Torah class).

He also started an academic journal called Journal of Torah and Scholarship. He was a visiting professor at other universities too. These included the University of Maryland and Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In October 2011, a special issue of the Journal of Statistical Physics was published. It honored Cyril Domb for his great influence on the field of statistical physics.

Family Life

Cyril Domb married Shirley Galinsky in 1957. They had six children together.

Awards and Recognition

• Fellow of the Royal Society, 1977. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
• Max Born Prize, 1981. This award is given for important contributions to physics.

See also

• Jewish views on evolution
• Other famous Orthodox Jewish physicists:
  • Nathan Aviezer
  • Herman Branover
  • Aryeh Kaplan
  • Yehuda (Leo) Levi
  • Alvin Radkowsky
  • Gerald Schroeder