Edward Llewellyn-Thomas facts for kids

Edward Llewellyn-Thomas (born December 15, 1917 – died July 5, 1984) was a smart English scientist and university professor. He also wrote exciting science fiction books under the name Edward Llewellyn. He studied how our eyes move and how our minds work. He was also interested in how medicines affect us and how to use science in a good way. His science fiction stories, like the Douglas Convolution series, imagined a future where a medicine caused a big problem for humanity.

Biography

Early Life and War Service

Edward Llewellyn-Thomas was born in Salisbury, England. He studied electrical engineering at the University of London. He finished his degree just before World War II began.

When the war started in 1939, Edward was 21 years old. He joined the British Army. He was a specialist in radar and communications. He served in places like North Africa and the Far East. He became a captain and was in charge of communications in Gibraltar.

Medical and Research Work

After the war, Edward worked for the British War Office. He met his wife, Ellen, while taking a course in Virginia. They got married in 1947, the same year he left the army.

He then worked in telecommunications in Malaysia and Singapore. While in Singapore, he decided to study medicine. In 1951, he and Ellen moved to Montreal, Canada. He started medical school at McGill University. While studying, he also worked as an electrical engineer. He helped famous scientists like Wilder Penfield study the brain's electrical activity.

After medical school, he worked as a doctor in a small community. He practiced on a small island in the Bay of Fundy. He often traveled by fishing boat to see patients on other islands. This helped him learn a lot about different medical cases.

Later, he became a research associate at Cornell University. He studied mental health in small towns. In 1958, his family moved to Toronto. He joined the Defense Research Medical Laboratory. Here, he started studying how human eyes move. He also looked into aerospace medicine and how people react to their surroundings.

Edward and Norman H. Mackworth invented a special camera. It was worn on the head to record eye movements. He used it to study how eyes move when driving, flying, or looking at art. A picture of an improved version of this camera was even on the cover of Scientific American magazine in 1968.

Teaching and Later Career

In 1959, Edward started teaching pharmacology at the University of Toronto. By 1963, he became a full-time professor. He continued his research in pharmacology and biomedical engineering. He helped create new research projects for students.

Edward was known for being an excellent teacher. He taught basic body functions from an engineering point of view. He also created a program where students could work in hospitals. This helped them understand real-world medical problems.

He held many different teaching jobs. He taught at the Ontario College of Art & Design. He also taught at the University of Waterloo. There, he taught the first course in Canada on how humans interact with machines. He also worked at hospitals, helping with family medicine and anesthesia.

Edward wrote or helped write sixty scientific papers. He also helped edit the first big book on biomedical engineering. About six years before he retired, he started writing science fiction books. He published six of these books as Edward Llewellyn. He was also a member of a Canadian writers' group. He even wrote some poems in Welsh.

He was a member of many important groups. These included the Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Royal Society of Arts. He was also president of the Human Factors Association of Canada. In 1974, he won the Engineering Medal. He advised many organizations, like the Royal Ontario Museum and the World Health Organization. He was recognized for his science contributions by being made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Edward was always busy. Before he died, he was helping with a report about the Ocean Ranger disaster. He loved teaching students and helping them learn. In 1974, he became the Associate Dean for Student Affairs at the University of Toronto. He held this important job until he retired.

Death

Edward Llewellyn-Thomas passed away on July 5, 1984. This was just a few days after he retired from the University of Toronto. He was survived by his wife, Ellen, and their three children: Caroline, Roland, and Ned.

Family

His daughter, Caroline Llewellyn, also became a published author. His son, Roland Llewellyn, has played music for many years in a band called Banji.