John D. Lawson (scientist) facts for kids

John David Lawson (born April 4, 1923 – died January 15, 2008) was a smart British engineer and physicist. He is best known for something called the Lawson criterion. This is a very important rule for building machines that create energy from nuclear fusion.

Early Life and Learning

John Lawson was born in Coventry, England. He went to Wolverhampton Grammar School. Later, he studied at St John's College, Cambridge. He took a special two-year course in Mechanical Sciences, which included wartime radio training.

In 1943, he finished his degree. He then joined the Telecommunications Research Establishment in Malvern. There, he worked on designing antennas for microwave signals. This was part of the important work on developing radar during the war.

His Work and Discoveries

After World War II, Lawson continued his research in Malvern. In 1947, he joined the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE). He started doing experiments with a new machine called a 30 MeV synchrotron. This machine helps speed up tiny particles.

In 1951, Lawson moved to Harwell, still with AERE. He began working on a device called a klystron. Klystrons are used to make powerful microwave signals. He worked with a scientist named Peter Thonemann. Thonemann was also leading a project about nuclear fusion called ZETA. Through this, Lawson became very interested in fusion.

The Lawson Criterion

Lawson became famous for his paper published in 1957. It was called "Some Criteria for a Power Producing Thermonuclear Reactor." In this paper, he shared his famous rule for the first time. This rule is now known as the Lawson criterion.

The Lawson criterion explains the conditions needed for a fusion reactor to produce more energy than it uses. It's like a recipe for making fusion work. It tells scientists how hot, dense, and long-lasting the super-hot gas (plasma) needs to be.

Accelerators and Beams

Lawson also worked with another particle accelerator, a 175 MeV cyclotron. He helped with early ideas for new accelerators. He stayed at AERE until 1961. For a year, he was a researcher at Stanford University in the USA. There, he studied the properties of caesium plasma.

In 1961, Lawson moved to the new National Institute for Research in Nuclear Science. This place later became the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. He kept working on accelerators. He led a project to build a Variable Energy Cyclotron. He also helped start a program for superconducting magnets.

In the 1970s, he began studying very strong beams of charged particles. In 1977, he published his book, The Physics of Charged Particle Beams. This book became a very important textbook for people studying particle accelerators.

Lawson also spent two years (1975-1976) at the Culham Laboratory. He worked on designing a fusion power reactor. This design was based on a principle called reversed field pinch.

He returned to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in 1977. He continued working on free electron lasers and accelerator designs. He also played a big role internationally. He helped explore new ideas for future particle accelerators. In the early 1980s, he saw how powerful lasers could help speed up particles. He started a small research group to work on plasma acceleration. He retired in 1987.

Awards and Recognition

John Lawson received many honors for his work. In 1959, the University of Cambridge gave him a Sc.D. degree in Physics. He became a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 1970.

In 1983, he was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists. He received it for his important work in electromagnetism. This included his studies on charged particle beams and very hot plasmas.

He is most remembered for the Lawson criterion. This rule helps define what is needed for a fusion reactor to create useful power. He first came up with the idea in 1955, and it was published in 1957.

John Lawson passed away on January 15, 2008.

See also

• Lawson criterion
• Lawson-Woodward theorem
• History of Fusion - Papers about the early days of fusion research in the UK, collected by Dr. J. D. Lawson
• The Papers of John David Lawson held at Churchill Archives Centre