David Theodore Nelson Williamson facts for kids
David Theodore Nelson Williamson (born February 15, 1923 – died May 10, 1992) was a brilliant English electronics engineer. He is most famous for designing an early type of high fidelity (hi-fi) sound amplifier. This special amplifier used old-style electronic tubes and was called the Williamson amplifier.
His amplifier design was first shown to the world in a series of articles. These articles appeared in a very important British magazine called Wireless World starting in May 1947. Williamson worked for the M. O. Valve Company, which made the tubes for his amplifier, until 1946. After that, he continued to be interested in hi-fi and wrote for Wireless World. He later worked at Ferranti and then became a top engineering director at Rank Xerox in 1974. He retired in 1976. In 1968, he was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is a big honor for scientists.
Growing Up and Learning
David Williamson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father was a very practical person who could fix anything around their big family home. He even changed the whole house from gas to electricity himself!
When David was young, he got sick with tuberculosis. This illness made him weaker for the rest of his life. Because of this, he couldn't join the armed forces during World War II.
He went to George Heriot's School, where he showed a great talent for science. He won the prize for Applied Science twice! In 1940, he started studying engineering at the University of Edinburgh. He learned a lot there, especially about how liquids move, how strong materials are, and how engines work. He left in 1943 without finishing his degree, but he later received two special honorary doctorates from universities in 1971 and 1985.
What He Did
David Williamson had an amazing career working for several important companies:
- Marconi-Osram Company Ltd: July 1943 to February 1946
- Ferranti Ltd: February 1946 to December 1960
- The Molins Machine Company Ltd: February 1961 to September 1973
- Rank Xerox: 1974 to 1976
His Family Life
On June 8, 1951, David Williamson married Alexandra Janet Smith Neilson. She worked in the same lab as him at Ferranti. They had two sons and two daughters.
The family moved to Kent in 1961, and later lived in Leighton Buzzard. In 1979, they moved to Italy. They lived near Lake Trasimeno in a beautiful area called Umbria.
