Peter Fellgett facts for kids

Peter Berners Fellgett (born April 11, 1922, died November 15, 2008) was a smart British scientist. He was a physicist, which means he studied how the world works using math and experiments. He also became a professor of Cybernetics at the University of Reading. Cybernetics is about how systems, like computers or even living things, control themselves and communicate.

Peter Fellgett's Big Idea

Peter Fellgett is famous for something called the Fellgett's advantage. This idea helps scientists get clearer information from their measurements.

What is Fellgett's Advantage?

Imagine you are trying to hear a quiet whisper in a noisy room. It's hard to understand what's being said. In science, sometimes the "signal" (the information you want) is weak, and the "noise" (random interference) is strong. This is called a low signal-to-noise ratio.

Fellgett's advantage shows how to make the signal much clearer. He found that if you measure many things at the same time, instead of one by one, you can greatly improve the quality of your data. This is like listening to many parts of the whisper at once to piece together the message.

One way this is used is in Fourier transform spectroscopy. This technique measures light at many different colors (wavelengths) all at once. This helps scientists get much more detailed information about materials or stars.

Fellgett's important work on this idea came from his research in 1949. He was studying how sensitive infrared cameras could be, especially for looking at light from stars.

His Journey in Science

Peter Fellgett worked at several important places during his career.

Early Research at Cambridge and Edinburgh

After his studies at the University of Cambridge, Fellgett moved to the Royal Observatory Edinburgh. Here, he continued his interest in making better scientific tools and instruments. He wanted to find new ways to measure and observe the world around us.

Professor at the University of Reading

In 1964, Peter Fellgett became a professor at the University of Reading. He taught about Cybernetics and Instrument Physics. While there, he worked on exciting projects.

One project was with Michael Gerzon on something called Ambisonics. This is a way of recording and playing back sound that makes it feel like you are really in the middle of the sound, like in a concert hall. He also kept working on improving scientific instruments. He retired from the university in 1987. Another scientist, Kevin Warwick, took over his professorship.

Awards and Recognition

Peter Fellgett received several important awards for his contributions to science.

He was given the R. W. Wood Prize in 1977. This award is for outstanding discoveries in optics, which is the study of light. He also became a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1961 and a fellow of the Royal Society in 1986. Being a fellow of these societies means he was recognized as a leading scientist in the United Kingdom. He was also an Honorary Fellow of the Cybernetics Society.